Hawkesbury Library Service has planned a pair of interesting tours to coincide with the National Trust’s annual Australian Heritage Festival, which runs during April and May.
To be held on Saturday, April 29 and Thursday, May 11, residents will be given a guided tour of two of the Hawkesbury’s lesser known cemeteries at McGraths Hill and Old Pitt Town.
The Methodist Cemetery at McGraths Hill was established in the 1850s and has more than 80 headstones, including many of Windsor’s business owners.
The Old Pitt Town Cemetery is much older and larger, with many pioneer family names inscribed on the headstones.
At Old Pitt Town Cemetery, the touring party will visit the graves of Daniel Buckridge and Eva “Granny” Greenfield.
Buckridge was convicted of highway robbery at the Old Bailey and arrived as a convict in 1792.
Greenfield was a local midwife, who brought many Pitt Town residents into the world in the early 1900s.
Buried at McGraths Hill are the Reverend Peter Turner and his wife Mary, who were missionaries in Tonga and Samoa in the mid-19th century.
A number of members of the Chandler family also have headstones at McGraths Hill, including the local undertaker James W. Chandler, who died in 1919 and was the Mayor of Windsor Council on three occasions.
The tour will be in part driving and walking and will run on both days from 9.30am to 11.15am.
They are free to attend but bookings are essential. Visit hawkesburylibrary.eventbrite.com or call 4560 4460 to book your place.
