A historical mystery has been solved, revealing many more stories about the Diggers Rest / Sunbury townships through geographical maps of 1860.
Monty Russell, from Diggers Rest, has possessed copies of some ancient geographical survey maps and, hearing about the lost cemetery mystery, examined the maps in great detail. One of his maps clearly identified a cemetery site at the corner of Gap Road and Wilsons Lane (current township Sunbury).
However, the site is on private land and there may not be any evidence of that graveyard today. It is not known whether the eight bodies remain on that site or were moved to the larger Sunbury cemetery.
High quality digitised images of the geographical survey maps can be found at the State Library of Victoria and copies are available within this article.
Note: The geographical survey maps are fascinating and zoom into view the below images in detail. You will discover how much the landscape has changed.
Title: [Parts of parishes of Buttlejorrk, Bollinda, Mickleham, Bulla Bulla, and Holden [cartographic material] / surveyed, engraved, and published by Alfred R. C. Selwyn, Govt. Geologist at the Geological Survey Office, Melbourne ; C.D.H. Aplin & N. Taylor, Assistants ; hills by R. Shepherd ; J. Wilkinson, Draughtsman. Year Published: 1860. Zoom to detailed map.
[Parts of parishes of Yangardook, Holden, Bulla, Maribyrnong and Kororoit] [cartographic material] / surveyed, engraved, and published by Alfred R. C. Selwyn, Govt. Geologist at the Geological Survey Office, Melbourne ; C.D.H Aplin, Assistant ; J. Pittman, Draftsman and Colorist. Year Published: 1860. Zoom to detailed map.
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