Goulburn Jewish Cemetery

I have to say that  it came as a bit of a surprise to me that Goulburn had a relatively high proportion of Jews amongst its population from the 1840s to the 1870s. The Census of 1841 recorded 22 Jews living in the town. The Census of 1846 recorded 54 Jews in Goulburn with another 59 in the adjoining Argyle County. At this time Goulburn had the third largest Jewish population in Australia, after Sydney and Melbourne.

While it is not known what specifically attracted such a relatively large number of Jews (who in these early days were mostly convicts from Britain) to Goulburn they quickly made Goulburn home and immersed themselves in business. By 1880 however, for some unknown reason,  the majority of those still living in Goulburn had left as quickly as they had arrived.

Such was the success of the Jews in Goulburn it became a very prosperous town.  Its main street was lined with patriarchal names and a new phrase or expression of begrudging respect was coined – ‘As solid as a Goulburn Jew.’ Indeed, for a time Goulburn was facetiously referred to as ‘Little Jerusalem’.

While there are only a handful of headstones, most with inscriptions in both Hebrew and English, in the now non-operational cemetery it is thought that around 114 burials took place here, a significant number thus being in unmarked graves.

The location of the cemetery, on the northern outskirts of the town, has an interesting history. It was presented to the Jewish community in 1848 by businessmen Samuel Benjamin and Elias Moses, prompted by the fact that in 1844 two daughters of a John Moses were drowned, attempting to cross a river, and were buried in unmarked graves on this land, then unconsecrated.

Rebecca Moses, the wife of the said John Moses, was the first Jewish woman to be married in Australia. She ‘departed this life on January 8th 1854’  and is also buried here.

As you enter the well tended-for cemetery with some beautiful yew trees, prior to reaching the headstones you will come across a memorial cairn, built using stones from the adjacent ruins of a former chapel and caretaker’s cottage. A former brick well can also be seen, as inspected by one of my (sadly former) dogs, which I think was allowed into the cemetery.

Certainly worth a look.

Address: Long Street
Directions: Relatively close to the Rocky Hill War Memorial – combine a visit to both.

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My next Goulburn review– HERE

Return to the beginning of my Goulburn reviews –HERE

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