The hundreds of unidentified children and adults resting in Gisborne cemetery will be honoured by a memorial to be unveiled next month.
More than 300 graves in the cemetery are unmarked because of insufficient records, according to Gisborne Cemetery Trust president Doug McArthur.
“The records going back 150 years aren’t that good, which is fairly common with most old cemeteries,” Mr McArthur said.
He said a private donor had dedicated funds to the commemoration of unidentified children’s graves at the cemetery.
That had prompted the trust to combine that money with other donations from the community to erect a memorial to all those in unmarked graves.
“We always have very strong community support,” Mr McArthur said.
At the memorial’s unveiling, the trust will also enhance the existing monument erected for the centenary of World War I in 2015.
A poem by local poet Eddie Gardiner has been set in bronze and mounted on granite to complement the existing bronze statue of a soldier.
Mr Gardiner will recite the poem at its unveiling..
The unveiling ceremony will take place from 11am on Wednesday, June 14.
Refreshments will be provided afterwards.
