Toowong Cemetery

The Brisbane General Cemetery also known as Toowong Cemetery is a heritage-listed cemetery located at Toowong, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was established in 1866 and formally opened in 1875. It is Queensland's largest cemetery and is located on forty-four hectares of land at the corner of Frederick Street and Mount Coot-tha Road approximately four and a half kilometres west of Brisbane.HistoryPaddington Cemetery, Brisbane's original cemetery was located close to the Brisbane city near the northern end of the William Jolly Bridge. It was bounded by Skew Street, Saul Street, Eagle Terrace and Upper Roma Street. As Brisbane expanded due to its opening to free settlement in 1842, growth was such that the cemetery was eventually surrounded by residential properties. The cemetery was moved to twenty five hectares of land between Milton Road, Hale Street, Sweetman Street and Dowse Street and was situated on the current site of Suncorp Stadium.In 1861 of land was set aside for a new cemetery at Toowong. In 1870 a Cemetery Trust was established with trustees James Cowlishaw, John Hardgrave, William Pettigrew, Samuel Griffith, George Edmonstone, Alexander Raff, John Petrie (Chairman), Michael Quinlan and Nathaniel Lade the trustees to search for alternative sites as the Toowong site was considered by some as inappropriate. Colonel Samuel Blackall, Queensland's second Governor, had been a supporter of the Toowong site and in his ill health indicated his desire to be buried there — this was done when he was buried on the highest knoll on 3 January 1871. Even though Blackall had been buried, the search for an alternate site continued. The search was unsuccessful however and the Toowong site was eventually was accepted as the final location. Six more burials were performed before the official opening of the Cemetery in 1875.