St John's Cemetery, Parramatta, Historic cemetery in Parramatta, Australia

St John's Cemetery faces O'Connell Street on its eastern side, its only street access. It is enclosed by a high wall of convict-made bricks with an angled peak top, built in the 1820s, and a lych gate frames the entry gates in the centre of the eastern wall.

Established in 1790, the cemetery is the oldest surviving European burial ground in Australia. It preserves more than 50 graves of First Fleet members, the initial European settlers who founded the colony.

The cemetery's name recalls the Burramattagal clan, whose lands included Parramatta; Governor Phillip renamed the Rose Hill settlement Parramatta in 1791 after the clan, noting the word meant "head of a river". Since 2016, historians have published biographies of "Old Parramattans" buried here, including First Fleeters, convict constables, Wesleyans and women of the Female Factories.

The cemetery is open during daylight hours and you can park for free at Westfield Parramatta Aird Street parking lot directly across the road. It is wise to check opening hours in advance and plan your visit when there is good daylight.

The headstone of Henry Edward Dodd, dated 1791, marks the oldest known grave in the country and belongs to the supervisor of the first successful wheat crop. His memorial demonstrates the important role played by lesser-known individuals in Australia's early colonial days.