PETER KRANZ
‘TAPHOPHILE’ is the name given to someone who takes an interest in cemeteries, tombstones or past lives. If that sounds too fancy, ‘tombstone tourist’ will do.
I must confess I am something of a closet taphophile. Not that I seek tombstones in closets, I just like to fossick around old cemeteries.
What I am trying to say is that there is a great deal of interesting history to be found in the dead and their memorials.
I used to live in England (Crowthorne, Berks, also home to Broadmoor) and our local cemetery had some interesting graves, including a cousin of Jane Austin and some unidentified French sailors from the Napoleonic wars interred with due ceremony but sadly unnamed.
The article by the good Fr Philip Gibbs SVD got me thinking about Bomana cemetery at Nine Mile (strictly speaking it should be called Ten Mile).
I’m not referring to the splendid war cemetery, which is further up the road and where every Australian visiting politician likes to be photographed.
No, this Bomana is the final resting place of ordinary folk. Ironically perhaps, it’s near the new adventure park.
My first mum-in-law was from Latvia and they have a tradition of celebrating saints days (or name days as they are called) with a picnic in the cemetery, which is a great idea. After all they are usually pleasant shady places where you can spend some time reflecting on your dear departed.
I know that there are many sad reminders of the untimely deaths of many local people in Bomana. There are also the mass graves of unknown AIDS victims which are particularly poignant.
But I was particularly interested in the graves of the early settlers who all must have stories to be told.
There is real history there in Bomana. It would be fascinating to find out about these people and to learn their stories.