Ballaarat General Cemeteries has two locations, The Ballarat Old Cemetery and The Ballarat New Cemetery. There are graves in The Ballaarat General Cemeteries that are of national and international significance. These include those associated with Eureka as well as the graves of people of ethnic origins and those of different religious persuasions. The Ballarat Old Cemetery was established on the 25th of February 1856 and is now an historical site and memorial to the past. Two important monuments in Australian history commemorating the Eureka Uprising can be viewed at the Old Ballarat Cemetery. The Eureka Diggers' Monument erected in 1856 and 23 years later in 1879 a monument erected by the government of Victoria in memory of the officers and soldiers who died as a result of the uprising.
The New Ballarat Cemetery opened in June 1867 with the grounds covering approximately 32ha (80 acres) a lot smaller than today's land total of 55ha (136 acres). The New Ballarat Cemetery incorporates many different areas all of which are of great significance. These areas include Tanderra Lawn, Tanderra Memorial Gardens, Tree of Memories, Poets Walk and Birdsong Walk, Fountain Section, Infant Section, Garden of Memories, Chinese Gardens, Fountain Gardens and the many lawned sections. Other features of the New Ballarat Cemetery are the Waiting Hall containing a touch screen computer for access to family grave information. The hall also contains a wealth of historical information including Eureka and Ballarat's early generations. Another feature of the New Ballarat Cemetery is The Book of Remembrance Building which was opened in 1992. A distinctively dome shaped building containing handmade leather books of enhanced entries offering another form of memorialisation.
The Ballarat Crematorium
The Crematorium commenced operation in 1958 and up until 1988 was the only crematorium outside Melbourne. In 1987 the chapel was refurbished and extended to include a larger entrance foyer, new lounge and indoor outdoor garden to provide increased comfort for the public. The attractive crematorium gardens have some 2,000 individual rose bushes available for memorialisation. Set throughout these gardens are many and varied memorial options of trees, shrubs, rocks and niches to meet the needs of the community.
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