Jarrahdale Cemetery
Jarrahdale Cemetery was established in 1872, when the land was donated by Mrs Maria Batt. Mrs Batt was the widow of Joseph Batt, who had owned a flour mill in the area.
Historical information
The cemetery was gazetted in 1883, almost ten years after it was established. Jarrahdale Timber Company was the original undertaker and the company did not keep a record of burials until a government audit in 1911. The management of the cemetery was taken over by the local Roads Board. Unfortunately, the records kept during this period were lost to white ants and records had to be reconstructed from what other information could be found.
Physical description
Jarrahdale Cemetery sits opposite a jarrah forest which was first explored in the 1830s. The wrought iron gates that form the entrance were erected in 1954 as a memorial to Mary Isabel Watkins and George Glyn Watkins.
Present day
The cemetery is still a public burial ground, and as of 2026 was the last resting place of approximately 455 people. Many of the cemetery’s earliest interments were people who contributed to the development of the town and region and include representatives of local dynasties such as the Keirnan and Nettleton families.
Who were they?
Mr George Watkins and Mrs Mary Watkins
Mr Watkins (1873 – 1948) was the son of Archdeacon Watkins and worked at Union Bank as a young man. In 1897 he and Mr Charles Norrie purchased a property called The Chestnuts (Heritage Survey SJ5-15) from Joseph Batt. Under their ownership, The Chestnuts grew to 200ha and was recognised as one of the best orchards in Western Australia. The cottage was demolished in the 1970s but the chestnut trees remain.
During his lifetime, Mr Watkins was chairman of the Serpentine-Jarrahdale Road Board for 36 years and chairman of the Jarrahdale District Hospital Board and a Justice of the Peace for over 50 years. He died aged 75 in 1948. Mrs Watkins passed away in 1951. Her birthdate is unknown. The couple were the parents of three sons and one daughter.
Mr Joseph Batt
Mr Batt (1799 – 1884) was an entrepreneur who was a publican, a flour miller and a developer all at the same time. He married Ruth Downton in 1838 in England and the couple came to Australia aboard the Westmoreland in 1840. They had 11 children together before Ruth died in 1867, aged 53. When he was 72, Mr Batt married 39-year-old Anna Maria Louisa Byrant, a widowed mother of five – the same Maria Batt who donated the land to host Jarrahdale Cemetery after Mr Batt’s death aged 85. He was buried in Pinjarra. One of Maria’s daughters with her first husband, Mary Ellen Bentley, married one of her stepbrothers, David Batt.
Further reading and references