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Friends of Toowong Cemetery

@fotc.au

370 followers 120 following 680 posts

Friends of Toowong Cemetery is a volunteer group that discover and share the history and stories of Toowong Cemetery in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. https://www.fotc.au 🎉 Celebrating Toowong Cemetery's 150th anniversary.

www.fotc.au

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Friends of Toowong Cemetery @fotc.au · 21h

#31DaysOfGraves Day 14 - Inside

Inside the heritage-listed Temple of Peace in Toowong Cemetery, Portion 4, Section 38, Grave 14.

Dig deeper - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_...

Inside the heritage-listed Temple of Peace in Toowong Cemetery.

Friends of Toowong Cemetery is a volunteer group that discover and share the history and stories of Toowong Cemetery, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.

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Friends of Toowong Cemetery @fotc.au · 1d

Snap!

bsky.app/profile/fotc...

Friends of Toowong Cemetery @fotc.au · Jul 24

Joseph Needham Scrope Shrapnel (1838—1885) migrated from England in 1870 on the ship Beaumaris Castle with a lady whom family members long believed to be his wife.

Joseph left his wife and 4 children in England and sailed to the colonies with Esther Voyce, his housekeeper.

Joseph Needham Scrope Shrapnel's headstone.

🪦 Joseph Needham Scrope Shrapnel is buried in Toowong Cemetery, Brisbane, Portion 1, Section 68, Grave 14/15.

Friends of Toowong Cemetery @fotc.au · 1d

#31DaysOfGraves Day 13 - Skeleton

I can't believe I can't find any skeletons in Toowong Cemetery!

Toowong Cemetery opened in 1875 so perhaps skeletons on headstones would offend Victorian sensitivities.

Here's something I found in Bendigo

A large sculpture of a skull with the inscription, “Keep on keeping on”, by Alex Seton, Australia, 1977.

The work is titled, "Sometimes the dead are more alive than the living", and was made in 2017 from Wombeyan marble.

Alex lives and works in Sydney, NSW, and exhibits in Australia and Italy.

The work was purchased with funds from Bendigo Art Gallery Foundation, 2017 and is on display outside the Bendigo Art Gallery in Victoria, Australia.

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Reposted by Friends of Toowong Cemetery

Friends of Lister Lane Cemetery (KAVS) @listerlanecem.bsky.social · 2d

#31DaysOfGraves Day 12: Notable woman
The final resting place of Emmeline Pankhurst, who died 14th June 1928. Brompton Cemetery, London.

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Friends of Toowong Cemetery @fotc.au · 2d

I was recently in Canberra and stumbled across Emma Miller on the walls of Australia's Parliament House.

www.aph.gov.au/Visit_Parlia...

Alison Alder's Emma Miller, QLD

Alder I Am A New Woman Miller

www.aph.gov.au

Friends of Toowong Cemetery @fotc.au · 2d

#31DaysOfGraves Day 12 - Notable Woman

Emma Miller was in the vanguard of the formation of women’s unions, the women’s suffrage movement, and the Labor Party.

She actively supported strikers during the 1880s, and worked to alleviate the plight of the unemployed.

www.fotc.au/research/emm...

Emma Miller headstone is in Toowong Cemetery, Brisbane, Portion 13, Section 6, Grave 5&6.

Inscription on Emma Miller's headstone:

Emma Miller Memorial
Emma Miller, (1839 - 1917) A foundation member for the Labor
Party, one of the leaders of the women's sufferage movement, she
was a tireless fighter for the union movement and anti-conscription
campaigner. An ardent pacifist from childhood, she opposed all wars
from Crimea to World War I. As President of the Women's Equal
Franchise Association, she saw Australian women win the federal
vote in 1902, the first women in the world to be able to vote in a
federal election. Emma Miller's courage and energy were unmatched
during the struggles for equal rights for women, earning her the title
of "Mother Miller" and "the grand old labour woman of Queensland".

Interred with:
William Calderwood (Second Husband) 1842 - 1880
Thomas Mycroft Silcock (Son) 1857 - 1890
Emma Calderwood (Grand-daughter - daughter of George and Jean Calderwood) died before the age of one year in 1909
Sarah Jean Calderwood (Daughter-in-law - wife of George) died 1939

She fought hard, she gave it her best, she did what was right, and she made a difference.

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Friends of Toowong Cemetery @fotc.au · 3d

I found many monument catalogues on archive.org. I used search terms like:
- monuments -- catalogs
- tombstones -- catalogs
- sepluchral monuments

I recognised many designs in these:

- archive.org/details/CoxS...
- archive.org/details/exce...

Sadly but no design for our #31DaysOfGraves flowers.

Excelsior statuary book. : Cook & Watkins. : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

archive.org

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Reposted by Friends of Toowong Cemetery

Dr. Robyn S. Lacy ⚰️ @graveyardarch.bsky.social · 3d

Wait I found it! @fotc.au @ohfolkthat.bsky.social
This one is an Alexander Smith stone dated 1889, at the old UC Cemetery in Brigus, NL!

A five piece complex monument, dated to 1889. It has a complex flower design on the middle section above the inscription.

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Friends of Toowong Cemetery @fotc.au · 3d

Now on a treasure hunt for headstone style guides 🪦🔍

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Friends of Toowong Cemetery @fotc.au · 3d

#31DaysOfGraves Day 11 - Military

Canon David John Garland, the Architect of ANZAC Day, is buried in Toowong Cemetery, Brisbane, Australia - Portion 1, Section 50A, Grave 9, overlooking the military graves in Portion 10.

