THE gates of Sandgate Cemetery have swung open in cyberspace with a website that allows visitors to take a virtual tour of the 16-hectare necropolis. In what is believed to be an Australian first for a large cemetery, website users can view the grave of a person they are looking for by typing the surname into a search engine. The search also provides the grave's Google Earth co-ordinates, which can be transferred to a smart phone via a QR scan app. About 90,000 people have been buried at Sandgate, the state's third-largest cemetery, since it opened in 1881. The website, sandgatecemetery.org.au, which went live late last week, has attracted interest from users in New Zealand, the United Kingdom, the US and Japan. "People have been really positive with their feedback about the site; we've had about 130,000 page views in the past week," website creator and Sandgate Cemetery trustee Terry St George said. "We still have a little bit more work to do to get all of the information and photos online but we are almost there." The website has details of famous individuals buried at Sandgate and a breakdown of burial trends, many of which reflect the Lower Hunter's social history. The information has gradually been transferred from the cemetery's original burial registers to a database since late 1990s. "It was a page by page process of transcribing old handwritten pages and bringing them into the modern era," Mr St George said. Cemetery chairman Peter Owens said the trust hoped the project would be of use to a wide range of groups and individuals. "The great thing is that it provides access to a lot of information that previously wasn't readily available to the community. We are delighted with the result," Mr Owens said. "We are also very grateful for the work that Terry has put into the project." Web address: sandgatecemetery.org.au
INFORMATION: Website creator and Sandgate Cemetery trustee Terry St George. Picture: Anita Jones
THE gates of Sandgate Cemetery have swung open in cyberspace with a website that allows visitors to take a virtual tour of the 16-hectare necropolis.
In what is believed to be an Australian first for a large cemetery, website users can view the grave of a person they are looking for by typing the surname into a search engine.
The search also provides the grave's Google Earth co-ordinates, which can be transferred to a smart phone via a QR scan app.
About 90,000 people have been buried at Sandgate, the state's third-largest cemetery, since it opened in 1881.
The website, sandgatecemetery.org.au, which went live late last week, has attracted interest from users in New Zealand, the United Kingdom, the US and Japan.
"People have been really positive with their feedback about the site; we've had about 130,000 page views in the past week," website creator and Sandgate Cemetery trustee Terry St George said.
"We still have a little bit more work to do to get all of the information and photos online but we are almost there."
The website has details of famous individuals buried at Sandgate and a breakdown of burial trends, many of which reflect the Lower Hunter's social history.
The information has gradually been transferred from the cemetery's original burial registers to a database since late 1990s.
"It was a page by page process of transcribing old handwritten pages and bringing them into the modern era," Mr St George said.
Cemetery chairman Peter Owens said the trust hoped the project would be of use to a wide range of groups and individuals.
"The great thing is that it provides access to a lot of information that previously wasn't readily available to the community. We are delighted with the result," Mr Owens said. "We are also very grateful for the work that Terry has put into the project."
