The Prime Ministers’ Garden, its location, and the famous people who are buried there make it the most famous and historically important cemetery in Melbourne.

Since the first burial on May 28, 1853, more than 300,000 people have been buried there. This includes former prime ministers Sir Robert Menzies, James Scullin, Harold Holt, and Sir John Gorton, as well as Peter Lalor, Sir Redmond Barry, John Pascoe Fawkner, Robert O’Hara Burke, and William John Wills.

The cemetery is beautifully laid out, with beautifully landscaped grounds and winding paths, monuments and statues from the Victorian era, the historic gate lodge, and Jewish and Catholic chapels.

The cemetery encourages people to get involved and holds events and tours all year long.

When the first person was buried at the Melbourne General Cemetery in 1853, it was on the edge of the City of Melbourne. To replace the first official cemetery in Melbourne, which is now where the Queen Victoria Market is, a new cemetery had to be built. Even now, people can still be buried there. Over 300,000 people have been interned.

The 43-hectare area has three large mausoleums, Roman Catholic and Jewish chapels, beautiful rotundas, and many graves that are interesting and important in history.

At the main entrance on College Crescent, you can get a map.
The Prime Ministers Garden Memorial is right next to the main entrance. It is where Sir Robert Menzies (1894–1978) and his wife are buried. Along with Sir John Gorton (1911–2002) and a memorial to Harold Holt (1908–1967), who went missing while in office while swimming in the sea in the morning. His body was never found, so people made up stories that a Russian submarine or a shark took him.

My favorite grave is that of billiards player Walter Lindrum, whose tomb is very unique (1896 – 1973). His grave marker is a pool table with a cue, three pool balls, and a masonic symbol.

The cemetery is also a memorial park with a big statue of Burke and Willis, two explorers from the 1800s. A memorial to Elvis Presley next to a grotto that looks like a cave. The cave was paid for by the singer’s local fan club. And in the Jewish section of the cemetery is a Holocaust monument in the shape of a massive candelabra.

As I wandered around the cemetery, I was surprised to find a tombstone that said sorry for all the babies who had been buried in mass graves that weren’t marked. In the early to mid-1900s, these babies who had died too soon at nearby maternity hospitals were secretly sent to Melbourne University for “teaching purposes.” One had been my stillborn Aunt.

Melbourne General Cemetery is located very close to Northern Car Removal. you can check below Google Maps.