Old Man's Valley Cemetery is a heritage-listed former cemetery and now memorial landscape at Old Man's Valley, off Quarry Road, Hornsby in the Hornsby Shire local government area of New South Wales, Australia. It was designed by and built by members of the Higgins family between 1879 and 1931 with the assistance of monumental masons. It is also known as Higgin's Family Cemetery, Old Mans Valley Cemetery and Higgins Family Cemetery. The property is owned by Hornsby Shire Council. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 22 December 2006.
History Indigenous history Old Man's Valley is associated with an Aboriginal family story in a recent history book by Peter Read, Haunted Earth. Read describes taking Dennis Foley, an Aboriginal man whose traditional land is to the east of Hornsby, to Old Man's Valley:
European Settlement of Old Man's Valley
The family that established the cemetery are descendants of Second Fleet transportees, Thomas Edward Higgins and Eleanor McDonald. Eleanor's first husband, First Fleet convict David Killpack, was granted in the Field of Mars district (modern Carlingford). Eleanor and David were the first free settlers within the present day boundaries of Hornsby Shire Council. Following David's death in 1798, Eleanor sold part of the land but continued to farm some 30 acres of it in her own right. In 1799, she married Thomas Higgins, their son, Thomas Edward II being born in 1800. Thomas and Eleanor remained on their farm until their deaths in 1828 and 1835 respectively. Thomas Edward II was made a district constable for the Field of Mars district and in 1823 was promised a grant of land that included a relatively fertile valley west of the ridge now occupied by the Hornsby shopping centre. He is thought to have named the grant Old Man's Valley. In taking up the grant, Thomas Edward II became the first settler in the Hornsby area. After his death, ownership of the land passed to his son, Thomas Edward III whose large family formed the basis of the community that was established in the valley. It is believed that Thomas Edward III established the cemetery when his youngest son, Harrold died. It is further believed that the cemetery was consecrated as an Anglican burial site when Thomas himself was interred there in 1885. However the Anglican Diocese of Sydney has no record of this consecration, although it is acknowledged that a local consecration may have taken place and the local records lost. The earliest dated inscription in the cemetery records the death of Ann Elizabeth Harrington (daughter of Ann and Matthew Harrington) who died aged 14 months in 1871. Ann was not, however, buried in the cemetery, but within the orchards on the Harrington property and the inscribed stone is a memorial rather than a grave marker. In the period of its use from 1879 to 1931, 25 persons are known to have been interred there and it reliably recalled that a family midwife, Ann Harrington, buried some still-born and other non-surviving babies within the confines of the cemetery. It is also believed by family members that the cemetery was used for the burial of stillborn babies and other infants in unmarked graves near the east boundary. The establishment and use of the cemetery appears to be a direct response to the isolation of the valley and the difficulties of transporting the dead to the existing formal burial grounds, as well as a reflection of the strong connection between the Higgins family and the valley.
