Like so many Brisbanites, I’ve ridden (or walked) past the site of the old Brisbane morgue. blissfully unaware of its grisly history.  Perched on the edge of the City on the Brisbane River, it seems too charming a place to pop a morgue.

It looks better suited to a summer picnicking spot, or a fisherman’s rest.  Alas, that outsides so often don’t match insides.

Little remains of Bridget’s Brisbane. A haphazard approach to preserving history, continuous growth and a Queensland conviction that “newer is better” means Brisbane retains only hints of its colonial past. I only knew about the old morgue foundations because someone posted on a local Facebook group about how it had been highlighted by recent development.

It struck me, as I stared at that old concrete slab, that this was one of the very few verified places Bridget had been. Or her body had.

It’s the way of life that moments you want to be soulful are ruined by normality.  A commuter on an e-Scooter damn near hit me as I took photos. Temporary construction fencing meant I couldn’t even lay flowers for my murdered auntie.

I didn’t have the stomach to dwell on the details of early, twentieth-century post-mortems conducted in a sub-tropical climate in high summer. [4] I can only be grateful that my family had the means to ensure Bridget was buried in under 48 hours after her death.[5]

Instead, I thought of my father’s family as I gazed at the ruins of the building where Bridget’s post-mortem happened.

Dad's kin have deep connections to the funeral industry in Perth, Western Australia.  From his stone-mason grandfather to the niece and nephews who became funeral directors, our Western Australia family have made their living from the business of death.

Speaking to a passionate funeral director about their work is something of a rare privilge. Most of them combine broken bodies (from lifting dead weight) with unending kindness (a prerequisite for job when encountering people at their worst). 

They will you tell droll stories of important family events interrupted because they need to go to work. Hidden behind the humour is a gentle acceptance of death tempered by a steely determination to shield the newly grieving however they can. 

I found two records with funeral homes for my murdered auntie from January 1914. [6] (Alex Gow Funerals still operate in Queensland today.) I think they're from the transport of her body to and from the old Brisbane Morgue and then home to Allora.

I hope people like my father’s family were looking after Bridget and the O’Callaghans on 18 January 1914 – people of exquisite tact who ensured Bridget travelled home with dignity and that her mother, father and brother were treated with unrelenting gentleness.

End Notes

[1] B. Moulder. "Foundations of the Former Brisbane Morgue (1910-1927)." Photo taken at Queen's Wharf development, Brisbane, 7 June 2024.

[2] View of Queen’s Wharf Road, Brisbane, ca. 1911. John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland. Place names added by the author using Canva.

[3] Bain, Jack. Second Permanent Victoria Bridge, Brisbane River. May 1962. QUT Digital Collections, Queensland University of Technology, https://digitalcollections.qut.edu.au/6132/. Accessed 18 Aug. 2024.

[4] There’s a truly excellent recounting of Brisbane’s old morgues if you’ve the constitution to read it.  Hamilton-Smith, Lexy. "Brisbane's Old Morgue: How the House for the Dead Survived." ABC News, 12 July 2018, www.abc.net.au/news/2018-07-12/brisbanes-old-morgue-how-the-house-for-the-dead-survived/9870010. Accessed 19 June 2024.

[5] "TRAGEDY AT MAYNE" Daily Standard (Brisbane, Qld. : 1912 - 1936) 19 January 1914: 5 (SECOND EDITION). Web. 19 Jun 2024, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article180933855.

[6] Genealogical Society of Queensland. "Record Transcription: Queensland Funeral Records." Findmypast.com.au. Accessed June 19, 2024.

https://www.findmypast.com.au/transcript?id=ANZ%2FGSQBUR%2F084805&record-id=ANZ%2FGSQBUR%2F084805&record-item-id=2950.

[7] Alex Gow Undertaker’s premises at 550 Queen Street, Brisbane, Queensland. John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland, 2007.