Q is for Queensland cemeteries

Posted on by cassmob

Join me on my Cemetery Searching expedition for the 2023 A to Z Blog Challenge. I’ll be re-visiting some cemeteries and preparing for a wish list of others. Some family members will be mentioned but I also have an interest in German family graves as well as those of people born in Co Clare Ireland.

We’ve already visited some cemeteries in Queensland there’ll be more to come, but today we’re going to look at two different ones.

Chinchilla Pioneer Cemetery, Chinchilla, Queensland

We’ve stayed at Chinchilla a number of times on our treks between Darwin and Brisbane and visiting the cemetery is a well-merited excursion. Nearby is this memorial to Ludwig Leichhardt, the early explorer.

This site describes it as “A monument celebrating the travels of explorer Ludwig Leichhardt through the region in the 1840s. Leichhardt was a zoologist, botanist, geologist, anatomist, linguist and philosopher, but he was not a successful explorer, ultimately disappearing without trace on his attempt to reach the Swan River after setting out from the Condamine River in 1848.” https://visitdarlingdowns.com.au/files/listing/ludwig-leichhardt-monument/

UPDATE: my mind boggled at his attempt to travel from the east coast to the west. What an amazing man he was. Even his exploration to port Essington in the Northern Territory was an incredible achievement.

This article by the National Museum of Australia tells us more. https://www.nma.gov.au/defining-moments/resources/leichhardt-expedition

Ludwig Leichhardt Memorial, Chinchilla
Carl FISCHER and his wife Albertina Susannah FISCHER.
“Advertising” The Courier-Mail (Brisbane, Qld. : 1933 – 1954) 7 October 1939: 16. Web. 20 Apr 2023 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article40896677&gt;.
Lebrecht HUHN and his wife Augusta. There are quite a few Germans in this cemetery.
August ALBRECHT
PASSING OF THE POINEERS. (1916, August 5). The Queenslander (Brisbane, Qld. : 1866 – 1939), p. 16. Retrieved April 20, 2023, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article23607941. They mean, of course, the first European settlers in the area, but it would merit following up if this was one’s own family.
Patrick O’SHEA of County Kerry.
“Toowoomba and Western Downs” The Catholic Advocate (Brisbane, Qld. : 1911 – 1934; 1936 – 1938) 29 March 1913: 15. Web. 20 Apr 2023 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article258278432&gt;.

Meringandan Cemetery, Meringandan, Queensland

The graves of the Lavender family.
August KRUGER, native of Germany.
The WIEDEN family.
Gottfried GRAF of Switzerland.
John George TROUSDELL of Co Clare died 28 Sept 1927 and his wife, Helen Jane TROUSDELL d 22 July 1933. His mother and grandmother emigrated with him and are also buried in Meringandan.
OBITUARY. (1927, October 19). Toowoomba Chronicle and Darling Downs Gazette (Qld. : 1922 – 1933), p. 10. Retrieved April 20, 2023, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article254003845
Catherine TROUSDELL of Delgany, Co Wicklow. Parents: Eliza Helen Thomas and George Thomas.

Cemetery Searching Wishlist

After the challenge is over I really need to sort out more photos, both digital and pre-digital. Some are beautifully organised, others not so much!

16 thoughts on “Q is for Queensland cemeteries”

  3. Hi Pauleen

    Also in the Chinchilla Pioneers Cemetery is the grave of John and Anne Zeller. As you know, John was the son of Dorfprozelten immigrants Franz and Katherine Zöller.

    Regards

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  4. Thanks Pauleen. That makes sense!

    When the army interviewed a soldier in connection with the death of one of two sons of John’s killed in action in WW1, the reply was that he remembered Zeller very well, because he was always the last one to receive his pay check. (They were paid in alphabetical order!)

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  6. I love the Leichhardt memorial. I’m assuming the tree trunk is also cast in stone because he was a botanist? And those Lavender graves are quite something.

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    1. Yes it’s a lovely memorial isn’t it. I hadn’t given a thought to a correlation between the stone tree trunk and him being a botanist. Maybe also because of him exploring through the bush? I’m curious now about who the Lavender family were.

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