2024
The idea of a cemetery-themed heritage conference occurred to Brisbane historian Chris Dawson in late 2023. With the involvement of Stephen Sheaffe and the Royal Historical Society of Queensland, the first 'Stories in Stone' conference took place in March 2024 at the RHSQ’s Commissariat Store and was an immediate success. All 75 tickets were sold out, and the speakers were very well received. Some papers based on these presentations were featured in the February 2025 edition of RHSQ’s Queensland History Journal.
The speakers for the programme were Dr Jon Prangnell (on the archaeological excavations at the North Brisbane Burial Grounds), Dr Jennifer Harrison (on the convict-era burial grounds in Brisbane), Jess Parker (on the ‘clasped hand’ headstone motif), Dr Hilda MacLean (on South Sea Islander burial grounds near Logan), Jenny Clark (on World War memorial projects at Balmoral Cemetery), Chris Dawson (historical religious segregation in local cemeteries), and John Pearn (the role of cemeteries in family and community life).
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| Stories in Stone conference, Brisbane, 2024. (C Dawson) |
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| The Commissariat Store. (Wikimedia Commons) |
