The ‘Stories in Stone’ cemetery heritage conference held in Brisbane on August 16 was a significant success, marking the second event organized. With a diverse range of passionate presenters, excellent logistics, and a strong attendance of about 90 people, the event showcased the importance of cemetery history. Plans for a third conference are underway.
Tag Archives: Cemeteries
The Everywhere Plant: Why is the Acanthus so Common in Funerary and Civic Architecture?
We’ve all seen them somewhere before, although most of us would not have given them a second thought. Weird, curly, slightly alien leaves carved in stone on the borders of headstones, atop classical columns, and adorning the edges of friezes. You don’t realise how ubiquitous the Acanthus mollis is in architecture until you start lookingContinue reading “The Everywhere Plant: Why is the Acanthus so Common in Funerary and Civic Architecture?”
How Many ‘North Brisbane Burial Grounds’ Were There?
This article is a reminder of why the mindful use of historical placenames matters. The former convict settlement of Brisbane became a free town in 1842, and during the following year two burial ground reserves were set aside there. The one in South Brisbane was a rectangular five-acre block split into seven separate denominational sections,Continue reading “How Many ‘North Brisbane Burial Grounds’ Were There?”
Is This the Lady in Black… or Something Else?
A closer look at a particularly striking image of a ‘ghost’. Is it what it seems?
The 50th Guardian Angels Day
An article commemorating the 50th ‘Guardian Angels’ grave cleaning day at the South Brisbane Cemetery.
Colonial Columns: Consecration of the Church of England Burial Ground (Brisbane, 1862)
An article describing the consecration of the Church of England Burial Ground in Brisbane, 1862.
Colonial Columns: The Lost Graveyard of Terranora Creek
A look at a lost graveyard with links to some tragic events near Tweed Heads.
Citation Needed: Evil-Clown Fakelore in Brisbane
Another case of fakelore is exposed in Brisbane, this one involving a non-existent ‘urban legend’ about an ‘evil clown’. Who believes this stuff?
The Woman in Black: Solving the Mystery of a Vanishing Ghost
Learn about yet another bit of ‘paranormal industry’ fraud, this time the invention and sudden disappearance of a cemetery ghost.
The Ghost That Haunted South Brisbane Cemetery… From 1,000 Miles Away
Read about how a photo from Tasmania was passed off as a ghost in Queensland… and what happened when the truth was exposed.
Christopher Dawson 