Information

Brisbane General Cemetery was opened in 1875. Although the Cemetery Act was passed in 1866 providing the means to establish general cemeteries under the control of government appointed trustees, it was another decade before the Toowong Cemetery was officially opened. In 1868, a further portion of Crown land, 53 acres in area, north of the cemetery reserve was added to fulfil of the Trustee’s requirement for the entire cemetery to be surrounded with public roads While the Toowong Cemetery was officially opened in 1875, some burials took place from 1871, most notably Queensland’s second governor, Colonel Samuel Blackall. The lack of public transportation for funeral processions was one of the perceived shortfalls of the Toowong site, so with the extension of the Main Line railway through the western suburbs to Toowong in 1875 and the promise of a mortuary rail station (similar to Sydney’s Mortuary railway station) provided the catalyst for the opening of the cemetery. The grounds at the Cemetery were laid out by the prominent surveyor, George Phillips and a set of books drawn up by the Government Printer. [The mortuary railway station did not go ahead] Today there are approximately 120,000 people buried at Toowong including a Prime Minister, two Queensland Governors, 13 Queensland Premiers, 11 Queensland Labor leaders, at least 15 Brisbane Mayors as well as many other prominent political, religious, sports, arts and business figures.

Citations

Brisbane City Council, Heritage Trail – Toowong Cemetery, series No.5, (B.C.C., 1991); Toowong: A Community’s History, p. 51.

Image Citations

Brisbane Central Cemetery, known locally as Toowong Cemetery. Toowong History Group

Map References

QSA. QSA Series ID 2043 City of Brisbane and Suburbs Maps – A1A Series. 5 chains to the inch. City of Brisbane. 5 chains to the inch. Government Engraving, and Lithographic Office, Brisbane. 634496