Penguin General Cemetery

Voices in the wind, the stunning sunrise views over the Bass Strait, welcome to the heritage-listed Penguin General Cemetery, located along Main Street a kilometre west of the Post Office. At rest here are Bounty immigrants from the 1850s, returned soldiers from as far back as the Boer War, many of Penguin’s former notables, as well as the odd ex-convict.

Penguin General Cemetery dates from the 1860s; closing in 1977 it was heritage-listed in 2007 leaving behind many a Penguin General Cemetery mystery. Where will these stories take you? Who is the ‘John Doe’, buried 7 January 1915? Could he be Jeremiah or Michael Clifford, an Irishman in his 40s? The search for his identity continues.

Penguin General Cemetery has more than eighteen hundred burials. Burial records for which there were no bodies, burials for which the locations have been misplaced. Honouring bygone lives ensures the survival of the community’s heritage. Dignifying seven early 1900 pioneers, with individual gravestones, typifies Penguin community’s respect for its heritage.

Yet more can be done. In passing, every person leaves footprints, their stories to be found and voiced. A treasure-trove of history, information and lives gone await the curious, with much research readily available.