Did you know Queensland's first legal cremation only occurred in 1934? To commemorate State Library of Queensland’s new free exhibition Dearly Departed: death in life, we investigate Queensland's first crematorium, and the rise in popularity of this funerary practice.
While a long-held practice in many cultures, Queensland's interest in cremation sharpened after the 1900 plague outbreak, which underscored the need for sanitary reform.
This momentum contributed to the Public Health Act 1902 and, eventually (after a lot of newspaper column inches) to Dr William Taylor’s successful Cremation Bill of 1912, which became law a year later. Even so, an actual crematorium did not immediately follow, delayed by the First World War and the significant cost of construction.
Another hurdle to overcome was public sentiment, shaped strongly by religious and cultural tradition, along with general squeamishness around the not widely understood practice.
A dedicated Brisbane cremationist movement – The Brisbane Cremation Association (later the Brisbane Cremation Society) – emerged in 1915, uniting politicians, physicians, engineers, and members of Theosophical, Rationalist, and Modernist groups.
Pen sketch of the proposed Brisbane Crematorium, from Cremation : a handbook of information.
Brisbane City Council approved the establishment of a crematorium for the city in 1925, but public resistance prevented three proposed sites in Toowong, Balmoral and Lutwyche. Eventually, the newly-formed Brisbane Crematorium Limited (formed by members of earlier cremation advocacy groups) was approved for a site in 1933 at Mount Thompson in Holland Park.
An information handbook produced by the company in 1934 outlined their plans for the site – one that blended practicality with artistic ambition.
By the time construction was complete, on 7 September 1934, early newspaper reports depict the site as 'a landmark of the district.' The central building was a spacious brick chapel, lined and inset with Queensland marble, with a large mural by Brisbane artist William Bustard hanging above the catafalque.
Leadlight doors opened to the columbarium garden, overlooking a lily pond and a figure by Brisbane sculptor Daphne Mayo (who would also provide a number of stone bas reliefs throughout the crematorium).
Brisbane Crematorium opened on 9 September 1934. At 10:30 am on 11 September, Neil Richmond Rose of Wynnum became the first person to be cremated in Queensland.
In the first year of the company’s operations, there were 261 cremations, which were claimed “to constitute a world record for the first year at any crematorium”.
As Queensland's inaugural – and indeed only interwar – crematorium, the site marked the culmination of decades of advocacy and established cremation as a viable and dignified funerary option in Queensland. Now known as Mt. Thompson Memorial Gardens, it is still in operation today.
Learn more about Queensland's first crematorium – along with hundreds of other amazing stories examining the social, cultural, spiritual and historical forces that have shaped Queensland’s experiences of death and dying – at State Library’s new free exhibition Dearly Departed: death in life, running 14 March to 23 August 2026. Find out more at slq.qld.gov/dearlydeparted
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