St Thomas Rest Park, Sextons Cottage Museum

St Thomas\' Cemetery was the first burial ground established on the North Shore.

The land for the cemetery was donated to the Anglican Parish of St Leonards in 1845 by a prominent landowner and merchant, Alexander Berry.

Berry wanted a burial place for his wife, Elizabeth (sister of Edward Wollstonecraft) who died in 1845.

The striking pyramid monument in the centre of the Rest Park was erected in her honour.

Edward Wollstonecraft and Alexander Berry are also buried here.

The cemetery contains the graves of many notable local residents and mirrors the development of the district over a 100 period.

The first burial was recorded in 1847 and the last in 1950.

In 1969 the cemetery was handed over to North Sydney Council and opened as a Rest Park in 1974.

The Sexton\'s Cottage, a stone cottage built about 1850, consisted originally of only one room.

It was used for the ‘laying out' of bodies prior to burial. Extensions were carried out in the 1880s.

The building became a residence for the Church\'s sexton. In 1985 the cottage was restored by North Sydney Council and a museum was opened in 1987.

The Museum contains a copy of the burial register, as well as storyboards which tell the