This little burial ground was established around the middle of the 19th century on Glen Shea, a property owned by the Richardson family, immigrants from Perthshire in Scotland. The present owner of the property, Mr Max Yeo, kindly allowed us access to the cemetery and provided the following information, for which we are most grateful.
The district was at first known by the Aboriginal name Murry Gon Gon, becoming shortened to Murrygon and eventually transformed to Merrygoen. Even though on private property, the cemetery was apparently used for a time as a general cemetery for the Merrygoen district but was never consecrated as such. Unfortunately, it was located beside a flood prone creek. In a major flood in 1955, many of the stones were toppled and buried in the silt. Mr Yeo, whose family has owned the property since those times, considers that about half of the stones disappeared in that flood.
Nineteen headstones remain; three of these have fallen and one has broken. At some time, a member of the Richardson family remounted three stones in a horizontal position on a concrete platform above flood level. Inscriptions that remain are dated between 1852 and 1920. For the most part, they are clearly legible and reflect the skills of those early masons and the quality of the sandstone they used.
Jean and I visited the site on 4 October 2005. In compiling the attached list, we also referred to the NSW indexes of births, deaths and marriages for further information. Images may be viewed and downloaded from the list of inscriptions for this cemetery.
Glen Shea being private property, the cemetery is surrounded by agricultural land so access is only possible at certain times of the year. Arrangements to visit the site should be made beforehand with the owner.