Cemetery celebrates trailblazing women

PIONEERING women from the Woady Yaloak area will be permanently recognised through new informational signage at the Smythesdale Cemetery; A Tribute to the Women of the District.

Eleven signs have been erected beside graves of women who impacted the development of the district, whether they were farmers, a suffragette, or ran a hospital.

The boards bring history to life, sharing photographs, and information about women including Jane Griffin, Eliza Sharp, Jane Gordon, Edith Hatfield and Jane Liddell, their work, skills, passions, successes, and challenges.

Each pioneer’s sign includes information about their life and cause, and at least one photograph.

A planning group made up of members of the Smythesdale Cemetery Trust, including chair Alwyn Parker, have coordinated the project with $14,592 worth of funding from the State Government’s Local History Grants Program.

“We are very excited to unveil yet another reason to visit our beautiful and historic cemetery,” he said.

“We have limited funding, but we have been able to achieve wonderful things like this, and our solar lights, with the support of grants. It all makes our cemetery look even better.

Mr Parker’s aunty, Connie Howlett is one of the pioneering women featured on a board. She was the Grenville Shire Council’s Citizen of the Year in 1994.

Many cyclists travelling along the Ballarat-Skipton Rail Trail, which runs along the back fence of the Cemetery, often stop to discover more about the area. The Trust hopes the new signage will further engage these tourists.

“I would encourage anyone to come down and visit, and while in Smythesdale, check out the historic precinct with the Court House, bluestone gaol and the gallows, maintained by the Historical Society,” Mr Parker said.

Member for Buninyong Michaela Settle said the Tribute to the Women of the District series exhibits the intrinsic links between local history and a sense of community.

“Recognising our women in this way is long overdue,” she said. “Whether they were a suffragette, musician or shopkeeper, they each made their mark and shaped the future that we enjoy today.”

A similar project sharing pioneering men of the area was installed on site 14 years ago.

Many members of the Trust have deep family connections to the Smythesdale Cemetery, one tracing back seven generations.