FOSBC's Graveyard Tales
Step into the sunlight — and into Brisbane’s buried stories!
Our day tours at South Brisbane Cemetery offer an entirely different kind of experience — immersive, historical walks through a vast heritage site where memory and meaning live side by side in broad daylight.
Each themed tour uncovers a distinct part of Brisbane’s past: the quiet tragedies of forgotten residents, the symbolism etched into weathered headstones, and the lives shaped by law, war, folklore, migration, and more. These aren’t generic histories — they’re vivid, personal, and often surprising glimpses into the lives of real people who helped shape the city we know today.
Whether you’re drawn to stories of heartbreak or heroism, hardship or humour, these tours connect you to the past in a thoughtful, grounded way — with moments of discovery at every turn. Perfect for first-time visitors and long-time locals alike, our day tours are accessible, engaging, and always evolving.
Come curious — leave with a new sense of the world beneath your feet.
The Irish of South Brisbane Cemetery
Within South Brisbane Cemetery lies a rich Irish legacy — a tapestry of lives shaped by resilience, rebellion, and hope. This special St Patrick’s Day tour uncovers stories of famine survivors, sea captains, political firebrands, and quiet pioneers who helped forge Brisbane’s early identity.
ANZAC: Stories from South Brisbane Cemetery
South Brisbane Cemetery holds powerful stories of those who served — and how we choose to remember them. This ANZAC-inspired tour explores war grave symbolism, the origins of official remembrance, and the lives of those soldiers both honoured and overlooked.
Headstone Detectives
Discover the secrets of South Brisbane Cemetery in this insightful tour for genealogists, family historians and curious minds. Learn how to trace ancestors, uncover lost graves, and navigate historical cemetery records — then stay for a hands-on session to start your own search.
Kurilpa and the Cemetery
From tragic endings to peaceful farewells, this special Kurilpa-themed tour uncovers the lives of locals laid to rest — from household names to those history forgot. Join Highgate Hill resident and researcher Paul Granville as he shares stories drawn from years of unearthing the past.
Watery Graves
Journey to the final resting places of those who perished on the water or dedicated their lives to the maritime world — from doomed ferries and Brisbane River tragedies to coastal lighthouse keepers, salty master mariners, and those whose stories still drift on the wind and tide.
Fiends & Felons
Beneath these quiet grounds lie tales of Brisbane’s most notorious — from bushrangers and killers to conmen, thieves, and repeat offenders. This gripping tour traces true stories of crime, harsh punishments, and the darker side of the Brisbane’s forgotten past.
Twilight Tour
As the sun sinks low over South Brisbane, walk among the resting places of poets and pioneers, workers and wanderers — a golden-hour journey through stories of love, loss, resilience, and remembrance, where everyday lives meet extraordinary ends in the fading light of day.
The Dying Arts
Visit the graves of talented poets, musicians, painters, writers, and sculptors in South Brisbane Cemetery and hear their stories. Discover the forgotten legacies of those who shaped Queensland’s artistic landscape, and explore how their contributions still echo in the city’s history.
SBC: A Journey Through Time
Trace over 150 years of South Brisbane Cemetery’s history — from its founding in the 1870s through floods, epidemics, wars, prisons, expansion, decline, and renewal — a layered story of survival, memory, and meaning carved into stone, silence, time, and the city itself.
A Grave History of Dutton Park
Uncover the layered past of Dutton Park, through the lives of those buried within South Brisbane Cemetery — from shanty town dwellers and suburban holidaymakers to prisoners, bakers, ferrymen, and forgotten locals who helped shape one of Brisbane’s most surprising suburbs.
Easy Access Tours
These tours offer a relaxed, inclusive way to explore South Brisbane Cemetery — ideal for groups seeking a gentler pace, wheelchair access, or using NDIS packages. Held day (or night), these 1½ hour tours can be privately booked and tailored to suit your group’s needs.
The Scots of South Brisbane Cemetery
Mark St Andrew’s Day with a walk through the lives of Brisbane’s early Scottish settlers — from statesmen to quiet achievers whose legacy lingers in stone. This tour honours the determination, skill, and ties that helped shape a new world far from the Highlands.
All our tours are not-for-profit and run by the Friends of South Brisbane Cemetery (Inc.). Tours are conducted under license from the Brisbane City Council. All profits go towards our cemetery heritage projects and FOSBC community activities.
Please contact us by email with your queries.
These are not-for-profit events that respect historical accuracy and cemetery values.