Where The Connors Family Came To Rest

Burial places, missing graves, and the long trail from Ireland to Australia

When we trace a family tree, we often follow births, marriages, occupations and addresses. But burial places tell another kind of story. They show where a person’s life ended, where a family had settled, where relatives gathered, and sometimes where evidence has been lost and the record simply falls silent.

For my Connors family, the burial places form a long, uneven trail: from Ireland to New South Wales, (through Tumut, Wagga Wagga, Berry, the Northern Rivers, and Sydney) up to Queensland, and even to a war memorial in France. The surname itself shifts along the way — Conner, Connor, Conners, Connors — a reminder that family history is rarely neat. The spelling recorded for one generation did not always match the next, but then the name gradually settled into Connors by the time my more recent family members appear in the records.

The direct Connors line: a trail of movement

The earliest known paternal ancestor in this line, Benjamin Conner c.1795-?, was in Ireland. His burial place is unknown. That is not surprising for an early nineteenth-century Irish ancestor, particularly where parish records, local grave markers, and family knowledge may not have survived.

His son, William Conners / Connor / Connors was born about 1820 and died in 1882. He is associated with Tumut Pioneer Cemetery in New South Wales, but the exact burial plot is unknown. This is the first clear Australian resting place in the direct line, and it places the family firmly in the Tumut district.

William’s son, Thomas Edgar Connor was born in 1850 and died in 1910. He was buried at Harley Hill Cemetery, Berry, New South Wales. With him, the family’s burial story moves from the inland Tumut district toward the South Coast.

The next generation brings the line north into Queensland. George Thomas Connors, born in 1880 and died in 1966, is buried at Gympie Cemetery. Gympie then becomes one of the strongest burial clusters in the later Connors family.

My father, Bede William Connors, born in 1924 and died in 2016, is buried at Bowen General Cemetery. His burial place reflects the later Queensland chapter of the family story: railway work, marriage, community life, and a long connection with Bowen.

Seen together, these burial places read almost like a migration map:

Ireland → Tumut → Berry → Gympie → Bowen

That simple line hides many lives, but it shows the broad movement of the direct Connors family over several generations.

Tumut and Wagga Wagga: the early New South Wales cluster

The strongest early family cluster appears around Tumut and Wagga Wagga.

Several members of the Connor family are linked with Tumut cemeteries. James Connor 1859-1923, William Connor 1864-1959, and Michael John Connor 1873-1942 were buried at Tumut New Cemetery, although Michael has no grave marker. Edward George Connor 1876-1898 was buried at Tumut Pioneer Cemetery, but under the name George Edward Connors, and his exact plot is unknown. Their father William is also connected with Tumut Pioneer Cemetery, again with the plot unknown.

The Wagga Wagga connection is more poignant. Patrick Connor 1853-1876, Sabina Ellen Connor 1861-1876, and John Connor 1868-1876 all died in 1876 during a typhoid outbreak in Wagga Wagga. Their burial places are unknown. That one cluster of deaths suggests a devastating family episode, made even more difficult by the lack of known grave locations.

There is something especially stark about those entries: three young lives, one outbreak, no identified burial plots. In family history, absence can sometimes speak as loudly as a headstone.

Berry, Gerringong and the South Coast

The South Coast also appears in the Connors burial map. 

Connor Family Plot at Harley Hill Cemetery
- Thomas Edgar Connor / Connors, wife Susannah and their son William

Thomas Edgar Connor 1850-1910, my great-grandfather, rests at Harley Hill Cemetery, Berry. His son William Adolphus Connors 1878-1906 was also buried there, showing the family presence and connection to the Berry district.

Nearby, Mary Harding née Conners 1818-1897, a paternal 2x great-grand aunt (sister of our Irish immigrant William Conners), was buried at Gerringong Cemetery.

This South Coast cluster shows that the family did not move in one single direction. Some branches remained in or returned to New South Wales coastal districts, while others moved north or inland.

Northern Rivers and the spread northward

Another noticeable pattern is the number of Connors family members buried in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales.

