Our buried treasures
GEELONG’S Eastern Cemetery was the scene for the recent launch of a book that tells the story of some of the remarkable people buried there and in other burial sites in southwest Victoria.
The book, Grave Tales: Great Ocean Road Country — Geelong to Port Fairy, is the labour of love of journalists Helen Goltz and Chris Adams, and is a follow-up to their book Grave Tales: Brisbane.
Goltz said the authors both had a mutual interest in cemeteries.
“I grew up in Toowoomba where Drayton Cemetery was a classic old cemetery, and Chris had a fascination as well, and both being journalists we like a good story,’’ she said.
“Brisbane was the first book. This was the second book and Sydney is next.’’
Among those whose achievements are outlined in the Geelong region book are the Advertiser’s founding editor James Harrison, best known elsewhere for his pioneering work on refrigeration. He was honoured in a ceremony at his grave in 1956 to mark the centenary of his achievement.
Brilliant Ford motor vehicle designer Lewis Bandt, who was famously asked to design a vehicle that could be driven to church on Sunday and carry the pigs to market the next day, designed the coupe utility.
Bandt was tragically killed driving a rebuilt 1934 Ford ute in a head-on collision with a truck at Bannockburn in 1987.
He is buried at Geelong’s Western Cemetery and the book gives detailed directions to finding his grave.
Geelong Football Club great Charles Brownlow, who is buried at Eastern Cemetery, died in 1924 and it was fitting the first Brownlow Medal winner in 1925 was Geelong’s Carji Greeves. Again, there are details to find Brownlow’s grave.
Grave Tales: Great Ocean Road Country is available from www.gravetales.com.au or Amazon. Contact: peterjohnbegg@gmail.com