Dogwood Cemetery (historic)

DOGWOOD CEMETERY

(Text from the info Sign)

The tree-lined banks of Dogwood Creek were an idyllic setting for the last resting place of Miles' early settlers. When it was chosen as the local cemetery no one realised how often the site would flood. For some thirty years from about 1878, it was the town's only cemetery.

Martha Barraclough died from a miscarriage and complications on 24 March 1878. She was 31 years old and left a husband, Edward, and five young children. Her burial is the earliest recorded at Dogwood Creek cemetery. The Barraclough's worked on the railways line construction. As a nurse, Martha cared for sick railway workers at the local camp. Her headstone was probably washed away during one of the many floods that rushed through this otherwise picturesque cemetery.

Michael Fogarty, the first chairman of the former Murilla Shire Council, publican of the Queensland Hotel, and a local shop owner, was 65 years old.

when he died in 1909. Several years later his wife, Kate, then 70 years old was buried alongside him. In 1913, Bridget Fogarty, Michael's mother, died and was buried at Dogwood Creek cemetery. She was 98 years old.

The Lawton Brothers were renowned within the region for their horsemanship, so much so that James Lawton (1866-1913) was sent to the Boer War to work with the horses. On his return in 1903, James Lawton purchased the Queensland Hotel from Michael Fogarty for £4000 ($8000). His brother, William Henry (died 1908), and nephew, William Wallace (died 1920), are also buried at Dogwood Creek cemetery.

Ann Bourne (died 1906, aged 71 years) and Henry (died 1909, aged 75 years) travelled by bullock dray from Victoria in the 1880s. They took up Hookswood Station (518 square kilometres) in 1883 and also ran a butcher's shop in Miles.

Acknowledgement to Mr Gordon Grimwade & Associates and Mrs Merlene Coates Freeman for their help and assistance with this information.Read more