Greensborough is a residential suburb about 17 km north-east of Melbourne, situated on the Plenty River. The cemetery is on the corner of Hailes and Jessop Street, Greensborough [Melways: Map 20, H1] and the Register and Headstones information found at the Genealogical Society of Victoria covers the period of the 30th January, 1864 to 28th July, 1963 and was complied by Ruth Crowther. For most of its life it was a private cemetery, but in the 1970s, following there only being one cemetery trust member in place, it was taken over by the government and made a public cemetery. It is currently managed by the Banyule City Council. On the 30th August, 1978 the cemetery was closed to burials.

The land was given for the cemetery by Mr William Poulter, a local settler, about 1864, but the cemetery was not officially opened until March, 1875 by which time there were about 20 graves in the area. It was much larger than it is today as in 1911 a section of it was sold to the railways which now passes close by.

The section of land comprising most of the present day Greensborough was purchased by Henry Smythe who sold it in 1841 to Edward Green, soldier, mail contractor and squatter. By 1868 Greensborough had a local population of about 200 people.

The cemetery holds the graves of many of the early settlers in the district, but over time vandals have broken a number of headstones and others have been removed. An early set of records note that the cemetery holds approximately 250 grave sites and 350 people buried there. The names on the listing for this cemetery held at the GSV come from 3 sources: Headstones, Registrar's Certificate certifying death and from the Financial Records of the cemetery.

Noel Withers, a resident of the area, is doing an excellent job in both researching the burials in the cemetery and in the upkeep of the cemetery. Noel has had a list of burials in the cemetery printed and mounted in the front of the cemetery for all to see.

The earliest memorial is that of William Poulter's sister, Betsy [Elizabeth Aldridge] who died in 1864, aged 34 years.

Other memorials and information include:

* Sacred to the Memory of WILLIAM POULTER, a native of Cowlinge, Suffold, England, who departed this life, February, 22nd 1874, aged 69 years.
[The records indicate that there are 25 Poulters buried in the cemetery]
* In Memory of JAMES CHAPMAN. Died 15th March, 1875. Aged 69 years [James Chapman made one of the first land purchases along the river flats of Greensborough].
* There are a number of AMIET family members buried:
- Claude Amiet, buried 21/3/1911, Aged: 25 years.
- Louis Amiet, buried 1/11/1932, Aged: 75 years,
- Helen Amiet, buried 9/10/1944.
[Louis Amiet was the pioneering headmaster of Greensborough State School and Louis St and Amiet St Greensborough are named after him.]

The records for this cemetery contain information of many families with some of the family names including Bonsak, Butcher, Iredale, Partington, Scotland, Splatt, Withell and Whatmough.

This old cemetery still remains on a now smaller section of ground, and work is being done for the upkeep of the cemetery with some funds being provided by the Banyule City Council. A visit to the cemetery may be of value for family historians with ancestors who were from the Greensborough area.