Hi Folks; I thought list members might like a little more information re early cemeteries in Victoria. Victoria became a Colony on 1 July, 1851. The first act of the colony in regards to cemeteries was "An Act for the Establishment and Management of Cemeteries in the Colony of Victoria. [Assented to 23 March, 1854]. It was known as 17 Victoria No. 12. What this act did was to official approve the establishment of the General Cemetery near the City of Melbourne (now known as the Melbourne General Cemetery) plus officially approve all public cemeteries already in operation up until March 1854. After this date, each cemetery was individually gazetted. So the by-product of this Act was not to give each of the cemeteries caught up under it an "official individual gazetting date". They were just noted as being approved under the Act: 17-Vic-12 of 31 March 1854 (date of gazettal of the Act). Probably the only way to get an exact date would be a check at the Victorian Lands Department as to when the piece of land for the cemetery was initially listed as a public burial ground/cemetery with the Department. Hope this helps. If anyone has any further questions, just ask. I will see if I can help. Cheers, David