George Essex Evans Grave

This is a city which is all present: It moves, but oh so slowly You would have to sleep years, Waking suddenly once in a decade To surprise it in the act of change. ‘Provincial City’, Bruce Dawe

At rest sweet singer of sweet songs;
Lie still and sleep, thy journey done,
Life's hills are climbed. The view beyond
Inspires thee now to flights unknown…

With ideals higher than his peers
He tried to lead us with his pen-
To educate and to inspire
Us all to see, as poets see … [i]

Essex Evans' grave in the Toowoomba cemetery displays the same monumental codes as the Webb Park monument. When vandals smashed a wayward path through cemetery in 1995 the Brisbane Courier Mail made a point of identifying this grave as one of those damaged.

Lack of respect for this poet and his final resting place was seen to highlight the lack of civic spirit associated with the act. One witness suggested that 'the people who did this are not the sort of people who should be living in Toowoomba'. [ii]

Further Reading

[i] James Love, 'George Essex Evans,' Collected Verse, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, 1928, p. [xiv]

[ii] 'Costs of Vandalism,' Toowoomba Chronicle, 18 February 1995, p.2. 


Submissions and suggestions for places not yet included can be sent to leec@usq.edu.au