Dig deeper: www.fotc.au/research/dav...

Canon David John Garland's memorial in Toowong Cemetery, Brisbane, Australia - Portion 1, Section 50A, Grave 9.

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Friends of Toowong Cemetery @fotc.au · 4d

#31DaysOfGraves Day 10 - Urn

An urn on top of James Forsyth Thallon's memorial.

Dig deeper: www.fotc.au/research/jam...

James Forsyth Thallon's memorial in Toowong Cemetery, Brisbane, Portion 11, Section 71, Grave 14.

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Friends of Toowong Cemetery @fotc.au · 5d

The Condon family grave is in Toowong Cemetery, Brisbane, Portion 7A, Section 16, Grave 4.

Friends of Toowong Cemetery @fotc.au · 5d

👆👇

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Friends of Toowong Cemetery @fotc.au · 5d

#31DaysOfGraves Day 9 - Hand

Oh for the touch of a vanish'd hand
and the sound of a voice that is still

An inscription on a headstone in Toowong Cemetery reads, "Oh for the touch of a vanish'd hand and the sound of a voice that is still".

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Friends of Toowong Cemetery @fotc.au · 6d

#31DaysOfGraves Day 8 - Glass

Glass used to capture family memories on the grave of Dr. Colin Page, buried in Toowong Cemetery, Brisbane, Australia - Portion 15, Section 6, Grave 53.

Dr. Colin Page's memorial in Toowong Cemetery uses glass to capture family photos.

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Friends of Toowong Cemetery @fotc.au · 7d

#31DaysOfGraves Day 7 - Angel

An angel on a headstone at sunset in Toowong Cemetery, Brisbane, Australia.

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Friends of Toowong Cemetery @fotc.au · 8d

Most graves in Toowong Cemetery face East. As there are two graves per row, some face West to make the headstone easier to read / access. The Jewish graves face West.

Hope that helps. 💜

Friends of Toowong Cemetery @fotc.au · 8d

Miss M. J. Bedford

Source: State Library of Queensland - https://onesearch.slq.qld.gov.au/permalink/61SLQ_INST/1dejkfd/alma99183506976202061

Doctor Lilian Violet Cooper

Source: State Library of Queensland - https://onesearch.slq.qld.gov.au/permalink/61SLQ_INST/tqqf2h/alma99183506821502061

Friends of Toowong Cemetery @fotc.au · 8d

#31DaysOfGraves Day 6 - Gender

The headstone of Lilian Violet Cooper and Mary Josephine Bedford - Life-long friends, buried together in Toowong Cemetery, Brisbane - Portion 8, Section 69, Grave 13&14.

Dig deeper: www.fotc.au/research/lil...

The headstone of Lilian Violet Cooper and Mary Josephine Bedford - Life-long friends, buried together in Toowong Cemetery, Brisbane - Portion 8, Section 69, Grave 13&14.

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Friends of Toowong Cemetery @fotc.au · 9d

Thank you everyone who joined us on today's guided tour about Lightning. ⚡️

We hoped you enjoyed it.

Next month's walk is about Soldiers laid to rest in November. 💜

Hope to see you there, 10:30am Sunday 2 November 2025.

Headstone of Ernest Arthur Doughty, accidentally killed by lightning.

Ernest Arthur Doughty is buried in Toowong Cemetery, Brisbane, Portion 11, Section 28, Grave 1&2.

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Friends of Toowong Cemetery @fotc.au · 9d

FREE Toowong Cemetery Guided Tour, TODAY, Sunday, 5 October 2025, 10:30am—12:00.

Today's walk is all about ⚡ Lightning ⚡

Meet under the flagpole in Canon Garland Place.

Driving here? Use the Richer St entrance.

buff.ly/3POl0Jq

The Flagpole in Canon Garland Place, Toowong Cemetery, Brisbane is where Friends of Toowong Cemetery guided tours depart from. It's next to the "Cross of Sacrifice" and "The Stone of Remembrance" which were erected and unveiled in 1924.

Guided tours are free but donations are appreciated to help us continue our work.

Tours are on the first Sunday of each month (February to December) from 10:30am to 12:00.

There's no need to book, and there is plenty of parking available inside the cemetery.

Friends of Toowong Cemetery @fotc.au · 9d

#31DaysOfGraves Day 5 - Bird

A Sulphur-crested Cockatoo on a headstone in Toowong Cemetery, Brisbane, Australia.

Loud raucous calls from a squadron of Cockatoos are often heard when walking through the cemetery.

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Friends of Toowong Cemetery @fotc.au · 10d

Come along to our FREE Toowong Cemetery Guided Tour, tomorrow, Sunday, 5 October 2025, 10:30am—12:00.

This month's walk is all about ⚡ Lightning ⚡

Meet under the flagpole in Canon Garland Place.

Driving here? Use the Richer St entrance.

buff.ly/3POl0Jq

Friends of Toowong Cemetery @fotc.au · 10d

#31DaysOfGraves Day 4 - Languages

Nudgoo Shah is buried in Toowong Cemetery, Brisbane, Australia - Portion 15, Section 11, Grave 17.

Nudgoo Shah memorial in Toowong Cemetery, Brisbane, Australia - Portion 15, Section 11, Grave 17.

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Friends of Toowong Cemetery @fotc.au · 11d

#31DaysOfGraves Day 3 - Tomb

The Temple of Peace in Toowong Cemetery, Brisbane, Australia - Portion 4, Section 38, Grave 14