George Caldwell
c. 1797/1798 – 23 or 25 March 1843
George Caldwell was an early colonial figure whose burial history connects Sandgate Cemetery with Newcastle’s older burial grounds. Although he died decades before Sandgate Cemetery opened in 1881, records indicate that Caldwell’s remains were later exhumed and reinterred at Sandgate Cemetery in 1916.
Find a Grave records him as Corporal George Caldwell, born in 1798 and died on 23 March 1843. Other details suggest he was associated with the Mounted Police and was originally buried at Cottage Creek Cemetery, Newcastle. This makes his entry especially important for the Sandgate Cemetery Project, as it shows how Sandgate became not only a place of new burials, but also a receiving cemetery for earlier colonial interments moved from older Newcastle burial grounds.
Caldwell’s grave represents a layered burial history: original death and burial in the early colonial period, later exhumation, and reinterment at Sandgate. His story highlights the importance of carefully checking cemetery records, as some people listed at Sandgate were not originally buried there.
Further research is needed to confirm his exact date of death, original burial location, headstone inscription, family connections, and the reason for his 1916 reinterment.
Sources
Find a Grave. (n.d.). Cpl George Caldwell (1798–1843) memorial. Find a Grave.
Free Settler or Felon. (n.d.). Corporal George Caldwell. Free Settler or Felon: Convict & Settler Records of Early Newcastle and Hunter River, New South Wales.
Newcastle Family History Society. (2018). Cemeteries index. This is useful because it lists Cottage Creek Cemetery references, including last interment, closure, and transfer of remains.
