Addresses
Type of place
Cemetery
Period
World War II 1939-1945
This is an image of the local heritage place known as Mt Gravatt Cemetery
Mount Gravatt Cemetery: Portions 2A, 3A, 3F, 4A, 4B, 4E, 4F, Anzac sections
Addresses
Type of place
Cemetery
Period
World War II 1939-1945
In 1913, this site was resumed from local pioneers, the Toohey family, by the state government. It was declared a cemetery reserve and Mt Gravatt Cemetery opened 1918. It includes pioneer James Toohey’s graves and others from Toohey Family Private Cemetery which had its internments removed to Mt Gravatt Cemetery in 1940. Members of the pioneer Klump family, prominent Aboriginal socialist Yabu Bilyana and local identity and homeless man ‘Happy Jack’ are buried there. A special Anzac Cemetery Section opened in 1962.
Lot plan
L2_SP137378
Key dates
Local Heritage Place Since —
Date of Citation —
Criterion for listing
(A) Historical; (B) Rarity; (C) Scientific; (H) Historical associationInteractive mapping
Lot plan
L2_SP137378
Key dates
Local Heritage Place Since —
Date of Citation —
Criterion for listing
(A) Historical; (B) Rarity; (C) Scientific; (H) Historical associationInteractive mapping
History
In 1913, Lot 392 of grazing land owned by the local pioneers, the Toohey family, was resumed by the Queensland Government for the non-payment of back taxes. The entire 262 hectares of land was declared a cemetery reserve. Mt Gravatt Cemetery opened in 1918 with a monumental section (Portion 3A). It was managed by a Board of Trustees appointed by the state government.
The Cemetery was arranged into separate sections for religious denominations as well as some General Sections.
Portion 2A is the Muslim Section and contains graves dating from 1926-1930s.
Portion 3A is a General Section and contains graves dating from 1919-1940.
Portion 3F is a Catholic Section and contains graves dating from the 1940s.
Portion 4A is the Russian Orthodox Section and contains graves dating from 1940 onwards.
Portion 4B is another Catholic Section and contains graves dating from 1920.
Portion 4E is the Anglican Section and contains graves dating from 1925-1940.
Portion 4F is another Catholic Section and it also contains the Toohey Family graves with the earliest headstone dating from 1914.
In 1930, the Brisbane City Council, using the City of Brisbane Act 1924 assumed control of all public cemeteries, including Mt Gravatt Cemetery, falling within its boundaries. Council purchased the site outright from the state government under the provisions of The Sale to Local Authorities Land Act 1882 on 23 October 1937.
Irish migrant and district pioneer James Toohey died on 22 November 1883 and had been buried at the South Brisbane Cemetery, Dutton Park. After his wife Ann (nee Doherty) died on 26 December 1901, the family established a private cemetery on a rocky ridge of their ‘Mount Galway’ property in the Mt Gravatt District. James Toohey’s remains were removed from Dutton Park and reinterred beside his wife. The Toohey Family Private Cemetery was moved from the family’s land in what is now Toohey Forest Park. The private cemetery’s eight graves were relocated to Portion 4F of the Mt Gravatt Cemetery and reinterred there on 16 May 1940.
There are three ANZAC Cemetery sections planned in the post-war lawn cemetery style. The first section of the ANZAC Cemetery was blessed and opened on 19 June 1962.
In 1972, a Lawn Section was opened, reflecting the changing style of burials developed in the post-war period. In 1985, the Brisbane City Council announced that a new, separate section for burials from the Chinese community would be established. Among the prominent burials at the Cemetery are various members of the pioneering Klump Family, local identity and homeless man ‘Happy Jack’ and Yabu Bilyana (Jim Tyson) who was the first Aboriginal Australian to join the Committee of the Fourth (Socialist) International.
Section 4C is the Jewish and Greek Orthodox Section and contains a Jewish Chapel and a Holocaust Memorial.
There was a Heritage Unit site inspection on 6 August 2003.
Statement of significance
Relevant assessment criteria
This is a place of local heritage significance and meets one or more of the local heritage criteria under the Heritage planning scheme policy of the Brisbane City Plan 2014. It is significant because:
Citation prepared by — Brisbane City Council (page revised June 2022)