Headstones more than 50 years old have been found thanks to Brisbane’s February floods
Long-lost headstones from two heritage-listed Brisbane cemeteries have been found after February floods washed away topsoil at this Brisbane creek leaving historians ‘stunned.’
QLD News
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Headstones missing from two historical Brisbane cemeteries for 50 years have been found being used as a retaining wall.
Public historian Christopher Dawson said several marble and granite headstones had been unexpectedly discovered on the banks of Albany Creek following Brisbane’s February floods, which left the grounds, office and storage shed of the South Brisbane Cemetery at 185 Annerley Rd, Dutton Park, inundated with water.
He said the floods and clean up led to a “surprising sequence of events” when several old headstones from the South Brisbane and Toowong cemeteries were found about 20km away.
Writing on his ‘The Chris Dawson History Blog’ the historian said some residents were inspecting a part of Albany Creek on the border of the Brisbane and Moreton Bay Regional Council areas following the floods when they discovered the headstones forming part of a collapsed retaining wall.
“It started when the waters of Albany Creek, on the Brisbane/Moreton Bay council border, swelled up and washed away topsoil on the creek bank next to a private housing development,” Mr Dawson wrote.
“Some of the residents there were inspecting the area in the aftermath of the deluge and were stunned to find parts of headstones forming a semi-collapsed retaining wall on the bank. “These had previously been hidden by the topsoil, but here they were, marble and granite pieces with names and dates that were unmistakably from a cemetery.”
Mr Dawson said volunteers from the Friends of South Brisbane Cemetery (FOSBC) were called after one of the headstones was identified as coming from that cemetery.
“Photos of the site were forwarded, and frankly we in the FOSBC were stunned,” he said.
“These were stones that had been removed from municipal cemeteries during the controversial ‘Beautification scheme’ of the 1970s. In brief, this scheme involved the Brisbane City Council of the day deciding to tidy up the old cemeteries such as Balmoral, Toowong, Lutwyche and South Brisbane that were now mostly closed to new burials (but still requiring costly ongoing maintenance) by clearing out old monuments they deemed to be ‘dangerous or unsightly’ (after first seeking permission of the grave owners). (sic).
“The aim was to create more open parklike space. This would seem unthinkable now, but attitudes to heritage were different back then and there was little public opposition to all this. An estimated 1,000 graves were affected by this scheme.”
The Queensland Professional Historians Association member said some of the removed headstones were known to be buried either next to or inside cemeteries, but the fate of where several of them were placed had been a “mystery’ for half a century.
“The Albany Creek flooding had just solved one small part of that mystery. There is a long, low wall along the top part of the bank, and for some reason one small section was built up using the old cemetery stones,” he wrote.
A working party of about 20 Albany Creek residents and FOSBC members sifted through the area and retrieved as many headstones as they could on March 19.
Mr Dawson said names on the headstones indicated most of them were originally from Queensland’s largest cemetery, the Toowong Cemetery on the corner of Mt Coot-tha Road and Frederick Street in Toowong.
Mr Dawson said Brisbane City Council workers had since inspected the Albany Creek site and removed some larger stones the volunteers were unable to move.
“There might even be a few more pieces deeper underground. After that, we hope to see the stones returned to their original grave locations at South Brisbane and Toowong,” he wrote.
It was not yet publicly known how many headstones were found, they names engraved on them or if any dated back more than 50 years.
Calls and emails have been left for Mr Dawson but he has not yet returned any messages.
About 19,500 people are buried in the South Brisbane Cemetery, which sits on 10.9 hectares besides the Brisbane River, with the first burial having taken place in 1870.
The 44-hectare Toowong Cemetery has about 120,000 graves.
Although some burials took place from 1871, the Toowong Cemetery did not officially open until 1875, according to Brisbane City Council records.
A Friends of South Brisbane Cemetery volunteer, who shared the article on the group’s Facebook page, said they were still working through the list of names on the headstones and were considering publishing them soon.
Some people commenting under the post praised the group for salvaging the headstones and said they hoped one might belong to one of their family members.
Others, including Marilyn Smith, were incredulous at the council’s decision from years ago.
“My goodness, I just shake my head at council’s decisions ... . To be used as retaining walls!!!!! The mind just boggles,” she wrote.
A member of the FOSBC and the Brisbane City Council have both been contacted for comment.
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