The East Maitland Cemetery is located on the crossroads of Raymond Terrace and Metford Roads in East Maitland NSW. It is a large operational cemetery, generally in good condition, with clearly marked denomination sections, each having clear row markings. The cemetery is administered by the Maitland City Council (MCC) who has an on-line list of all known interments for all cemeteries under their control including operational and historic cemeteries. This list can be viewed on the Maitland City Council Burial Register site and usually provides the section, row and plot number, if known. The website also has a map of the layout of the East Maitland cemetery, as well as separate maps giving the layouts for each section within the cemetery.
Within the East Maitland Cemetery are sections for Church of England, Roman Catholic, Methodist, Presbyterian, Uniting, Baptist, and a General Section that has Church of Christ, Congregational, Islamic, Lutheran, Seventh Day Adventist and Non-Denominational burials. Baby graves are usually located as a subsection of each of the main Religious denominations. There is a War section located nearby as well. While their deaths may be recorded on the Burial Register, graves for the Destitute generally have no headstones and are often unidentifiable. Some destitute graves are located at the Metford Road end of the Church of England section.
Historically, the need for new denominational cemeteries in the area was raised in a letter to the Editor of the Maitland Mercury on Saturday 25 May 1850. (TROVE). According to the MCC Burial Register, the first recorded burial was in 1858. A criminal "Black Harry" was executed in November 1861 and interred in the cemetery. Newspaper reports from around the State suggest that his grave was disturbed and his head removed so that a mask could be made and used for phrenological purposes. An inspection of the grave subsequently decided that this was mere conjecture and rumour.