Nundah Cemetery is a heritage-listed

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a buri ...

at 88 Hedley Avenue,

Nundah Nundah (previously called German Station) is an inner suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It contains the neighbourhood of Toombul. In the , Nundah had a population of 12,141 people. Prior to European settlement, Nundah was i ...

, City of Brisbane,

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

, Australia. It was built from 1840s to 1963. It is also known as German Station Cemetery. It was added to the

Queensland Heritage Register The Queensland Heritage Register is a heritage register, a statutory list of places in Queensland, Australia that are protected by Queensland legislation, the Queensland Heritage Act 1992. It is maintained by the Queensland Heritage Council. As a ...

on 21 October 1992.

History

The cemetery was established in 1846 by a small group of German Lutheran missionaries who, in 1838, had founded Queensland's first free settlement, at Zion's Hill above Kedron Brook. At that time, the district was known as " German Station", as the earliest settlers were

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

missionaries A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...

, and hence the cemetery was originally known as " German Station Cemetery". The district was originally outside of the town of

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

and was a

farming Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

community. At that time, the road beside the cemetery was known as "Cemetery Road". Only one death had been recorded at the German Station by 1845, but several children died the following year, and the cemetery is indicated on an 1846 sketch by missionary Carl Gerler. As the German station settlement was established in 1838, it is unclear where the earliest burials in the settlement would have occurred. Certainly the site had been established as a graveyard before James Warner first surveyed it as a cemetery reserve in 1862. None of the wooden crosses marking the earliest graves has survived, but the oldest headstone dates to March 1855. Nundah-cemetery-German-grave

Many of the pioneers of the Nundah district are buried in this cemetery. Although the German Station mission was wound down between 1844 and 1850, several of the missionary families remained in the area. From amongst these settlers the first trustees of the German Station Cemetery were appointed in 1866. One of the duties of cemetery trustees was to maintain a record of the burials. However, the first recorded burial was in 1887 and it is believed the earlier records may have been lost in a flood. However, even after 1887, the records the trustees kept of burials were somewhat "sketchy" at times. The public can update the Nundah burial records by providing death certificates showing a burial at the Nundah Cemetery. The development of the

Sandgate railway line The Shorncliffe railway line is an suburban railway line situated north of Brisbane, the state capital of Queensland, Australia. It is part of the Queensland Rail City network. History The Sandgate Railway, opened in 1882, was the first ...

(now the Shorncliffe railway line) through the district in 1882 opened it up for residential area housing for the growing town of Brisbane. As "Cemetery Road" was regarded as an unattractive name for a residential street, it was renamed "Hedley Avenue" about 1934 after local doctor Hedley Brown. In 1914 a small shelter pavilion was erected at the cemetery. It was designed by architect

John Henry Burley John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

, who practised in

from 1886 until 1936. The builder was J MacDonald, and the structure cost . In the 1930s, Brisbane City Council took over the management of the cemetery from the local trustees (by this time Nundah was within the boundaries of the City of Brisbane). In 1963 the cemetery was closed as no new grave sites were available. A sexton resided in the cemetery grounds from at least the 1890s, but since 1975 one sexton based at

Lutwyche Lutwyche is a northern suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , Lutwyche had a population of 3,454 people. Lutwyche is north of the city's central business district. Geography Lutwyche Road, a busy thoroughfare that ...

has cared for the Bald Hills,

and Nundah cemeteries. The Nundah sexton's house has been demolished. In 1982 the Nundah Historic Cemetery Preservation Association was formed to help tend and restore the site.

War Graves

There are 7 service personnel buried in this cemetery whose graves are registered by the

Commonwealth War Graves Commission The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is an intergovernmental organisation of six independent member states whose principal function is to mark, record and maintain the graves and places of commemoration of Commonwealth of Nations mil ...

, 6 from

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and one from

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

.
CWGC Cemetery Report. Breakdown based on casualty records.

Current use

Although the cemetery has no space for new gravesites, it is possible to place cremated ashes in existing family graves or in the columbarium walls. It is also possible for family members to be buried in existing graves which are not yet full. In 2011, the Brisbane City Council raised concerns about its ability to continue to provide new gravesites after another 10 or 15 years given that burial rights are perpetual in Queensland (in some other states of Australia, there is a fixed tenure). As a consequence, Brisbane City Council will now allow reuse of even full family graves in Nundah Cemetery where the last burial was over 30 years ago.

Description

The cemetery reserve is located on a small, elliptical ridge above Kedron Brook at Nundah, adjacent to Albert Bishop Park. The entrance has a westerly aspect to Hedley Avenue. Native trees have been planted recently around the perimeter, but the cemetery itself is exposed and the land subject to erosion. Many of the pathways have been concreted to prevent further deterioration. The cemetery is crowded, with little order to the layout of graves, and no denominational segregation. It contains a variety of headstone and decorative memorial monument types, from high Victorian era, Victorian to modern stela. An ongoing restoration programme has resulted in many of these being refurbished or replaced, and a number of plaques have been erected on graves of particular historical note. Toward the front of the reserve, and amidst the gravesites, is an hexagonal rotunda. Constructed of timber posts with arched batten infilling to each facet, the structure is capped by a steeply pitched asbestos tile roof, with terracotta ridging and centre

finial A finial (from '' la, finis'', end) or hip-knob is an element marking the top or end of some object, often formed to be a decorative feature. In architecture, it is a small decorative device, employed to emphasize the Apex (geometry), apex of a d ...

. The rotunda was renovated in the 1980s. The cemetery furnishes a unique record of the families who developed Nundah and surrounding districts from 1838. Included amongst the graves are those of many of the early German missionaries and their families, and that of Sir James Dickson (

Queensland Premier The premier of Queensland is the head of government in the Australian state of Queensland. By convention the premier is the leader of the party with a parliamentary majority in the unicameral Legislative Assembly of Queensland. The premier is ap ...

from 1898 1899).

Heritage listing

Nundah Cemetery was listed on the

on 21 October 1992 having satisfied the following criteria. The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history. Queensland's oldest surviving cemetery and the first to be associated with free settlement in the colony. The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage. A unique source of historical information. The place is important because of its aesthetic significance. Its aesthetic quality and contribution to the Nundah townscape The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons. An expression of aspects of the social, religious, economic and artistic life of the local community, and of its attitudes, values and tastes.

Notable people buried in Nundah Cemetery

* William Maxwell b 1867 - d 1921, former member for Queensland Parliament. . Was elected to the Queensland Legislative Assembly as the member for Burke in 1899. Maxwell founding member when the Federation of Australia was formed in 1901, making a monumental moment in Australia's history. Maxwell has a large family plot in Nundah having had 6 children himself. * George Bridges and wife Mary (née Brightman), pioneers who developed the Nundah township * Thomas Bridges, Member of the Legislative Assembly for the electorate of

* James Dickson, Premier of Queensland and Commonwealth Minister for Defence * John McMaster, the "Father of Brisbane", 4 times mayor of Brisbane, Member of both the Queensland Legislative Assembly and

Queensland Legislative Council The Queensland Legislative Council was the upper house of the parliament in the Australian state of Queensland. It was a fully nominated body which first took office on 1 May 1860. It was abolished by the Constitution Amendment Act 1921, which to ...

References

Attribution

External links

{{Cemeteries in Queensland, state= collapsed Cemeteries in Brisbane Queensland Heritage Register Nundah, Queensland Articles incorporating text from the Queensland Heritage Register