Bourke's cemetery predates the town and has been the scene for two of Australia's most famous funerals. In September 1892 a young Henry Lawson joined in the procession following the coffin of an unknown young stockman who had drowned in a billabong near Bourke. His union papers identified him simply as 'James Tyson'. (It was later discovered that his name was John Hallahan) The melancholy event was captured by Lawson in what became his best story -"The Union Buries its Dead" - a classic tale from the Western frontier.

In 1993 Professor Fred Hollows, the eye surgeon known world wide for his determination to restore the sight of people going needlessly blind, was buried in Bourke. His motto "that all the world may see" echoes the "mateship ethic Lawson celebrated a century earlier as the true spirit of the bush.

Many of the epitaphs in the cemetary tell of tragedy that constantly stalked the Western plains -"drowned", "killed by lightning", "murdered", "poisoned himself", "shot dead by police". Sheer isolation took its toll - "found hanging in the bush", "found dead in the bush", "perished in the bush".

The Coolibah's of Bourke Cemetary guard a fascinating piece of Australia's frontier history. An hour spent browsing the inspcriptions will take you back into a world of bushrangers and drovers, cameleers and river boat men, lost children and local heroes