HISTORY MURDERED: Conveyed to South Brisbane Cemetery Morgue for post-mortem

 South Brisbane Cemetery from the Brisbane River, ca. 1896

During the past week, South Brisbane Cemetery has experienced some very good...and some very bad.  The very good came on Wednesday night, with the exposure of an old ghost story of the cemetery which has become horribly jumbled, published on The Chris Dawson History Blog entitled, "The Woman in Black: Solving the mystery of a vanishing ghost."  The very bad came the next night, on Thursday, when the female toilet block within the cemetery was set on fire by an arsonist just prior to 10pm - whilst the fire was extinguished soon after, the building was significantly damaged.  

So, with jumbled ghost stories and cemetery buildings at the forefront of South Brisbane Cemetery news this week, one particular puzzling tale immediately comes to mind.  For some years now, a ghost story has been told on the commercial tours of the cemetery regarding a building that once stood alongside Section 6B - over the space of this article, we'll collate all the necessary historic information required & investigate why this tale is so intriguing.  The story, as relayed to me by those who have taken this tour, goes:

A wooden building used to exist on the site up until a couple of decades ago, when it was demolished to make way for the current cemetery buildings alongside Section 6B.  For the vast bulk of the 1900's, up until its removal, the building was utilised as the Sexton's office, & earned a solid reputation for bizarre incidents & ghostly occurrences.  Items within the building were regularly upset or moved, tools vanished & weird sounds were frequently heard.  Now, it seems that the building's mere situation within the cemetery grounds was not the cause for these supposedly haunted happenings - prior to its conversion into the Sexton's office around 1900, this wooden building had acted as the State Government morgue - the very room in which the cemetery staff would consume their lunches had been the room in which the autopsies had been performed.  Bodies were brought from all over Queensland for the purpose of post-mortem examinations - most notably to the history of Brisbane, those who had lost their lives during the terrible 1893 floods were conveyed to this morgue for autopsy & identification.

Keeping this in mind, we need to delve into the annals of history for some perspective.  Throughout February 1893, multiple drowning deaths occurred as a result of the devastating 1893 Brisbane floods.  The details of each drowning, & subsequent Magisterial Inquiries, were documented in the Brisbane Courier - George Brown, who drowned about the 4th of February & was located a week later at Gardens Point, was taken to the hospital morgue; Alexander Freese, who drowned in Grey Street on the 6th of February, was taken to the hospital morgue; Katie Maher, who drowned near Queen Street on the 11th of February, was taken to the hospital morgue; Michael Joyce, who drowned near the Brisbane Wharves on the 11th of February, was taken to the hospital morgue; Patrick Casey, who drowned near Breakfast Creek on the 17th of February, was taken to the hospital morgue; Sydney Hollyman, who drowned in Edward Street on the 19th of February, was taken to the hospital morgue. Whilst further drowning deaths occurred as a result of the 1893 floods, 6 examples are adequate to aid in our investigation.

Two further records must be mentioned before we get to the crux of our investigation, as they are of major importance - on the 9th of September 1896, residents alerted the police to the body of a young girl floating in the river at the foot of the South Brisbane Cemetery.  The police responded immediately, recovering the body from the water, & conveyed the remains to the hospital morgue. After a post-mortem examination was conducted, the body was identified as that of Lottie McCrea, a servant girl who had resided on Boggo Road (now Annerley Road).  4 years later, on the 25th of April 1900, the body of a man was recovered from the river below the South Brisbane Cemetery in an advanced state of decomposition.  The remains were conveyed to the hospital morgue for an autopsy, however all attempts at identification were unsuccessful - the unfortunate soul was buried, possibly back in South Brisbane Cemetery, the next day on the 26th of April.  In both of these cases, & especially the second, the bodies required transport over fair distance to the hospital morgue by either watercraft or by road via horse-drawn hearse - why not transfer these bodies onto land at the foot of the cemetery & traverse the couple of hundred metres to the State Government morgue within the cemetery grounds??

