Helen McKay Laing
foundHeadstones #done
24 April 1864 — 9 April 1865
Helen McKay Laing (29A)
Headstone
Fragments of Helen McKay Laing's headstone discovered in Toowong Cemetery Archaeological Digs in 2021.
- Erected: North Brisbane Burial Grounds, Presbyterian section. After 9 April 1865
- Moved to: North Brisbane Burial Grounds, Reserved Area. ca. 1914. Recorded as H. McK. Laing
- Demolished and disposed of in: Toowong Cemetery, Portion 29A. ca. 1930
- Discovered: Toowong Cemetery, Portion 29A near Section 72. ca. May 2021
Inscription
Sacred
to
the memory of
Margaret Laing
died 6th February 18…
aged 14 months
also
Helen McKay L…
died 9th April …
…ed 11 mont…
an…
died …
ag…
Eliza…
died …
age…
Learn more
Birth registration: Helen McKay Laing
Birth date: 24/04/1864
Mother's name: Helen Matheson
Father/parent's name: Robert Laing
Registration details: 1864/B/2614
Death registration: Helen Laing
Death date: 09/04/1865
Mother's name: Helen Matheson
Father/parent's name: Robert Laing
Registration details: 1865/B/2310
Next to him is a grave with four children named Laing, four little girls, Helen, Margaret, Ann and Elizabeth, aged 11, 13, 14, and 17 months, not one reaching two years of age. Three died in 1863, and one in 1873, so the first three must be the children of two mothers, unless two were twin. A cypress pine, "Callitris Robusta," evidently an old tree, has fallen between the two graves, and lies partly on the stone over Mathieson, with a branch over the little girls. The four dead children, the dead man, and the dead cypress ! There is no more pathetic or mournful scene in the cemetery.