Whroo Cemetery

Information boards at the picnic/parking area display the following text: 

Whroo Cemetery

There are approximately 400 graves recorded at the Cemetery but not all graves are marked. Tombstones tell of the people's mining accidents, illness, infant mortality and the harsh living conditions. 

Just inside the gate, to the right was the Chinese section. The 1863 Census indicates that out of the 702 residents at Whroo, about fifteen percent were Chinese. Some like Ah Chow, Ah Wee and Lo Dong were storekeepers while others were market gardeners or miners. 

Chinese market gardens existed at Moora, Rushworth, and Long Gully, Whroo. They battled on unfavourable soil, native animals, a water shortage and a harsh climate for their market gardens to survive. 

The Chinese left their mark in the area with graves in the Whroo cemetery, the Gheong Dam and house site found down Cheong Road as well as round mine shafts at the Phoenix Reef, Chinamans Hill and Cockatoo mines. 

Amongst the people's surnames at Whroo, the countries represented during the gold rush era were England (Lewis), France (Bartholomi), Spain (Manuel), New Zealand (Murray, Cluney, Rush and Bregan), Ireland (Ryan, Sullivan, Scurry and O'Brian), Scotland, China (Cheong), Prussia (Schleswig), Austria (Holstein), Denmark, just to name a few. Many of these nationalities can be found within this cemetery. 

Population

Between the gold rushes of 1853 and 1860, Whroo had experienced a fluctuating population of around 10,000 people.

A major growth in the population occurred in the first few months of gold being discovered at Whroo. Harsh conditions, lack of water and severe climatic conditions made it impossible for many of the original miners to stay. Each time a new gold strike was made a Whroo, a swarm of miners would return. 

Many men living at Whroo met their death as a result of mining shafts caving in. Consumption, known as Miners Disease, which was a lunch disease causing loss of breath developed primarily from the dust produced by rock drills.