James Alfred Connors 1884-1907 is associated with Barham Street Memorial Park Cemetery, East Lismore, though the burial plot is unknown. 

Cyril Ernest Connors 1888-1942 was buried at Alstonville Cemetery, 

and Frederick Augustus Connors 1890-1967 at East Ballina Cemetery.

In the later generation, Leo Connors 1921-1921, the infant son of George Thomas Connors, was buried at East Lismore General Cemetery in an unmarked grave. 

This small entry is one of the saddest in the list: a baby who lived and died in 1921, remembered now through family research rather than a visible marker.

The Northern Rivers burials suggest another family pathway: movement through Lismore, Alstonville and Ballina before some members of the family became more firmly associated with Queensland.

Gympie: a strong Connors family resting place

For the twentieth-century Connors family, Gympie Cemetery stands out as a major burial place.

George Thomas Connors, my paternal grandfather, is buried there. 

Several of his children are also buried at Gympie: Beryl Agnes Connors, Thomas Richard Connors, Christina Grace Hettrick née Connors, Olga May Ryan née Connors, and Betty Patricia Hodgins née Connors.

This makes Gympie one of the strongest family burial clusters in the whole Connors line. It reflects more than a cemetery location; it marks a place of family settlement and continuity.

Queensland branches: Bowen, Beaudesert, Ipswich and Brisbane

The Queensland burial places show how widely the family spread in the twentieth century.

My father, Bede William Connors 1924-2016, is buried at Bowen General Cemetery, marking his long association with Bowen.

His brother George Thomas Connors 1914-1990 is buried at Beaudesert Cemetery, 

while Colin Vincent Connors 1908-1992 is buried at Warrill Park Lawn Cemetery, Willowbank, Ipswich. 

Their aunt Mary Ellen Bates née Connors 1874-1947 was buried at Nudgee Cemetery & Crematorium in Brisbane.

These burial places show the family widening across Queensland: not just one town, but a network of places shaped by work, marriage, family obligations and later-life settlement.

Sydney and the modern memorial landscape

Some Connors relatives are connected with Sydney cemeteries and crematoria. 

Bridget Ellen Coombes née Connor 1857-1946 

and Elizabeth Ann Sharp née Connor 1870-1949 were both buried at Woronora Memorial Park, Sutherland.

Percy Jerome Connors is associated with Rookwood Crematorium, Sydney, through cremation. Contact with the Crematorium revealed his ashes had been spread in the Rose Garden, but there was no plaque to identify his final resting place. 

His entry reminds us that cremation can complicate burial research. A person may have been cremated, their ashes scattered, placed in a niche, interred in a family grave, or recorded in a crematorium register without a traditional headstone.

As burial practices changed, so did the kinds of memorials left behind.

War, memory and a grave far from home

Left:  Connors E. S. inscribed on the Wall of Honour at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.
Right:  Connors E.S. inscribed on the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial in France.

One of the most striking entries is Erice Sylvester Connors, born in 1892 and killed in 1916. He is remembered on the Australian War Memorial plaque in Canberra and at the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial in France.

His memorial places are different from the family graves in Tumut, Gympie or Bowen. They place him within a national and international story of war loss. For families, these memorials can become symbolic graves: places of remembrance when the person did not return home to be buried among kin.

His resting place belongs not only to the Connors family story, but to the wider story of Australian families who lost sons, brothers and uncles far from home.

The missing graves

A recurring theme in the Connors burial record is uncertainty. Several entries are marked as unknown, location of burial plot unknown, no grave marker, or unmarked grave.

These include early ancestors, infants, young adults, people who died during an outbreak, and relatives whose names were recorded in variant forms. Their absence from the visible cemetery landscape does not mean they were forgotten by their families. It means the surviving record has gaps.

There are many possible reasons why a burial location may be unknown today:

A family may not have been able to afford a permanent headstone. A grave may once have had a simple wooden marker that decayed over time. Cemetery records may have been lost, damaged, poorly kept, or destroyed. Some graves may have been reused, altered, disinterred, or affected by cemetery redevelopment. In some cases, a person may have been cremated, with ashes scattered or placed somewhere not easily traced. Environmental factors — flood, erosion, fire, weathering, vegetation, termites, or ground movement — may have damaged markers or made inscriptions unreadable. Incorrect death records, surname variations, reversed given names, or spelling changes can also hide a burial in plain sight.

