The Hodgen family grave is a tragic reminder of the high infant mortality rates in Brisbane during the late 19th century. The remains of married couple Samuel and Sarah Hodgen lie here, along with their children Charles (died 1884 aged 2 days), Frank (died 1886 aged 1 year), Edwyn (died 1893 aged 3 years), and Dorothy (died 1894 aged 3 months).

These deaths had little to do with poverty, as the family were quite middle class. Samuel wrote for a number of newspapers before working for the government Hansard staff from 1884 until his death in 1921, which was caused by heart attack (they had married in 1883). Sarah’s father, Robert Bulcock, was a Queensland MLA. Sarah lived on Lamington Terrace, Dutton Park, for the rest of her life. She became blind in 1925, but apparently bore this with ‘great fortitude’ and spent much of her time knitting for returned soldiers. She died in 1941, survived by three daughters and one son, and her cremated remains were placed in the family grave in portion 8A.

Their headstone is one of several in the South Brisbane Cemetery that bear witness to the unimaginable tragedy that many families of that time had to endure. 

Nearby ‘Areas of Interest’

Thomas Blacket Stephens (mayor and businessman) – Portion 10A
Arthur Francis (Bubonic Plague victim) – Portion 8B
Eleanor Bourne (first female medical student in Queensland) – Portion 8B
Henry O’Reilly (mariner) – Portion 11A
Joseph Espie Dods (doctor and war hero) – Portion 9A
Jane Hockings (first burial in the cemetery) – Portion 8A