Nundah Cemetery facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Nundah Cemetery |
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Nundah Cemetery
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| Location | 88 Hedley Avenue, Nundah, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia |
| Design period | 1840s - 1860s (mid-19th century) |
| Built | 1840s - 1963 |
| Owner | Brisbane City Council |
| Official name: Nundah Cemetery, German Station Cemetery | |
| Type | state heritage (built, archaeological) |
| Designated | 21 October 1992 |
| Reference no. | 600271 |
| Significant period | 1840-(social) 1840-1963 (historical, fabric) |
| Significant components | headstone, grave marker, rotunda, cemetery, gate - entrance |
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Nundah Cemetery is a special old graveyard located at 88 Hedley Avenue in Nundah, Queensland, Australia. It was built between the 1840s and 1963. This cemetery is also known as German Station Cemetery. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on October 21, 1992, which means it's a protected historical site.
Contents
History of Nundah Cemetery
This cemetery was started in 1846 by a small group of German Lutheran missionaries. These missionaries had set up Queensland's first free settlement in 1838. Their settlement was at Zion's Hill, near Kedron Brook.
At that time, the area was called "German Station" because of these early German settlers. So, the cemetery was first known as "German Station Cemetery." This area was outside the main town of Brisbane and was mostly a farming community. The road next to the cemetery was even called "Cemetery Road."
Only one death was recorded at the German Station by 1845. However, several children died the next year. A drawing from 1846 by missionary Carl Gerler shows the cemetery already in use.
The German Station settlement began in 1838. It's not clear where the very first burials happened. But we know the site was used as a graveyard before 1862. That's when James Warner officially surveyed it as a cemetery reserve. The oldest headstone still standing is from March 1855. Any earlier wooden crosses have not survived.
Many of the first people to settle in the Nundah area are buried here. Even though the German Station mission closed between 1844 and 1850, some missionary families stayed. The first people in charge of the German Station Cemetery were chosen from these settlers in 1866. They were called trustees.
One job of the cemetery trustees was to keep records of burials. However, the first official burial record is from 1887. It's thought that earlier records might have been lost in a flood. Even after 1887, the records were sometimes incomplete. Today, people can help update the Nundah burial records. They do this by providing death certificates that show a burial at Nundah Cemetery.
In 1882, the Sandgate railway line was built through the area. This made it easier for people to live there, and new houses were built for Brisbane's growing population. Since "Cemetery Road" didn't sound good for a residential street, it was renamed "Hedley Avenue" around 1934. It was named after a local doctor, Hedley Brown.
In 1914, a small shelter was built at the cemetery. It was designed by an architect named John Henry Burley. He worked in Brisbane for many years.
In the 1930s, the Brisbane City Council took over managing the cemetery. By this time, Nundah was part of Brisbane. In 1963, the cemetery was closed because there were no new grave spots left.
A person called a sexton used to live at the cemetery from the 1890s. A sexton is someone who looks after the cemetery. Since 1975, one sexton based in Lutwyche has looked after Nundah, Bald Hills, and Lutwyche cemeteries. The old sexton's house at Nundah has been taken down.
In 1982, a group called the Nundah Historic Cemetery Preservation Association was formed. They help to look after and restore the cemetery.
War Graves at Nundah
This cemetery is home to the graves of seven service members. Their graves are officially registered by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Six of these individuals served in World War I, and one served in World War II.
Current Use of the Cemetery
Even though there are no new grave spots available at Nundah Cemetery, it is still used. People can place urns with cremated ashes in existing family graves. They can also place them in special walls called columbarium walls. Family members can also be buried in existing graves that are not yet full.
In 2011, the Brisbane City Council thought about how they would provide new grave sites in the future. In Queensland, burial rights last forever. Because of this, the Brisbane City Council now allows full family graves to be reused at Nundah Cemetery if the last burial was over 30 years ago.
What Nundah Cemetery Looks Like
The cemetery is on a small, oval-shaped hill above Kedron Brook in Nundah. It is next to Albert Bishop Park. The main entrance faces west towards Hedley Avenue.
New native trees have been planted around the edges of the cemetery. However, the cemetery itself is open, and the land can wear away easily. Many of the paths have been covered with concrete to stop this from happening.
The cemetery is quite full, and the graves are not laid out in a strict order. There are no separate sections for different religious groups.
You can see many different types of headstones and memorial monuments here. They range from fancy designs from the Victorian era to modern upright stones called stelae. A project to restore the cemetery is ongoing. Many monuments have been fixed or replaced. Also, special plaques have been put on graves that are historically important.
Near the front of the cemetery, among the graves, there is a six-sided shelter called a rotunda. It is made of wooden posts with curved wooden pieces filling the spaces between them. The roof is steeply sloped and covered with asbestos tiles. It has terracotta ridges and a decorative top piece called a finial. This rotunda was fixed up in the 1980s.
The cemetery provides a special record of the families who helped build Nundah and the areas around it starting from 1838. Among the graves are those of many early German missionaries and their families. Also buried here is Sir James Robert Dickson, who was the Premier of Queensland from 1898 to 1899.
Why Nundah Cemetery is Important
Nundah Cemetery was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on October 21, 1992. This means it meets certain important standards.
It shows how Queensland's history developed. It is Queensland's oldest cemetery that is still standing. It was also the first cemetery linked to a free settlement in the colony.
It shows rare or special parts of Queensland's history. It is a unique place that provides a lot of historical information.
It has a special beauty. The cemetery has a unique beauty and adds to the look of the Nundah area.
It has a strong connection to the community. It shows parts of the social, religious, economic, and artistic life of the local community. It also shows their beliefs and tastes.
Images for kids
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An old German grave in Nundah Cemetery.
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The monument for Premier James Robert Dickson in Nundah Cemetery, 2005.
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A modern plaque for George and Mary Bridges, who helped found the Nundah township, 2005.
