Margaret Laing
foundHeadstones #done
16 November 1861 — 6 February 1863
Margaret Laing (29A)
Headstone
Fragments of Margaret Laing's headstone discovered in Toowong Cemetery Archaeological Digs in 2021.
- Erected: North Brisbane Burial Grounds, Presbyterian section. After 6 February 1863
- Moved to: North Brisbane Burial Grounds, Reserved Area. ca. 1914. Recorded as M. 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 McKe y L…
died 9th April …
…ed 11 mont…
an…
died …
ag…
Eliza…
died …
age…
Learn more
Birth registration: Margaret Laing
Birth date: 16/11/1861
Mother's name: Ellen Matheson
Father/parent's name: Robert Laing
Registration details: 1861/B/851
Death registration: Margaret Laing
Death date: 06/02/1863
Mother's name: Ellen Matheson
Father/parent's name: Robert Laing
Registration details: 1863/B/1045
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.