Mandarana
 (St Peter's Churchyard) Cemetery 

Mandarana Cemetery looking towards the north east. (taken June 2003, Glen Hall Collection)

Location: Balnagowan-Mandarana Road, via Mackay, Queensland.
The Cemetery is located just a couple of hundred metres down on the left hand side of Mandarana road just off the Bruce Highway. There is a sign naming the "Mandurana [sic] Cemetery".

Local Government Authority: Mackay City Council

History:

The land was donated in 1882 by Mrs. Elizabeth Martin. The church was part of the Church of England Pioneer Parish and was opened on 13th April 1884 by the Revd. T. Worthington of the Christ Church, Walkerston. The area was also referred to in the early days as Bonson's Scrub.

Mrs Martin was earlier responsible for opening a Mission earlier for the South Sea Islanders (Kanakas) who were engaged to work on the various sugar plantations around Mackay. Mrs. Martin helped raised funds for the building of the church and one of her helpers was a young Nellie Mitchell who was the daughter of Mr. David Mitchell who built the first Marian Mill in 1882. Nellie later married a Mr. Charles Armstrong but the marriage was not to last and she moved back to Melbourne after 18 months. Nellie Mitchell sang in various benefit concerts held in Mackay to help raise funds. She later become "Dame Nellie Melba" of worldwide fame.

The Church was wrecked in 1898 by the effects of Cyclone "Eline". It was also badly damaged in the 1918 Cyclone. On both occasions Madame Melba responded generously towards the restoration.

St Peter's Church at Mandarana built 1884. Courtesy Daily Mercury archives.

The church held its golden jubilee in 1934.

The church faced with falling attendances closed in 1962. The land was repurchased by Mr. K.M. Martin in 1967.

A fire took hold in the disused church on August 6, 1968 which totally destroyed the building.

One of the known burials in the cemetery is of Robert (Bob) Martin who settled in the area near Mirani then known as Hamilton in 1863. In 1878 Bob Martin moved to the Mandarana area. He died in 1898 of heart failure brought on by pneumonia he contracted during cyclone "Eline".  In accordance with his wishes he was buried under a blue gum near the edge of the cemetery.

Number of Burials: 49 burials in 34 graves. Only 4 of the 5 headstones remain that can be identified. Those headstones are identified on the list below by the underlined Surname. Click to view photographs.

Burials:   Only 36 listed on Mackay Courthouse Deaths Register

Sources:

Mackay Courthouse Burial Register.
"In their own hands", by K.W. Manning, (1983), p.3.
"Scrubby News", Number 6, June 1992, p.2.
"The Daily Mercury", "Our Century" supplement, 26/2/2000, p.70.
"The Daily Mercury", 1968. undated (copy in Mackay Historical Society Collection).
Queensland Pioneers Index 1829-1889.

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  Mackay Historical Society

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last updated 19 August 2006 .
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