[2] It is also significant for being the final resting place of many notables, including over 50 First Fleet graves and well known early European settlers, such as the Reverend Samuel Marsden, his wife Elizabeth, land holder D'Arcy Wentworth and family, land holders and farmers the Blaxland family, Charles Fraser, soldier and colonial botanist, who was appointed the first superintendent of the Sydney Botanic Garden by Governor Macquarie in 1816,[3][4] and colonial bridge builder David Lennox, to name just a few.

[4] The Indigenous people who inhabited the Parramatta River and its headwaters consisted of a number of clans, hordes or families known generally as the Darug Nation.

At the head of the river were the Burramattagal clan (or Barramattagal) whose tribal lands included the area of the present day city of Parramatta.

The country was highly suitable as a place to live with its ample fresh water, prolific plant and animal life and temperate climate.

While there seems to have been little conflict between the new settlers and the Indigenous inhabitants at this time in the Parramatta area (unlike Sydney Cove) the Barrumattagal clan were devastated by introduced European diseases, including the 1789 smallpox epidemic.

A general burial ground was established on the site in 1790, the first interment, that of convicts' child James Magee, taking place on 31 January 1790.

The project has been funded by the Royal Australian Historical Society, the City of Parramatta Council in 2016, and the New South Wales Government through a Create NSW "Arts and Cultural Grant" between 2019 and 2021.

It is surrounded by a high (c. 3m) wall of convict-made bricks with an angled "peak" top, constructed in 1820s AZP Cross Reference: PC 134.

[4] St John's Anglican Cemetery was listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999 having satisfied the following criteria.