I possess countless records or murder, suicide & accident victims whose remains were conveyed to one of Brisbane's hospital morgues for post-mortem & identification between the years of 1870 when South Brisbane Cemetery was declared open & 1901, when we are expected to believe that the cemetery morgue was converted to a Sexton's office - not one record mentions the South Brisbane Cemetery Morgue.  So...why did the State Government Morgue, the prior site of which is visited every weekend by Ghost Tours' South Brisbane Cemetery Tour, see little if any action as the State Government Morgue??  The answer is very simple - no morgue, State Government or otherwise, ever existed within the grounds of South Brisbane Cemetery!

Photo taken from the Friends of South Brisbane Cemetery website,

showing the flood height in cemetery during 2011 Brisbane floods.

Almost all of this tale is a fallacy - almost all.  To get to the 2% truth in the story, we need to once again head back into the annals of history to uncover the scant details from which this story was concocted.  From the above, we know that many of the 1893 flood victims were conveyed to hospital morgues & not a morgue in South Brisbane Cemetery - given that the lower sections, & buildings alongside Section 6B, of South Brisbane Cemetery were inundated during the floods earlier this year (picture above) at a flood height of 4.46 metres, in comparison to the 1893 floods which peaked at 8.3 metres (almost 4 metres higher) we can only imagine what would have happened to a wooden morgue building in the cemetery grounds on this same piece of ground...it's clear that even if the wooden building had miraculously survived, it would have been in no condition to have officially held bodies from the floods, unless they had fortuitously washed in whilst the building was completely submerged.  Similarly, I have attended ghost tours in Tasmania, Victoria, New South Wales & Queensland that visit actual morgues - never once have I ever come across a morgue that was built in anything but stone or concrete - a timber morgue exposed to the summer heat of Brisbane is a truly novel concept, in an age prior to refrigeration!

So to the 2% truth - the story of the South Brisbane Cemetery Morgue seems to be an amalgamation of two unrelated stories of the cemetery...& an amalgamation of very scant details at best.  The tale consists of a little concerning the Sexton's office, a little concerning the cemetery tool shed, & a lot concerning a non-existent morgue.  From the Heritage Listing on the Department of Environment & Resource Management's website, "Work on the cemetery was halted by wartime shortages of labour and materials, but recommenced in 1945 when a survey of the cemetery noted lavatory blocks for men and women, two shelter sheds, a timber sexton's cottage, a timber tool room, motor shed and men's room. A brick staff amenities block was constructed in 1954."  Here, we find no mention of a timber Secton's office, however the Sexton's cottage mentioned was a different structure that existed until 15 years ago in a different section of the cemetery, until it burnt down.  The old wooden tool shed existed near the front gate, but was pulled down in the 1980's - finally giving us the "demolished a few decades ago" part of the story.  All in all, we have yet another story of South Brisbane Cemetery that has lost its way.

As a postscript, I came across a quote, on Ghost Tours' website of all places, that I think links in with this story precisely - "Many other ghost tours fail to record or preserve this historical information (because in most cases it does not exist), instead relying on either the sensational improvable impressions of questionable psychics or merely tell scant stories from clients on tours. This does not justify a site as haunted and is misleading. It brings disrepute to a unique type of cultural heritage tourism which is growing in popularity worldwide. Clients on such tours expect and need to demand to know whether claims made have been substantiated."  Never a truer word has been spoken - as the paying public, people on Ghost Tours' tours need to demand that claims made have been substantiated, & whilst these demands are yet to be met by Ghost Tours who provided this very advice on their website, the Haunts of Brisbane will always be there to pick up the slack.

O' 13th Avenue, Where Art Thou??

