Take this tour to learn about the lives of poets, artists, musicians and eccentrics.
Tour details
Know before you go:
Distance: 1 km
Time to walk: 40 minutes
Time to drive: 30 minutes
Stay safe
Fawkner Memorial Park is large, crisscrossed by roads and creeks and covers different types of terrain. Older areas of the cemetery may have uneven ground or can be boggy after rain.
Watch your step in all areas of the cemetery and:
avoid cars when walking on or near roads
wear good walking shoes.
Story points in this tour
Start this tour at the carpark for the Holy Angels Mausoleum. Walk through the path to the right of the vaults to access the first grave on this tour.
This tour contains stories on the following people and points of interest:
Meet the digger’s poet and First World War veteran, Edward Harrington. Hear his story and enjoy the beauty of his poetry.
A teller of tall tales and author of a salacious memoir, Bill Edwards lived a fanciful life. Learn about his adventures as a transgender man in early 20th century Melbourne from Bill himself!
A member of the stolen generations, Noongar man Revel Cooper showed his talent for art early as one of the children at the Carrolup school. Listen to his compelling story but watch out for the emus!
Meet Melbourne Jazz icon Frank Traynor, hear his music and story from someone who knew him best.
Bill Bull was a Gunai/Kurnai man who wowed crowds with boomerang displays and entertained with his gumleaf playing. But his story also reflects how hard life can be for Aboriginal people.
Alfred Tipper – or Professor Tipper as he preferred to be known – was a showman and eccentric who travelled the world with his exhibition cycling. Meet the man and marvel at his unusual tale.
Unmarked graves
Several of the graves in this tour are ‘unmarked’. This means that there are no headstones or monuments on these graves.
There are many reasons why a grave may be unmarked. This could be because of cultural practices or because the right of internment holder chose, for some reason, to leave the grave without a monument.
In some cases, the grave may be a ‘common’ or public grave and there is no monument because the person died without family or the means to pay for their internment.
On the tour, even if a grave is unmarked, you’ll know you’re in the right place when you feel your phone buzz and you see a Discover Cemeteries sign.
Contact us
Have a question or feedback about Discover Cemeteries?
Contact our communications team via email at comms@gmct.com.au.