General News
13 March, 2025
Patients and inmates remembered
Friends of J Ward unveiled a memorial monument this week dedicated to inmates and patients from Aradale, J Ward, and the old Ararat Gaol laid to rest in the Ararat Cemetery.
Friends of J Ward unveiled a memorial monument this week dedicated to inmates and patients from Aradale, J Ward, and the old Ararat Gaol laid to rest in the Ararat Cemetery.
Vice President of Friends of J Ward, Peter Waterman, led the unveiling ceremony, joined by members of the Friends of J Ward, the Ararat Cemetery Trust, and invested community members.
“Many of those buried here are unknown,” Mr Waterman said.
“From 1867, when the Ararat Lunatic Asylum first opened, through to its closure 126 years later, thousands of people passed through its doors.
“J Ward was part of that, as was the old gaol, and many of those who resided there were ultimately buried here in the cemetery,” he said.
Mr Waterman emphasised the importance of the memorial as a means of recognition.
“We believe there is several thousand people buried here, any of them unnamed but perhaps not forgotten by their families.”
Mr Waterman said the idea for a memorial originated with Alan Stewart, President of Friends of J Ward.
“Going back a few years, our President Alan Stewart, had the idea of putting plaques on a wall at J Ward as we don’t have access to Aradale.”
“But we were lucky about a year ago to have a member of the public contact us with an idea of coming up some memorial for these people,” he said.
The memorial itself, a bluestone post reclaimed from J Ward’s community garden, now stands at the entrance to the Ararat Cemetery, made possible through the support of the Ararat Cemetery Trust.
Among those attending the ceremony was Melbourne resident Nick Nicholls, whose great-great-grandfather, Dennis Francis, was admitted to Aradale.
“Thank you from all of the paupers who are buried here, and from their families, including mine,” Nick said.
Through research he discovered his great, great grandfather was buried at Plot 2153. “The last 11 months has been a journey for me, with a fair bit of research, and I am hoping that this here today is the beginning of something bigger.”
With 16 other asylums having operated across Victoria, Nick believes this memorial could set an important precedent. “The Cemeteries & Crematoria Association of Victoria now knows this has happened. This is the start,” he said, expressing his hope that similar memorials will be created in other cemeteries where asylum patients were buried.
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