This guide looks at three historic ones, Toowong, South Brisbane and Lutwyche, and at the burial grounds that came before them.
Toowong Cemetery
Brisbane City Council describes Toowong Cemetery as once the city’s main burial ground, with many of Brisbane’s prominent European settlers buried there. The Council says it officially opened in 1875, although some burials took place from 1871. The Friends of Toowong Cemetery give the opening date as 5 July 1875 and say it was originally called the Brisbane General Cemetery. The same group says the land was first reserved in 1866.
The Friends of Toowong Cemetery record that 34 trustees served the Brisbane General Cemetery Trust between 7 October 1870 and 1 August 1930, when Brisbane City Council took over management of all cemeteries within the municipality.
On size, the sources use different measures. The Council calls Toowong Brisbane’s largest cemetery. The Friends group says it is the largest in Queensland at 44 hectares, with over 119,000 people buried in approximately 46,000 graves.
The Council names several people buried at Toowong, including Queensland’s second governor Colonel Samuel Blackall, Sir Samuel Walker Griffith, John Petrie (Brisbane’s first mayor) and Emma Miller, a campaigner for women’s suffrage in Queensland. It also notes that when the Paddington cemetery site was closed, the remains of 186 people were removed and reburied, mainly in Toowong.
South Brisbane Cemetery
According to the Council, the first burial at South Brisbane Cemetery took place in 1870, and there are approximately 19,500 graves on the site. The Council lists it as a historic cemetery on the Queensland Heritage Register. Its graves include early residents and Boggo Road Gaol prisoners, among them the bushranger Patrick Kenniff.
Lutwyche Cemetery
The Council says Lutwyche Cemetery was established in 1878 and is one of Brisbane’s oldest cemeteries. Its layout is a grid, which the Council says was popular in the Victorian era. The first burial there was a five-year-old boy in 1878.
Inside the grounds stands a timber shelter built in 1891 and designed by Brisbane architects Voller and Graham, according to the Council’s local heritage register. That register entry assesses it as a rare surviving example of an 1890s timber shelter. The Council also notes that the cemetery has a Commonwealth War Graves Commission section containing 389 World War II graves.
Burial grounds that no longer look like cemeteries
Not every early burial ground survives as a visible cemetery. Brisbane Living Heritage, supported by Brisbane City Council, says the North Brisbane Burial Grounds opened in 1843 and became Brisbane’s principal cemetery for more than twenty years. It says the area is now covered by parkland and development around Milton and Roma Street. Of the Paddington Cemetery, it says the site today includes sporting and recreational facilities, with little visible trace of its former use.
Walking Toowong’s history
Brisbane City Council’s Toowong Cemetery page, as listed there and checked 9 November 2026, offers two self-guided walks, developed with the support of the Friends of Toowong Cemetery. The same page says the Friends group meets monthly and runs guided walks. The page lists no schedule or fees for those guided walks, so check with the group directly before planning a visit.
Cemeteries are places of remembrance for families as well as heritage sites, so visitors are best placed to keep to paths, keep voices low and leave graves undisturbed.
Frequently asked questions
When did Toowong Cemetery open?
Brisbane City Council says it officially opened in 1875, with some burials from 1871; the Friends of Toowong Cemetery give 5 July 1875.
Who is buried at Toowong Cemetery?
Brisbane City Council names Colonel Samuel Blackall, Sir Samuel Walker Griffith, John Petrie and Emma Miller among others.
When was the first burial at South Brisbane Cemetery?
Brisbane City Council says 1870.
Does Council list walks at Toowong Cemetery?
As listed on its Toowong Cemetery page, checked 9 November 2026, Council lists two self-guided walks and says the Friends group runs guided walks.
