Governor Samuel BlackallPrint Page

The monument erected over the grave commemorates Samuel Blackall, who was Governor of Queensland from 1868 to 1871. Governor Blackall was the first burial in the Toowong Cemetery on January 3rd, 1871. 

An information plaque was unveiled at the gravesite on the 24th July 2011 marking the 140th anniversary of the commencement of the Towwong Cemetery. Governor Blackall was the first person to be buried in the Toowong Cemetery. 

In 1868 Blackall was appointed governor of Queensland. On arrival in Brisbane on 14 August Blackall was met by a tremendous popular welcome, but at once was plunged into a constitutional crisis, which had been temporarily held in check by the administrator, Sir Maurice O`Connell. After a deadlock in the Legislative Assembly the Liberals had been defeated in an election but were petitioning the governor to dissolve the assembly on the ground that it did not properly represent the colony.

Blackall pursued a strictly constitutional course and refused to intervene directly. The crisis did not end until the rule of his successor, the Marquis of Normanby. Despite the bitterness of the constitutional battle Blackall made no personal enemies, though he had to face a few personal attacks. Kindly and soft-spoken, he had developed the gift of making friends and became very popular.

In the preceding page will be found a view of the monument, erected in the general cemetery, Toowong, to the memory of Colonel Blackall, governor of Queensland, who died on January 2, 1871, aged 62. Colonel Blackall assumed the government of the colony in 1868. During the comparatively short time he held office, he succeeded in endearing himself to all classes of the community. Soon after his death Parliament voted £500 for the erection of a monument over his remains. This monument was designed by Mr. Stanley, the Colonial Architect.

It is an excellent example of early English gothic. It is principally built of Murphy's Creek stone. It is 56 feet high and is octagon in plan. The lower chamber, which is 14 feet high, stands on a flight of five steps. It shows four gables externally, carried on short columns of polished Gladstone marble. The gable facing towards the south has a white marble slab with a suitable inscription referring to the deceased gentleman. The interior of this portion of the structure forms a chamber about 8 feet square, the floor of which has a slab of black polished slate, also bearing an inscription, and covering the entrance to a vault wherein Major Blackall`s remains lie.

The general design of the upper part of the monument is a tapering octagonal column, carrying on the top a large gothic moulded and carved capital, which is again surmounted by an octagonal spire and carted crocket, the whole terminating in a bronze and gilt cross. A neat railing surrounds the monument, which forms a prominent object for some distance around.
The Week (Brisbane),  8 June 1878.

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