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The heritage graveyard surrounding the Cathedral Church of St Mary in New Plymouth is a peaceful place steeped in history that goes right back to the digging of the first grave in 1843.

But over the years graves and headstones of early settlers and their families – and soldiers garrisoned in the town – have suffered from the ravages of time; and that’s where John Pickering comes in.

For the last three years John has been a familiar sight at work on those graves: repairing them, restoring them and cleaning them.

With the help of parishioner Howard Vosper, they have completed 80 graves, with five still to go.

“People were buried in the graveyard from 1843 until it was officially closed in 1861,” he said. “After that, burials were restricted to members of the families of the people who had already been buried here.

“We have a good relationship with the War Graves Commission with whom we have an agreement to look after their 20 graves.”

John’s interest in genealogy has come in handy while working on the project, for he has needed to do a good deal of research on the families; information about some of them was scarce, because those buried had been dead for more than 150 years and their descendants had died off or moved out of the district.

John’s own forebears came to New Zealand in 1880. He himself grew up in All Saints in Palmerston North, where his father was county engineer. He was the only son in a family of girls, “so I was spoilt.”

After gaining a commerce degree at Victoria University in Wellington and periods working as an accountant in London and Johannesburg, he moved to New Plymouth in 1979 where he worked for Taranaki Newspapers and then at the Taranaki Hospital Board.

Over the years he has been associated with the Taranaki Cricket Association, Tainui Rest Home, the Pukeiti Rhododendron Trust, and latterly the Priscilla Sandys Wunsch Scholarship Trust.  He is also a member of the Genealogy Society of New Plymouth and the Prisoners’ Aid and Rehabilitation Society.

Add a comment3 Comments

Reply carol o'shea | April 7th, 2016 at 2:46am

Last month I took a guided tour of the churchyard at the church of St. Mary conducted by John Pickering. I would very much like to include some of the stories he told about the people buried there along with the many photos I took that day to put in my diary. I have been unable to locate a website with any of this information and I am wondering if you can help me with my quest. Many thanks, Carol O'Shea

Reply Richard Grevers | April 12th, 2016 at 12:03pm

Hello Carol,
An A3 colour map of the churchyard complete with biographical information on selected memorials is in the process of being published (we are just awaiting printing quotes). This will be on sale from the Welcome Desk as soon as it is ready (hopefully in a few weeks). In the meantime, we have just printed a smaller map with an index of graves, available free from the welcome desk.

Reply Chris Harlen | September 27th, 2019 at 6:25pm

Is the smaller map with the index of graves available on line. I am bringing my mother to see the grave of her great grandfather Peter Facey Hoskin 22 October 1860 on October 5th 2019.

Thanks Chris Harlen