A redevelopment program — also known as “Cemetery Renewal” — is ongoing at Karrakatta, Western Australia’s largest cemetery.
When a section of the cemetery is redeveloped, the Metropolitan Cemeteries Board (MCB) prepares a document titled “Book of Remembrance” (BOR). The BORs list all of the burials in that section prior to redevelopment, as well as, where the MCB recorded it, the subsequent disposition of any associated monument (very limited for the early phases of redevelopment).
Some physical copies of the BORs are held in metal cabinets located throughout the cemetery; others are available to inspect “upon request” at the front office. The MCB does not officially publish the BORs; the PDFs on this site have been obtained through information requests or, where the MCB has refused to provide copies, by manually scanning the physical documents. Our website is currently the only publicly accessible source for these PDFs.
Where monument information is present, the standard recorded outcomes are:
- Relocated: The monument was moved to another location within the cemetery — typically a wall or garden bed — with the new location noted in the entry.
- Unmarked: The grave had no monument prior to redevelopment.
- “Retained in situ”: The monument was left in its original position within the section.
- “Removed”: In BOR terminology, this indicates the monument was destroyed during redevelopment, not relocated.
Significant inaccuracies have been reported across the BORs, and the MCB has progressively replaced some documents as a result. We will update the PDFs on this site if and when updated versions come to hand.
The Saving Family Headstones at Karrakatta Group Admin Team is not responsible for how others may interpret, use or republish these documents.
For more information on the redevelopment program, please visit our home page.
Pictured up top is the Book of Remembrance cabinet in the Congregational EA section of Karrakatta Cemetery, installed on a wall with removed headstones.