12th Avenue within Toowong Cemetery - amongst all other Avenues, this Avenue has always held a special place in my heart as I have family buried there.  At the bottom of the hill, alongside 8th Avenue & almost in line with 12th Avenue, the first wife of my great grandfather, who died in childbirth, is interred (mother to 5 children, half-siblings to my grandmother - 4 of them are interred nearby).  At the top of the hill, just past the end of 12th Avenue at the intersection of 2nd & 3rd Avenue, my grandfather's aunty & family are interred.  My great great grandparents & 6 of their children are interred within an area known as "the grove" alongside 12th Avenue, an area heavily overgrown with Bunya Pines & Camphor Laurel trees, & populated with amazing monumental masonry that has always fascinated me.   Most importantly, which will become apparent shortly, another grave housing my great great grandparents & 1 of their children, lies alongside 13th Avenue.  Needless to say, I know this section of Toowong Cemetery incredibly well, given the number of family interments within its confines.

Searching for stories of Brisbane ghosts & hauntings as I regularly do, my interest peaked recently whilst reading an article published in the City South News, reporter unlisted, on the 13th of September 2010 entitled, "Tour issue dead and buried."  The article itself was unengaging aside from a sadly downplayed parting comment by the Greater Brisbane Cemetery Alliance Vice-President Kelvin Johnston, stating more should be done to prosecute cemetery trespassers - only one year prior, vandals had gone on a rampage through a section of the cemetery, resulting in the destruction of over 80 graves.  Sadly, after a protracted court case, the 4 individuals were acquitted of charges on the back of inadequate cemetery laws.  However, my interest was instantly drawn to a public comment posted about the piece by "Jason" - "Just compare a Ghosts of Toowong map to a real one of Toowong Cemetery to see how Mr. Sim has relocated 13th avenue." 

So, what of these claims of a "relocation" of Toowong's 13th Avenue??  A quick Google search on "toowong cemetery 13th avenue" brought up a blog site, which stated, "At the corner of 12th and 13th Avenue it is said that the Angel of Death stands and hisses whoever comes near."  From this lead, various related search strings pulled up further hints, including testimony from one of the tour guides of the Toowong Cemetery tour  - "While I waiting on the hill alone above the intersection of 12th and 13th Avenue (the place where The Angel is said to appear) I heard a male voice whispering to the right behind me."  Yet another personal blog site stated, "At the corner of 12th and 13th Avenue, said to be the middle point of the graveyard (there is no street sign to mark 13th Avenue as it is the most stolen street sign in Queensland) we joined hands and summoned the Angel of Death.  He must have been taking a night off."  Here, another very important factor wades into the mix - the 13th Avenue sign, allegedly "the most stolen street sign in Queensland".  After some more detective work speaking to extended friends who had taken the tour of Toowong Cemetery, I discovered that the intersection of 12th & 13th Avenue was located above the Mayne monument at the high point of 12th Avenue - I was assured that this "fact" was verified by the "angel" story & Toowong Cemetery map in the book, The Ghosts of Toowong Cemetery: Brisbane's Haunted Necropolis.

Seeking out the story & map in said book, I located the section about the "angel of death" on page 23 - there I found the reference again, as clear as day - "At the intersection of two roads - Twelfth and Thirteenth Avenues, a crossroads in the dead centre of the cemetery..."  I then flipped to the associated map of Toowong Cemetery on page 37, which clearly showed the intersection of 12th & 13th Avenue (marked at Figure 8 above). For reference, the photo at the top of this article shows the intersection, complete with 12th Avenue sign & jagged bracket below where the 13th Avenue sign has supposedly been torn free by thieves.  So - you're likely wondering where I'm going with this?  Well, having family buried alongside both 12th & 13th Avenues & knowing the area of the cemetery extremely well, I can categorically state that no such intersection between the two Avenues exists!  A simple search of the Brisbane City Council website provides a link to the official map of Toowong Cemetery - this map clearly shows that the intersection in question is actually between 12th Avenue & 11th Avenue. 13th Avenue exists much further along 8th Avenue at the bottom of the hill, & in no way comes anywhere near the top of 12th.  Furthermore, the intersection is far from the centre of the cemetery, as claimed.  Conveniently, the missing sign at the top of 12th Avenue belongs to 11th Avenue, not 13th.

