Cemetery a history lesson

The Bridgetown Historical Society will take people on a graveyard tour to shine a light on the lives of noteable residents.

Bridgetown: History from the Grave will be conducted by society member Richard Allen and the tour will focus on graves of various Bridgetown people to retell their history.

“There are some very interesting graves up there, some belonging to the pioneers ... there are some very decorated soldiers buried in the area, just some fascinating history,” Mr Allen said.

“It provides an opportunity to talk about various people that people have long since forgotten and the impacts they had on the town in their day, whether it be good or bad.

“It’s mostly good, but there are some tragedies up there as well.”

One of the graves located at the cemetery is that of famous artist Guy Grey-Smith.

The tour launch is not the only exciting news for the society, having received a grant from Lotterywest to help it survive during the COVID-19 crisis.

The money will also allow the society to buy a second computer to help in managing its archives.

The grant of $4521 will be used to pay for the society’s expenses, which it usually raises from events and tours.

“We rely heavily on fundraising to care for our collection and to continue archiving and just generally managing the museum,” chairwoman Mary Elgar said.

“We had no income this year at all, so that was a bit scary, we still have bills to pay like electricity and internet.

“This grant has relieved us of any pressure this year, so it is absolutely fantastic and we as a society are very pleased about it.”

Bookings for the graveyard tours are available at bit.ly/3eJn94S.