MARY ANN SMYTHE GRAVE

9-11 PRINCES STREET TRARALGON, LATROBE CITY

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Victorian Heritage Inventory

Statement of Significance

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  • History

    MARY ANN SMYTHE GRAVE - History

    The grave is the only visible remnant of Traralgon's first burial ground, where 12 persons are said to be buried. Most of the deaths went unregistered, including that of Charlton kinchant in 1859. In 1872, a new cemetery was gazetted. Mary Ann Smythe was the little daughter of William Sydney O'Brien Smythe and his wife Mary Sharry. When William was posted to Traralgon in 1864 as one of its first policemen, he and his wife had already lost four infant children, and Mary Anne became the fifth. Their next two children survived. The grave once had a neat, well-maintained picket fence, which was lost over time. A wire fence on steel posts was later added, followed by the present fence.

    Heritage Inventory Description

    MARY ANN SMYTHE GRAVE - Heritage Inventory Description

    The grave area is edged by a square of concrete street-guttering, 4.2 by 4.2 metres, that has been surfaced with tan bark. Within that, the actual grave has a new, green, fortified metal fence, 2.01m long by 1.4 metres wide, and 0.95 metres high. An oldish slab of concrete 0.35 by 0.33 metres exists on the ground within the grave surrounds, and contains the inscription "-Smythe Infant 18--". Tan bark and native grasses exist over the surface of the grave. Over the grave, a brass plaque has been fixed to the wall of the building. This reads "Infant child of Constable William o'Brien Smythe and his wife Mary - circa 1870".

    The grave is set against the wall of a large building (owned by Repco 2003), in an asphalted car parking area in Traralgon. The land is a relatively narrow, tapering strip of flat ground between the Princes Highway and the main railway line.

    Physical Conditions: Good

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