In the early 20th century, matters concerning the burial of the dead were increasingly regulated with the passing of the Public Health Act 1902, and in sections of the Local Government Act 1919. Mrs. Dorothy Jansson remembers applying for special permission to enable the burial of Loretta Jansson in 1931, which was granted because of the economic hardship of the Great Depression. Thomas Higgins IV also wished to be buried in the cemetery but this was prevented by legal requirements. With the advent of the motorised funeral which became increasingly common from the 1930s, the conveyance of the dead became easier. In addition, new cemeteries supplemented the existing burial grounds available to the residents of the North Shore.Parsons Brickerhoff, 2004, p162 By the late 1960s, the last of the Higgins family left the valley, and the last standing residence, the house erected on the site of the original homestead built by Thomas Edward Higgins II, and residence of Thomas III and Ann Elizabeth Rhodes/Pollard, was demolished. This house was last occupied by Percy Higgins (tenth child of Thomas III and Ann), his wife, Clifton Forrest, and later their daughter Freda and her husband, Mr. Jones. A monument dedicated to the pioneering Higgins family was erected by Farley and Lewers on the site of the house in 1970.Parsons Brickerhoff, 2004, p165
Deterioration of the Cemetery The appearance of the cemetery in the early twentieth century is shown in surviving photographs taken . During this time the cemetery was enclosed by a morticed and tenoned, timber post and two railed, split-paling fence which defined and separated it from the surrounding area. A cleared fire-break was maintained around the cemetery area. Early photographs show that the family plots were extensively planted with both introduced and native species including alyssum, violets, lilies, daisies, climbing roses and bracken fern. Later photographs (c. 1960s to 1980s) also show the presence of snowdrops, belladonna lilies, watsonias and ornamental oxalis. By the late 1920s to early 1930s, the original timber fence had been replaced by fencing of timber posts with wire strands. At this time, access to the cemetery was through a gate positioned in the southwest corner. The boundary of the cemetery was further maintained by the presence of a clipped privet hedge which was maintained by Norman Higgins. After the 1930s, the Higgins family cemetery was no longer used for the burial of family members; however it appears that it was sporadically maintained by family members still living in the valley. During the late 1950s to early 1960s, the cemetery suffered a series of attacks by vandals. The railings and corner posts of many grave surrounds were broken or dislodged and the upper sections of many headstones were broken. Photographs taken in the mid 1960s show the cemetery in a state of neglect and decay and several additional damaged and overturned cemetery monuments are evident. Another major attack by vandals which resulted in additional destruction of monuments and increased scattering of fragments away from their original locations was reported in The Advocate in 1969. It appears that a timber post and wire fence which remained extant until the early twenty-first century was erected at this time.
Rock mining in Old Man's Valley In , blue metal began to be quarried from the Old Mans Valley. It was hauled out by horse and dray, two draught horses being used in tandem for the steep climb up the escarpment. Once the ridge had been reached, one of the horses was unhitched and tethered in the shade whilst the other delivered the load. By the 1920s, the quarry was in full production and operating on a commercial scale. Hornsby Shire Council acquired the lease to operate a quarry from the then land owner during this time. Four years later, Hornsby Road Metal Limited acquired the lease of the quarry, which they held for more than ten years. When Hornsby Road Metal Ltd first took over the lease of the quarry, crushed blue metal was being hauled to the ride in skips on a narrow railway line. As production increased, a continuous chain of buckets was installed to deliver crushed rock to the screening plant, above the valley floor. During the 1930s, bushland walks were apparently created around the quarry as part of unemployment relief. The quarry operations were temporarily closed down during World War II, and work did not recommence until the 1950s. In 1954, the Council sub-leased the quarry. The lessee worked the quarry until 1959 and production increased dramatically during this time. In 1959, Hornsby Blue Metal Pty Ltd, a subsidiary of Farley & Lewers Ltd, acquired the quarry and Council lease. Farley & Lewers commenced management of the present quarry operation and acquired several of the original Higgins family properties. Farley & Lewers was subsequently taken over by CSR Ltd and incorporated within the Readymix Group. CSR Readymix continued to operate the quarry until its recent acquisition by Council. Products produced by the quarry included road base and aggregates.Parsons Brickerhoff, 2004, 165-166.
Acquisition by Hornsby Council In recent years, the quarry became increasingly unviable due to the poor quality of extracted material and the then owners, CSR Ltd, explored opportunities to fill the site with either waste or virgin excavated material, or rezone areas of the side for medium density residential development. Neither of these proposed options was undertaken and CSR Ltd subsequently served notice on Council to acquire the site on 22 March 2001. In accordance with Council's obligations under the HSLEP, and the statutory processes required under the Land Acquisition (Just Terms Compensation) Act, Council obtained the approval of the Minister for Local Government on 9 May 2002 to acquire the quarry site and the adjacent lands.Parsons Brickerhoff, 2004, p166 The final transfer of title was formalised on 31 May 2006.
Higgins family conservation of the cemetery