The North Brisbane Burial Ground was a former cemetery in the Town of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was in the area now known as the suburbs of Milton and Paddington. It was also known as North Brisbane Cemetery, Paddington Cemetery and Milton Cemetery.
The burial ground was located across four blocks bounded by Beatrice Street on the north, Hale Street on the east, Church Street on the south and the present-day Castlemain Street on the west. This land is now used as Lang Park stadium and Ithaca Swimming Pool and children's parkland (see plans). [1]
The First Brisbane Burial Ground was established in 1825 when Brisbane was established as the Moreton Bay penal colony at present-day Skew Street (near the William Jolly Bridge northern endpoint). It was in use until 1843 when the North Brisbane Burial Ground opened. [2]
The North Brisbane burial ground was in use from 1843 to 1875, during which time up to 10,000 people may have been buried there. [3] After 1875, the burial ground was closed and new burials were to take place in the newly established Toowong Cemetery.
Circa 1862 the Anglican Church established a mortuary chapel for the cemetery. The mortuary chapel was demolished in 1891. [4]
The cemetery was flooded during the 1893 Brisbane flood. [5]
In 1907, the Ithaca Shire Council began to plan to convert the cemetery, by then an eyesore for the community, into a recreational reserve. However, the council did not control the land, as individual religious denominations continued to have control of their respective burial grounds. [6] By the 1910s, relatives were offered the opportunity to exhume and reinter deceased family members or to relocate their headstone or other monumental masonry. The first removals took place in 1913. [7] Over 500 headstones were removed into a memorial reserve, a small section of the Anglican section of the cemetery, adjacent to Christ Church. In 1914, it was developed as an athletics field called Lang Park and progressively redeveloped into Brisbane's major sporting stadium, Suncorp Stadium. [8]
During the Depression many of the headstones in the memorial reserve were removed or destroyed. [8] In 2001, the development of Hale Street into a major traffic route resulted in the resumption of some of the memorial reserve and the remaining headstones were reorganised into an even smaller memorial park behind Christ Church (and are only accessible via the churchyard). The further development of Suncorp Stadium visually encroaches on the memorial park, its high blue glass walls reflecting blue light into the memorial reserve. [8]
The North Brisbane burial ground was not a single cemetery, but rather a collection of cemeteries operated by different religious denominations.
Milton is a riverside inner suburb of the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the 2021 census, Milton had a population of 3,144 people.
Lang Park, nicknamed "The Cauldron", also known as Brisbane Stadium and commercially Suncorp Stadium, is a multi-purpose stadium in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, located in the suburb of Milton. The current facility comprises a three-tiered rectangular sporting stadium with a capacity of 52,500 people. The traditional home of rugby league in Brisbane, the modern stadium is also now used for rugby union and soccer and has a rectangular playing field of 136 by 82 metres. The stadium's major tenants are the Brisbane Broncos, the Dolphins, the Queensland Reds and the Queensland Maroons.
Toowong is a riverside suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the 2021 census, Toowong had a population of 12,556 people with a median weekly household income of $1,927.
Tingalpa is a suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the 2021 census, Tingalpa had a population of 8,461 people.
Spring Hill is an inner northern suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the 2021 census, Spring Hill had a population of 6,593 people.
Auchenflower is an inner western riverside suburb of the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the 2021 census, Auchenflower had a population of 6,053 people.
Paddington is an inner suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the 2021 census, Paddington had a population of 9,063 people.
Red Hill is an inner northern suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the 2021 census, Red Hill had a population of 5,834 people.
Toowong Cemetery is a heritage-listed cemetery on the corner of Frederick Street and Mt Coot-tha Road, Toowong, City of 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. It was previously known as Brisbane General Cemetery. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 31 December 2002.
Hamilton is an affluent riverside mixed-use suburb in the north-east of the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Hamilton is located along the north bank of the Brisbane River. In the 2021 census, Hamilton had a population of 8,922 people.
Ithaca is a former suburb of Brisbane, Australia. Since 1975, Ithaca has been designated a neighbourhood within the suburb of Red Hill in Brisbane.
Edward Joseph Baines was an alderman and mayor of the Brisbane Municipal Council.
South Brisbane Cemetery, also known as Dutton Park Cemetery, is a heritage-listed cemetery at 21 Fairfield Road and Annerley Road, Dutton Park, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, adjacent to the Brisbane River. It was built from 1870 to 1990s. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 1 October 2003.
Christ Church is a heritage-listed Anglican church at 3 Chippendall Street, Milton, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The current church building is the second one at this site and was designed by John H Buckeridge and built in 1891 as a "temporary" structure but remains in use to this day. The rectory was built in 1883 to a design of F.D.G. Stanley. It is also known as the former Memorial Church. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992.
Drayton and Toowoomba Cemetery is a heritage-listed cemetery at the corner of South Street and Anzac Avenue, Harristown, Queensland, Australia. It was surveyed in May 1850, and is one of the earliest surviving cemeteries in Queensland. The cemetery is large, containing over 45,000 burials. It has been run by the City of Toowoomba, and its successor the Toowoomba Regional Council, since 1974; previously it was run by government-appointed trustees. Many prominent people associated with the Darling Downs are buried in the cemetery, and all sections of the cemetery remain in use. Notable Toowoomba stonemasons R. C. Ziegler & Son, Henry Bailey, Walter Bruce, John H. Wagner and the Bruce Brothers are all associated with monuments within the cemetery.
Christ Church Tingalpa and Burial Ground is a heritage-listed former Anglican church at 1341 Wynnum Road, Tingalpa, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was built from 1868 to 1993. It is now known as the Pioneer Wedding Chapel. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 2 February 1998.
The First Brisbane Burial Ground is a heritage-listed archaeological site at Skew Street, Brisbane City, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It is also known as Skew Street Cemetery. It was established in 1825 as part of the Moreton Bay penal settlement. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 16 July 2010.
Warwick General Cemetery is a heritage-listed cemetery at Wentworth Street, Warwick, Southern Downs Region, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by Dornbusch & Connolly and built from 1853 onwards by Phil Thornton. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 27 April 2001.
South Rockhampton Cemetery is a heritage-listed cemetery at Upper Dawson Road, Allenstown, Rockhampton Region, Queensland, Australia. It was built from 1860 to 1970. It is also known as Dawson Road Cemetery and Rockhampton Cemetery. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 15 February 1993.
Media related to Paddington cemetery, Queensland at Wikimedia Commons