Cemetery volunteers bring First Fleeter’s story to life with grant

Full Artcle By Louise Thrower : https://www.goulburnpost.com.au/story/9212560/goulburn-volunteers-restore-mary-martins-first-fleeter-grave/

Even eagle-eyed people could be forgiven for overlooking Mary Martin’s grave at Goulburn’s Saint Saviour’s Cemetery.

Time and weather have worn away the inscription on the sandstone resting place of the only ‘First Fleeter’ buried in Goulburn. A brass plaque, placed by the First Fleeters Association in the 1980s/1990s is equally illegible.

Now, Friends of Goulburn’s Historic Cemeteries (FGHC) wants to restore Mary’s rightful place in the city’s history. The volunteer group, formed in 2019, has gradually tidied graves and cleared excess vegetation from Saint Saviour’s and Mortis Street cemeteries. They have also backed restoration grants, including for explorer William Hovell’s grave.

The group has scored a $500 Southern Tablelands Community Foundation grant to install another brass plaque beside Mary’s grave.

“We have a lot more information to go on there about her family, who were important in Goulburn’s history. If we don’t have another plaque, all that information is lost,” FGHC president Heather West said.

According to the group’s research, Mary was a convict, sent to NSW in the First Fleet in 1788.

Tim the Yowie Man reveals a forgotten chapter of Canberra’s sporting past beneath Lake Burley Griffin, where the city’s first Canberra Cup was run on a rough-and-ready track now lost to the water.

In 1786, the then Mary Allen was sentenced at the Old Bailey to seven years’ transportation to the colony, for stealing. At age 22 she travelled on the Lady Penrhyn. Frederick Meredith was her first protector but later, she was recorded as living with Edward Pallid. They had three daughters, Susannah, Mary and Ann. Edward died in 1802.

Mary had a son, Thomas, to her third husband, John Martin, but she was a widow by 1814.

She spent her final years living with her daughter, Ann, whose third husband, Benjamin Gould, had taken over Riversdale Inn. Mary died in 1843, aged seventy-eight.

Ann and Benjamin Gould were buried in the same grave.

Mrs West said the cemeteries had garnered more public attention.

“Now that the walking path (riverwalk) goes past the cemeteries, there’s a huge increase in visitors, including from interstate people doing their family history,” she said.

“We volunteer two mornings a week and we’re always happy to talk to people.”

Visitors can also easily find graves and detailed information via the group’s website.

First Fleet convict, Mary Martin was buried in Goulburn’s Saint Saviour’s cemetery. A volunteer group is replacing a brass plaque nearby and adding more information about her place in Goulburn’s history. Picture by Heather West.

First Fleet convict, Mary Martin was buried in Goulburn’s Saint Saviour’s cemetery. A volunteer group is replacing a brass plaque nearby and adding more information about her place in Goulburn’s history. Picture by Heather West.

Mrs West, a former Goulburn Australia Day citizen of the year, wears another hat as Friends of Goulburn Swamplands president.

She was equally grateful to the Southern Tablelands Community Foundation for a $500 grant to replace a sign at the Eastgrove attraction. The sign, detailing 40 popular bird species that visit the wetlands, was vandalised in January, 2024.

Like the cemeteries, hundreds of people visit the wetlands annually, including birdwatchers.

“There are 144 bird species that visit each year,” Mrs West said.

“The wetlands are looking very green and lush. The ponds suffered with lack of water in spring but the birds know when to come.”

As spring’s breeding season nears, birds feed off nectar rich plants. Others provide cover from predators at the tourist attraction.

The STCF is also helping other organisations in its first grant distribution since its 2024 formation.

Southern Tablelands Community Foundation director, Barbara Nell, Gunlake Quarries executive manager, Jack O’Neil and Goulburn CanAssist president, Ruth Doggett. Picture by Louise Thrower.

Southern Tablelands Community Foundation director, Barbara Nell, Gunlake Quarries executive manager, Jack O’Neil and Goulburn CanAssist president, Ruth Doggett. Picture by Louise Thrower.

Goulburn Tennis Club received a $500 donation for two new nets. Endeavour Industries scored the same amount for an adjustable computer table.

Goulburn’s CanAssist received $500 to help families dealing with cancer treatment.

President Ruth Doggett said demand for assistance was growing.

“There are more people in the 30 to 50 years age group with cancer. We work to relieve their financial burden.”

The branch has assisted 500 Goulburn and district families in the 10 years of its existence.

STCF president, Dick Kearins, said seed funding from the Foundation’s Goulburn Monopoly game and assistance from Gunlake Quarries, made the grants possible. Gunlake has committed $10,000 annually over three years to the initiative.

Executive manager, Jack O’Neil, said the company, believed in the community.

“The majority of our workforce (at the Brayton Road quarry) are local. We’re Australian owned and we want to give back to the community,” he said.

Mr Kearins said money not granted in this round would be rolled over to the next distribution in February, 2027. He encouraged groups and individuals in the greater Goulburn area to apply for the grants, designed to support initiatives with “real and lasting impacts.”