Oaks Burial Ground
Oaks Estate, Australian Capital Territory, Australia

Lat: -35° 21'S, Lon: 149° 14'E

Contributed by Barry Stephenson, Nov 03, 2005 [barry.stephenson@homemail.com.au]. Total records = 44.

The Oaks Burial Ground was the first burial ground of Queanbeyan. Early information on the burial ground states the earliest burial took place in a paddock adjacent to "The Oaks" homestead. It would also appear that no headstones existed in the burial ground.

The site was used for burials from 1838 to 1846 when the Queanbeyan Riverside Cemetery was established. However one burial took place after 1846 when an unknown Indian juggler was buried on 8 Apr 1863.

When burials took place in this burial ground, Oaks Estate was part of New South Wales. In 1912 Oaks Estate was acquired by the Commonwealth and became a part of the Australian Capital Territory. Over the years the burial ground's exact location had been forgotten.

However, on 21 April 1991 a back-hoe operator, digging a storm-water trench in a drive way of 9 Florence Street Oaks Estate unearthed skeletal remains. An anthropologist from the Australian National University confirmed the bones to be 150 years old. It was then established the site was The Oaks Burial Ground.

The following names of burials at The Oaks Burial Ground have been extracted from a publication by the Queanbeyan City Council in conjunction with the Queanbeyan and District Historical Society (1982). 'Queanbeyan Pioneer Cemeteries'.

- Barry Stephenson

Bailey, John, d. 4 Jan 1846, age: 12 days, s/o John & Mary
Bolt, Henry, d. 23 Aug 1839, age: 39 yrs
Clarker, William, d. 4 Jun 1842, age: 50 yrs, h/o Elizabeth Morton
Clifford, William, d. 3 Apr 1846, age: 37 yrs
Collison, Thomas, d. Jan 1845
Connor, Thomas, d. 10 May 1842
Cook, William, d. 9 Jan 1844, age: 53 yrs
Crawford, John, d. 5 Mar 1845
Daffarn, Margaret, d. 21 Aug 1842, age: 40 yrs, w/o John. m/o Ann
Donnelly, James, bur. 1 Jun 1845, age: 26 yrs
Dunkerley, John, d. 23 Dec 1845, age: 26 yrs
English, John, bur. 21 Jun 1939
Gallagher, Thomas, bur. 28 Feb 1845
Gallagher, William, d. 24 May 1841
Goosey, Thomas, bur. 21 Jun 1839
Green, Thomas, d. 25 Dec 1841
Griffiths, Robert, d. between Feb & Apr 1840
Hall, Elliss, d. 16 Oct 1842, age: 60 yrs
Harper, James, bur. 17 Nov 1842
Hennessy, Martin, d. 2 Sep 1842
Holmes, Edward, bur. 14 May 1838
Hopkins, James, bur. 21 Jun 1841
Howlett, Patrick, d. 9 Aug 1845 (middle age)
Kelly, David, bur. 28 Feb 1845
Kinsela, Patrick, d. 23 Feb 1841
Landrigan, Michael, d. May 1841
Lines, Amos, d. 27 Mar 1846, age: 33 yrs
McEdward, Alexander, d. 4 Mar 1839
Mellor, George, d. 18 Nov 1844, age: 38 yrs
O'Brien, Thomas, d. 15 Aug 1839, age: 44 yrs
Quinn, John, d. Dec 1840, drowned
Rattray, James, d. 23 Aug 1842
Salmon, George, bur. 15 Sep 1839
Skeate, William, d. 8 Sep 1839, age: 36 yrs
Smith, John, b. 24 Dec 1841, d. 13 Apr 1842, s/o Daniel & Mary
Smith, Mary Ann, d. 24 Aug 1839, age: 2 mths, d/o John & Ann
Swan, Charles, bur. 18 Dec 1838
Taylor, Thomas, d. 12 Dec 1840, drowned, age: about 30 yrs
Unknown Indian Juggler, bur. 8 Apr 1863, age: about 40 yrs, murdered about Nov 1861
Unknown male, d. 8 Feb 1846,, age:: between 20 & 30 yrs
Walker, George, d. 7 Jun 1842, age: about 30 yrs
Wilford, Stephen, bur. Apr 1842
Winterbottom, Rhodes, d. 19 May 1843, drowned Queanbeyan River
Wright, Michael, d. 24 Aug 1845, age: 48 yrs

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