The Connors family has examples of many of these research challenges. The surname appears as Conner, Connor, Conners and Connors. Edward George Connor was buried under the reversed name George Edward Connors. Others have known cemeteries but no known plots. Some have no grave markers. Some have only a place of death, not a confirmed burial place.

These uncertainties are not failures in the family story. They are part of the story.

What the burial places reveal

Taken together, the Connors burial locations reveal several patterns.

The earliest known roots remain in Ireland.

The first strong Australian cluster appears in Tumut and Wagga Wagga, where the family lived through settlement, work, illness and loss.

A second cluster appears around Berry and the South Coast.

The family then spreads through the Northern Rivers, with burials at Lismore, Alstonville and Ballina.

By the twentieth century, Gympie becomes a major family resting place.

Later burials show the family extending across Queensland, including Bowen, Beaudesert, Ipswich and Brisbane.

Other branches lead to Sydney, Woronora, Rookwood, and even to the battlefields and memorials of France.

This is not just a list of cemeteries. It is a map of family movement. It shows where people settled, where children died, where epidemics struck, where work and marriage took people, and where memory was preserved — sometimes in stone, sometimes in records, and sometimes only in the careful work of descendants piecing the fragments together.

Remembering the unmarked

The most moving entries are not always the grandest memorials. Sometimes they are the smallest notes: unmarked grave, no grave marker, location unknown.

Those phrases remind me that family history is not only about finding names. It is also about restoring presence. A grave without a headstone still belongs to someone. A missing plot still marks a life. A person buried under a variant name is still part of the family line.

By gathering these burial places together, the scattered Connors family becomes visible again. From Ireland to Tumut, from Berry to Gympie, from Bowen to Villers-Bretonneux, these resting places form a quiet geography of belonging.

Some graves can be visited. Some can only be imagined. But each one holds a place in the family story.

A more detailed look at the final resting places

The table below gathers the known burial and memorial places of my direct Connors ancestors and all their siblings. (I have also created a Google Doc containing this table with photos of final resting places: Connors Line )

It also records the silences in the family trail — unmarked graves, unknown burial plots, missing markers, and relatives remembered only through cemetery records, family research or memorial inscriptions.  

(Burial locations compiled from family research notes. Surname spellings vary across records, including Conner, Connor, Conners and Connors.)

