St Kilda Cemetery was laid out in 1851 by Robert Hoddle's assistant surveyor HB Foot, with the reservation of Crown land approved in 1853.
St Kilda Cemetery is one of the oldest suburban cemeteries in Melbourne officially opening on 9 June 1855. The first burial was that of a young girl Charlotte Green who was interred in the Baptist section on 1 May 1855. The gate lodge was built around 1857, and the rotundas in 1860. The external brick wall was built in circa 1883.
In 1900 the cemetery was closed except to holders of burial rights and re-opened later, in 1923 to allow the sale of a small number of allotments and 1928 when a further 250 graves were offered for sale. The Necropolis Springvale commenced administration of the cemetery in February 1968. Two nineteenth-century brick, slate-roofed gate lodge and office buildings were demolished in the early 1970s. A lawn cemetery was established on the site of the gate lodge in 1970. The total site covers 7 hectares (18 acres). Approximately 53,000 burials have occurred. There are about 20 burials per annum.