How such a glaring error could possibly be made (& continues to be made), given the ease with which the Council's official Toowong Cemetery map can be accessed, is anyone's guess.  However, given that the associated ghost tale hinges wholly on the location of the crossroads between 12th & 13th Avenue (which clearly does not exist), one can only call into question the overall legitimacy of the supposed haunting.  There is no doubt that 12th Avenue is an amazing place, made even more so by the almost mystical grove located down its side...changed street names & the attachment of tall tales only aid in cheapening the historic & potentially paranormal nature of the site.  As a final note, one solitary tidbit of information did come to light whilst investigating the "crossroads" claim, found on a forum site - "I know a friend who told me that a certain 13th avenue either disappeared or appeared (bad memory) at toowong cemetery..."  Perhaps this rumour explains my inability to locate the fabled crossroad...or then again, perhaps it is just as fictitious as the intersection itself??

What lies beneath: The forgotten souls of Moreton Bay.

A substantial cemetery...located alongside the expanding population centre of Brisbane Town, that is in time to become the capital city of Queensland...terribly neglected by both the authorities & residents for over 2 decades, until the area became virtually unrecognisable as consecrated ground for the interment of the departed...finally divided into allotments & sold at public auction to be built upon...until not a trace remained.

For those who are somewhat familiar with the history of Brisbane, you are likely expecting this week's feature to detail the destruction of a cluster of denominational cemeteries that were collectively termed the North Brisbane Burial Grounds (also referred to as the Milton or Paddington Cemeteries) from the above introduction.  If you were, you'd be mistaken - Brisbane Town's earliest history goes far deeper than the vast majority of Brisbane residents are aware of.

The Northern Brisbane Burial Grounds, or Paddington/Milton/Lang Park cemetery, was not the first resting place of Brisbane's departed...nor was it the first Brisbane cemetery to have been demolished & erased from public memory.  Prior to the opening of the Northern Brisbane Burial Grounds in 1843, & Brisbane Town being declared open for free settlement in 1842, the area on which the CBD now resides was better known as the Moreton Bay Penal Settlement.  Relocated to the northern bank of the Brisbane River in early 1825 (after an initial penal station established at Redcliffe on the 14th September 1824 had failed), the Moreton Bay Penal Settlement quickly earnt a reputation for it's mortality rate - excessive floggings for minor breaches of conduct oft times proved fatal, whilst malnutrition & tropical disease delivered many more to an early grave.  Early records verify that during the penal settlement's period of operation & Brisbane Town's first 2 years as a free settlement (1825-1843), a total of 265 people perished within its borders - of which 220 were convicts.

Clearly, once prisoners incarcerated within the confines of the colony began to die, the necessity for a suitable burial ground arose.  An area was chosen suitably distant to the centre of the settlement - far enough away that the accumulating graves would not become a focal point of the overall compound, but still close enough to be easily accessible from the soon-to-be-constructed convict hospital.  Little more is known about the evolution of this graveyard throughout the life of the settlement, apart from the approximate number of souls who were interred there through the penal period to 1839 & the first years of free settlement to 1843.  However, by 1843, the population of the newly opened Brisbane Town had expanded by such an extent, that the need for a larger burial ground was imperative - hence, the Northern Brisbane Burial Grounds were opened, & the previous penal graveyard became known as the Old Burial Ground.

So...where was this Old Burial Ground?  The site is closer to the CBD than most would image - as exact a location as can be given, the Old Burial Ground is bordered by current Upper Roma Street, Eagle Terrace, Skew Street (parallel to Coronation Drive) & Saul Street - beneath the 2 large grassed areas alongside the back of the B105 & Triple M building at North Quay.



