Toowong Cemetery

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Dress: Asos White cotton broderie

Jumper: Gift, handknitted wool (from Hebrides)

Ankle Boots: Renee Loves Frances leather, silver zippers

Bag: Nautica nylon, vinyl with silver hardware

Bracelet: Silver Shop, Maleny silver

Hat: Forever New straw boater (pictured later)

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I'm so delighted to be finally sharing with you all the breathtaking pictures from a Friday morning spent exploring the Toowong Cemetery. For the occasion, I donned an outfit that could only be described as "mostly ghostly" with its homage to Brisbane's pioneering past (coincidentally so on-trend this season) in the form of a beautiful white cotton broderie englaise midi-length shirtdress from Asos White, a hand-knitted mohair woollen jumper that a dear friend brought back from the Hebrides in Scotland, a pair of black leather ankle boots with silver zippers from Aussie boho-luxe label Renee Loves Frances, a black nylon & vinyl crossbody bag with silver hardware from Nautica & finally, a silver art-deco-inspired hinged bangle from Precious Stones Jewellers.

Scroll down to see how the morning unfolded & discover more about the cemetery...

A heritage-listed burial site on the corner of Frederick Street & Mt Coot tha Road, Toowong Cemetery was established in 1866 & formally opened in 1867, comprising of 44 hectares of land & over 120,000 gravesites & plots. The previous burial site of Inner City Paddington had become so overcrowded that calls for a new cemetery for the burgeoning city on the river were becoming louder & louder, so terminally-ill Governor Samuel Wensley Blackall took it upon himself to find an appropriately peaceful alternative. While riding by the now Toowong Cemetery, he was taken with the commanding views of the city & after his death, was one of the first buried there, on the highest knoll, on 3 January 1871. Since then, the majority of high-profile figures from the late 19th century through to the mid 20th century have been buried in its peaceful surrounds, as well as 270 Commonwealth service personnel from World War I & 117 personnel from World War II including two sailors from the Dutch Navy. At the time the cemetery was established, more than 50% of children died before their fifth birthday, resulting in many tiny graves from that era, many without headstones.

Some notable individuals buried in the cemetery include:

* Samuel Griffith (1845-1920) politican & Premier of Queensland, Chief Justice & principal author of the Constitution of Australia

* Sir Augustus Charles Gregory (1819-1905) Australian explorer & Surveyor General

* Emma Miller (1839-1917) suffragette & trade union organiser

* Richard Godfrey Rivers (1858-1925) artist who painted "Under the Jacarandas" featuring his wife that hangs in Queensland Art Gallery

* Dr Lillian Cooper (1861-1947) Queensland's first female doctor

* Dr James Mayne (1861-1939) & his sister Mary Emelia Mayne (1858-1940) children of merchant & suspected murderer Patrick Mayne, much maligned & misunderstood owners of Moorlands, upon which Toowong Shopping Centre & the Wesley Hospital now stand, who financed the purchase of the site for the future University of Queensland; subjects of Rosamond Siemon's intriguing 1997 book, "The Mayne Inheritance"

Moreover, it has been speculated that Jack the Ripper might be buried in the cemetery as one of the main suspects, Walter Thomas Porriott, an English conman, convicted murderer & bigamist who was "married" to at least twenty women, was in the Whitechapel area of London at the time of the murders & later migrated to Australia. The headstone over his grave only reads "Bessie: Died 25th June 1957. And Her Husband."

While it is true that cemeteries can often be divisive in the minds of many - I know people who insist on holding their breath as they drive by, could never countenance purchasing a property across the road or even down the street from one & believe that traipsing around the gravestones & monuments is somehow ghoulish or morbid - the historical ones certainly hold a special kind of fascination. Avid readers of this blog will already know that I am of English/Scottish/Danish heritage & I truly believe that it is a European affectation to visit cemeteries as one would art galleries or museums to pay homage to the phenomenal & oft undervalued talents of the stonemasons who carved these divine works of memory, faith & devotion. Many of the intricate angels, religious icons & Celtic crosses are as worthy of scholastic praise as those created by famed artists displayed in galleries around the world & it would a dreadful shame to allow these works to be forgotten... or indeed those good & decent people whose lives & loss inspired them. Yes, I am aware that not every individual buried in Toowong Cemetery was good or decent but the vast majority were deeply & sincerely mourned by family, friends & in some cases, such as that of Queensland's first Inspector of Detectives, Thomas Slattery, colleagues with monuments by large & small, all of which are beautiful & worthy of reverence & remembrance.

With this in mind, in 1992 a group of volunteers formed the Friends of the Toowong Cemetery whose activities include tending to neglected gravesites, facilitating guided tours & creating a plethora of brochures, pamphlets, maps & other resource material for those wishing to find certain graves or undertake self-guided walks of their own. On that note, I would like to sincerely thank Darcy Maddock (President) for all of his gracious help in providing a series of maps & information regarding parking & amenities that made this trip such a congenial experience.

For me, the abiding feeling of spending time in the cemetery is one of calm, peace & tranquility. As much as the dedicated members of the Friends of the Toowong Cemetery & Brisbane City Council workers endeavour to maintain gravesites, monuments & plots, nature continues its bid to "reclaim" these manmade structures in startlingly beautiful ways, as though the bending trees themselves are captivating sculptures; the hand of God reaching out from the blue-sky-heaven above. It was, in many ways, a religious or spiritual experience, the humbling feeling of being but a small part in the cyclical nature of life & the human world an ever-present presentiment... bringing to mind that old hymn, sung so beautifully by Johnny & June Carter Cash intones, "Will the circle be unbroken by & by..."