LAURA WALKER GRAVE SITE

The single grave site is surrounded by a low railing and a timber plaque inscribed “Laura Walker Born 9-3-1895 Died 23-3-1895.”

The site is significant as a child’s burial site dating back to the late 1800s. The site may have a connection to the nearby historic Scandinavian hotel site (Old Walkers hotel). This is a lone infant’s grave surrounded by a low railing, and marked by a timber plaque inscribed “Laura Walker Born 9-3-1895 Died 23-3-1895.”  The site includes archaeological features that have the potential to provide information on infant mortality practices in a lone rural context in the C19th, and likely association with mining communities.

The site is important as a child's burial site and provides an important link to the past use of the area and the people who lived there. The Walker family occupied the Yarra Track and operated a hotel on Woods Point Road in the C19th. While it is unclear which hotel they operated, the grave is in close proximity to the site of the former Scandinavian Hotel, and as this has elsewhere been referred to as ‘Walkers Hotel site’, it appears likely that this was the family’s hotel. It is likely that infant Laura Walker was associated with this family. Therefore, the site is of historical significance for its association with a prominent family in the region.