Cemeteries

We have translated the handwritten cemetery register books in an electronic system to allow you to research family members in the area.

Search for ancestors in the Whitsunday region.

We cannot guarantee the current listing of headstones/memorials is up to date. We do however endeavour to audit cemetery sections regularly to ensure we have current photos of the plaques/headstones on the website.

Anyone who can provide further information is encouraged to email info@whitsundayrc.qld.gov.au.

We manage and maintain three active cemeteries within the region.

• Bowen Cemetery - John and West Streets, Bowen
• Proserpine Cemetery - Crystal Brook Road, Proserpine
• Collinsville Cemetery - Scottsville Road, Collinsville

Bowen

The Bowen Cemetery is the oldest in the region with the burial of Percy Trooper on the 20th November 1861. The cemetery is located on John and West Streets, and it is the first of two cemeteries established in the town (the other being on Flemington Road). The period between 1878 to 1954 saw burials occur at both sites, and the same site numbers used, with re-numbering of the sites needing to be completed later. All burials returned to John and West Streets during 1954.

The cemetery is divided into the sections of Memorial, Lawn, Beam, Palm Memorial Garden and Columbarium Walls. 

An amenity block with seating is located at the John Street entrance.

Proserpine

The Proserpine cemetery was first used in the 1880s and placed under the control of the Proserpine Shire Council in c.1912.

Proserpine cemetery is the final resting place for many of Proserpine's pioneer settlers and migrants, and as such is a valuable physical record of the district's social history and community. Burials in the memorial section of the cemetery were divided by religion into the Catholic section (now detailed on maps as Sections C-1 to C-8) and the Protestant are (OP-1 to OP-11).

The cemetery also contains a New Protestant are (NP), Lawn, Rose Garden and Columbarium Walls.

An amenity block is located at the rear of the Lawn section on Crystal Brook Road.

Collinsville

Collinsville cemetery being the newest of the cemeteries, was gazetted for burials from 1927 to serve the mining townships of Collinsville and Scottsville. The earliest grave at this site was Agnes Ramage who passed away on the 10th September 1927.

The Collinsville cemetery was listed on the Queensland Heritage Register on 18th September 2009, in recognition of a place of burial of at least 23 miners killed between 1928 and 1954 at the Bowen Consolidated Colliery and the Collinsville (Bowen) State Mine. Seven Miners were killed in an accident at the Collinsville State Mine in October 1954, one of the state's worst mining accidents.

The site originally appointed to trustees, was handed over to Bowen Shire Council in 1995.

We manage and maintain inactive cemeteries at Flemington Road Bowen (listed on the Queensland Heritage Register on 23rd July 1999), Mt Coolan, and the Normanby Goldfields.

We hold some records about burials on private property within the region. These sites are called Lone Graves. The sites Council has been able to identify with the help of local historical groups, family history groups and property owners are recorded on the online register. The location has not been identified as permission must be sought from the property owner to visit these sites.

Regrettably there are several graves where burials have taken place, which we were unable to locate.

Because different burial numbers were used for some second and third interments, it was possible that some of these burials already have their graves located with other interments.

Many hours were spent trying to locate the missing markers. At one time, we used metal detectors to determine if any markers had been covered by soil and were just below the surface.

Perhaps by publication of this list, there are some relatives of those listed, still living in the area, who might be able to enlighten us as to where the graves are so that they might be recorded properly.

For more information about the area or historic burials the Resources listed below can be of assistance. The museum and Family History Societies hold a wealth of knowledge and aim to promote and preserve research into local and family history for the benefit of the community.

• Proserpine Historical Museum
• Find a Grave
• Queensland Registry of Historical Records for Births, Deaths & Marriages

For further information relating to Cemeteries please refer to the Cemeteries Policy.