Sir Thomas Mitchell - Pilgrimage to Tomb

22 June 1936 The Sydney Morning Herald

At the invitation of the Royal Australian Historical Society, many people took part on Saturday in a pilgrimage to the tomb of Sir Thomas Livingstone Mitchell, one time Surveyor-General in New South Wales.

The tomb is in the Camperdown Cemetery, New-Town.

The Surveyor-General of New South Wales (Mr. H.B. Mathews) in his address said that Sir Thomas Mitchell was a man of indomitable will and outstanding courage. He had the characteristic of a great man.

He succeeded Oxley as Surveyor General in 1828 and then threw himself into the work of penetrating the forest fastnesses of the State and learning the mysteries of the interior.

Mr Mathews said it was Sir Thomas Mitchell who had made The Pass of Victoria which had opened a road for the inhabitants of the western part of New South Wales to carry their produce to Sydney.

Then he had constructed the Great North-road to Hunter's River - as it was then called - and also the Great South-road to Goulburn.

Outstanding among his achievements as an explorer was his discovery of the western part of Victoria. Sir Thomas had also penetrated into the tropical regions of Queensland.

The president of the society (Dr. Abbott) expressing appreciation of Mr Mathews's address, stressed the importance of preserving the Camperdown Cemetery, with its historical treasures.

In these views he was supported by Mr. F. A. Coghlan (former Auditor-General for New South Wales) and the Rev A.E. Rook who said that the Newtown Council had no right to the cemetery, which belonged to the people of the State.

The chairman of the trustees of the cemetery (Mr. P. W. Gledhill) said that 17,951 people were buried in the cemetery among whom were Sir Maurice O'Connell, victims of the Dunbar wreck, Nicholas Charles Bochsa (harpist to the Emperor Napoleon) and Lord Gordon (son of the 10th Marquis of Huntley).