The Cooktown cemetery is easily accessible on the southwestern edge of town, along the McIvor Road.
Within it, diverse historical, social, architectural, artistic, religious and cultural practices are reflected. Graveyards are not simply memorials to the dead but act as testimonies to their rich, varied and colourful lives.
The oldest identifiable grave is that of Rev Francis Tripp, who died on 20 May 1874 at the age of 46 years.
The cemetery at Cooktown is the final resting place for many of the diverse nationalities, religions and cultures that inhabited the pioneering town. The story that unfolds bears witness to the tragedies, triumphs and mysteries experienced by the people in times of exploration and adventure. Many of the events and individuals that contributed to Cooktown's development are recorded here.
There is a diversity of architectural styles using a wide range of materials. Many headstones have engraved epitaphs with lead lettering in-fill. The skills of many stone masons are represented: Melrose and Fenwick, Townsville; J.H. Simmonds, Brisbane; Steene Memorials, Cairns; E. Greenway, Ipswich. Look for the varying masonry marks.
The style of graves is a reflection of religious grouping: the Catholics generally favour more elaborate headstones while virtually no Chinese nor Aboriginal graves are marked despite many burials of both races being recorded.
The physical layout is an example of late nineteenth century planning, differing from the neatly regimented rows of many cemeteries. Denominational divisions are apparent, with Catholic, Protestant, Chinese and Jewish sections. There are graves, known and unknown, which reflect the diverse origins of north Queenslanders: Aborigines, Chinese, English, French, German, Irish, Jews, New Zealanders and Scots.
Elizabeth Cooper was one of three residents to be drowned in a boating accident, aged 26 years, she died on August 1874. Her headstone stands alone, beyond the Chinese shrine. Thomas Graham and Mrs. Siebold who also perished, are buried in unmarked graves.
The Normanby Woman, a mysterious fair skinned woman, who was found living with the aboriginals is also buried in the cemetary. She may herself have been aboriginal, but this is a mystery, as she knew three English words. When she was captured by the English in 1887, the aborginals attacked them in order to get her back.
The Roman Catholic section contains the graves of the first two Bishops of Cooktown - Bishop Hutchinson and Bishop Murray. It also houses the grave of the founding Mother Superior of St Mary's Convent, Mother Mary de Sales. The convent is now the James Cook Historical Museum.
Albert Ross Hovell, son of Captain Hovell the co-discoverer with Hume of the Murray River in New South Wales, died on 5 May 1888. He was a master mariner who engaged in the nefarious 'black birding' trade and was sentenced to death in Sydney. The sentence was commuted and he returned to sea. He died of natural causes while on shore leave in Cooktown.
A series of tragic events led to the deaths of Mary Watson and her infant son, Ferrier, who are interred within the graveyard. Their servant, Ah Sam, lies in an unmarked grave.
The small Jewish section, is situated along the walking track, connecting the Roman Catholic area to the Chinese shrine. Solomom Lyon Mark's monument bears a Hebrew inscription and the date of AM5635 (1875AD).
The Chinese Shrine was erected in 1887. Its function was not so much a memorial to the Chinese dead but as a place at which funerary rites were conducted. The central figures, in ancient script, may be loosely translated to read, 'respect the dead as if they are still present.
Oral evidence suggests the Chinese were buried immediately to the south of the shrine and Aborigines to the north of the approach track to the monument. There is no obvious physical evidence but because it is an area of extensive regrowth and bush it is virtually impossible to discern any grave sites.
The cemetery also includes a variety of other interesting elements. In the north eastern area of the graveyard, near the grave of the Rev. McLaren, in the Protestant section, is a stone arrangement, set among tall native grasses. Oral tradition recalls a caretaker living in a small dwelling in this area.
East from Elizabeth Cooper's grave are a series of intersecting shallow trenches. Were they efforts to drain the original cemetery, or are they relics from early market gardens?
The posts are the rear boundary of the cemetery and are old sleepers from the rail line.
Hopefully, further conservation and research work can be carried out to gain an insight to these and other unanswered questions.
NB 'Blackbirding' - the transportation of Pacific Islanders to work as indentured labour on the canefields of Queensland.
Sources
Gordon Grimwade and Associates, September 1995, Cooktown Cemetery, Conservation and Interpretation Plan.
Cooktown Library 1995, Cooktown Cemetery - Historical Notes.
