The 100th anniversary of the tragic sinking of the SS Yongala and its Brockley connection

It's exactly 100 years today since the coastal trading ship SS Yongala sank in a tropical cyclone off the coast of Queensland, Australia on March 23rd 1911. The disaster became known as the 'Townsville Titanic' as all 122 passengers and crew were lost. The only body recovered was that of a racehorse called 'Moonshine' washed ashore some days later. That loss had a profound impact on Townsville which at that time had a population of just 15,000.

There is a Brockley link in the person of 21 year old Robert Walton Cook who was a crew member on the ill fated voyage and whose grave lies in the Brockley & Ladywell Cemeteries.


The centenary of one of Australia's greatest maritime mysteries has been marked with the Yongala story appeared on ABC News, a national current affairs program in Australia. Click here and select Play Video, to see the fascinating history of the Yongala "What Lies Beneath".

Wednesday 8th August set for next meeting of Friends of Brockley and Ladywell Cemeteries

Friends of Brockley and Ladywell Cemeteries

We are a new group to help protect and improve Brockley and Ladywell cemeteries

Next meeting:
Wednesday 8th August, 7.30pm, Brockley Grove Depot,
( on Brockley Grove, next to the cemeteries and opposite Crofton Baptist Church)

All are welcome

For further details, tel: 020 8690 0905

Friends of Brockley and Ladywell Cemeteries

Thank you to everyone who came to the meeting on Wednesday night in the cemetery chapel - about 25 people in total - not bad at all for a first meeting with limited publicity.

There was general enthusiasm for starting up a Friends of Brockley and Ladywell Cemeteries group, although a wide range of views were expressed on how the cemeteries should be maintained. A wide range of interests and connections brought people to the meeting - some were interested in the historical importance of the cemeteries, others in the wildlife, some in photographing the memorials, some in the Commonwealth war graves and some in particular in the graves of loved ones.

Special thanks should go to local resident Jeff Hart, who shared with the group his extensive experience in setting up Friends of Nunhead Cemetery and gave us lots of useful advice and food for thought.

A follow-up meeting has been arranged for Wednesday 8th August, 7.30pm, this time in the Brockley Grove depot, next door to the cemetery. The aim of this meeting will be to decide what people want the group to achieve, how to set it up and hopefully people will start work to move things forward.

I've got the minutes to type up over the weekend and will try to post them here. Hopefully a couple of people (our 'IT sub-committee') are setting up a FOBLC blog and an e-mail list very soon