So...what became of the Old Burial Ground?  With the advent of the opening of the Northern Brisbane Burial Grounds in 1843 and the rapid expansion of Brisbane Town, the Old Burial Ground began to fall into disrepair.  The earliest public record of the cemetery's physical condition was published in the first edition of the Moreton Bay Courier (Brisbane Town's first media outlet) on the 20th June 1846, where it was stated "we trust our readers will give us credit for sincerity of motive in offering to their consideration a few remarks on the present disgraceful state of the old burial ground in North Brisbane.  [T]here is not even a fence to restrain pigs and other animals from rooting and roving over the dwellings of the dead.  If something be not done shortly, we may chance to witness the remains of those interred exposed to public view.  Such an occurrence, it is true, is not likely to happen; but its bare possibility should be an inducement to the inhabitants to take instant steps to secure the ground from intrusion of quadrupeds."

By 1852, the Moreton Bay Courier again reported on the 16th October, "Six years ago, nearly a hundred tablets, headstones, etc., stood in the old burial ground; now, a bare dozen can only be counted, and many of these are dilapidated and overturned.  The fence is torn down, carried away or burnt.  The records of gratitude or of affection erected to the memories of many a gallant soldier, sincere friend, or loving wife; the burial grounds which are held sacred even among the [aborigines], seem to have been strangely violated in this instance.  What hands have taken so many monumental stones away none can tell, but where many could be found might be said or written as easily as "hearths of Brisbane.""  The article, continuing, discloses a massive historical treasure - the Old Burial Ground contained the grave of Granville William Chetwynd Stapylton, a renowned Australian explorer & surveyor who was murdered whilst on an exploratory mission south of Brisbane on 31st May 1840.  Two men were captured, tried & hanged at the Tower Mill (on current Wickham Terrace) a year later for the murder - ironically, their bodies were conveyed down the hill shortly after to be buried in the same ground as Stapylton.

By the mid 1860's, the Old Burial Ground had fallen into such disrepair that authorities began to plan for the site's redevelopment.  In the years leading up to 1875, some few burials & monuments that could be identified were exhumed & reinterred at the Northern Brisbane Burial Grounds where it was hoped they would be safe - unfortunately, these few relocated relics would be lost forever 50 years later during the redevelopment of the Lang Park site.  Skew Street was constructed across the site, dividing the block into 2 sections, which were in turn split into 7 allotments each and sold off at public auction on the 12th October 1875.  From this point in history on, the memory of Brisbane Town's Old Burial Ground quickly faded.  However, in July 2010 the Queensland Heritage Council added the site to the Queensland Heritage Register based on its archaeological potential - "The site has been identified as being exceedingly rare as we now have very little physical evidence of the Moreton Bay Penal Settlement.  There is good potential for there to be burial remains including personal items at the burial ground as past development on the site has been low impact."

However, not all evidence of Brisbane's penal period was lost in the subsequent destruction of the Old Burial Ground & Northern Brisbane Burial Grounds.  Just beyond the boundaries of the Old Burial Ground, 4 children were interred in their own allotment overlooking the river in the first 3 years of the 1830's.  Having been located away from the burial ground itself, these graves remained after the sale of the cemetery proper in 1875.  However, in 1881 during survey work being conducted for the construction of tram lines along the river bank, the decision was made to exhume & relocate this final remnant of the Old Burial Ground.  Very fortunately, the Northern Brisbane Burial Grounds had been declared closed 6 years earlier in 1875, however a new municipal cemetery had been opened at Toowong in the same year.  So, on the 5th October 1881, 3 pioneer children who had died during the earliest period of Brisbane Town's history, were again laid to rest within Toowong Cemetery's confines (1 child's remains had been irretrievable from North Quay).  These three monuments survive to this day as the oldest headstones in Queensland (as pictured at the top of this blog).

So, next time you drive over the Grey Street Bridge & onto Skew Street in the direction of Milton Road, make sure to spare a thought for the souls of convicts, soldiers, women & children of the Moreton Bay Penal Settlement over who's graves you are travelling.