Name	Relationship	Dates	Burial or Memorial Location	Notes
My Father and His Siblings
Bede William Connors	Father	1924–2016	Bowen General Cemetery, Bowen, Queensland
Beryl Agnes Connors	Paternal Aunt	1907–2000	Gympie Cemetery, Gympie, Queensland
Colin Vincent Connors	Paternal Uncle	1908–1992	Warrill Park Lawn Cemetery, Willowbank, Ipswich, Queensland
Thomas Richard Connors	Paternal Uncle	1911–1972	Gympie Cemetery, Gympie, Queensland
George Thomas Connors	Paternal Uncle	1914–1990	Beaudesert Cemetery, Beaudesert, Queensland
Christina Grace Hettrick née Connors	Paternal Aunt	1915–2000	Gympie Cemetery, Gympie, Queensland
Olga May Ryan née Connors	Paternal Aunt	1919–2014	Gympie Cemetery, Gympie, Queensland
Leo Connors	Paternal Uncle	1921–1921	East Lismore General Cemetery, Lismore, New South Wales	Unmarked grave
Marguerite Josephine Connors	Paternal Aunt	1922–1923	Killarney Lawn Cemetery, Killarney, Queensland	Location of burial plot unknown
Reginald Frederick Connors	Paternal Uncle	1924–2008	Not recorded
Betty Patricia Hodgins née Connors	Paternal Aunt	1929–2022	Gympie Cemetery, Gympie, Queensland
My Paternal Grandfather and His Siblings
George Thomas Connors	Paternal Grandfather	1880–1966	Gympie Cemetery, Queensland
Ellen Bates née Connors	Paternal Grand Aunt	1874–1947	Nudgee Cemetery & Crematorium, Queensland
John Edgar Connors	Paternal Grand Uncle	1876–1923	Old Nambour Cemetery, Queensland	No grave marker
William Adolphus Connors	Paternal Grand Uncle	1878–1906	Harley Hill Cemetery, Berry, New South Wales
Alice Adelaide Connors	Paternal Grand Aunt	1882–1937	Unknown	Location of burial plot unknown
James Alfred Connors	Paternal Grand Uncle	1884–1907	Barham Street Memorial Park Cemetery, East Lismore, New South Wales	Location of burial plot unknown
Percy Jerome Connors	Paternal Grand Uncle	1886–1962	Rookwood Crematorium, Sydney, New South Wales	Cremated. Ashes spread in the Rose Garden. No plaque.
Cyril Ernest Connors	Paternal Grand Uncle	1888–1942	Alstonville Cemetery, Alstonville, New South Wales
Frederick Augustus Connors	Paternal Grand Uncle	1890–1967	East Ballina Cemetery, Ballina, New South Wales
Erice Sylvester Connors	Paternal Grand Uncle	1892–1916	Australian War Memorial plaque, Canberra; Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, France	Memorialised overseas and in Australia
My Paternal Great-Grandfather and His Siblings
Thomas Edgar Connor	Paternal Great-Grandfather	1850–1910	Harley Hill Cemetery, Berry, New South Wales
Margaret Rushton née Connor	Paternal Great-Grand Aunt	1852–1933	Wagga Wagga Monumental Cemetery, New South Wales	Location of burial plot unknown
Patrick Connor	Paternal Great-Grand Uncle	1853–1876	Unknown; died in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales	Died during a typhoid outbreak; location of burial plot unknown
Mary Ann Connor	Paternal Great-Grand Aunt	1855–1940	Unknown; died in Young, New South Wales	Location of burial plot unknown
Bridget Ellen Coombes née Connor	Paternal Great-Grand Aunt	1857–1947	Woronora Memorial Park, Sutherland, New South Wales
James Connor	Paternal Great-Grand Uncle	1859–1923	Tumut New Cemetery, Tumut, New South Wales
Sabina Ellen Connor	Paternal Great-Grand Aunt	1861–1876	Unknown; died in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales	Died during a typhoid outbreak; location of burial plot unknown
William Connor	Paternal Great-Grand Uncle	1864–1959	Tumut New Cemetery, Tumut, New South Wales
Benjamin Connor	Paternal Great-Grand Uncle	1866–1917	Wellington General Cemetery, Wellington, New South Wales
John Connor	Paternal Great-Grand Uncle	1868–1876	Unknown; died in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales	Died during a typhoid outbreak; location of burial plot unknown
Elizabeth Ann Sharp née Connor	Paternal Great-Grand Aunt	1870–1949	Woronora Memorial Park, Sutherland, New South Wales
Michael John Connor	Paternal Great-Grand Uncle	1873–1942	Tumut New Cemetery, Tumut, New South Wales	No grave marker
Edward George Connor	Paternal Great-Grand Uncle	1876–1898	Tumut Pioneer Cemetery, Tumut, New South Wales	Buried under the name George Edward Connors; location of burial plot unknown
Earlier Connors / Conner Ancestors
William Conners / Connor / Connors	Paternal 2x Great-Grandfather	1820–1882	Tumut Pioneer Cemetery, Tumut, New South Wales	Location of burial plot unknown
Mary Harding née Conners	Paternal 2x Great-Grand Aunt	1818–1897	Gerringong Cemetery, Gerringong, New South Wales
Benjamin Conner	Paternal 3x Great-Grandfather	c.1795–	Ireland	Location of burial plot unknown

Spotlight on ... The Show

Waiting All Year for the Bowen Show

A grand occasion in the community calendar

One of the most iconic of Australian traditions — The Show — means something different to each of us. For many of us, it sits somewhere deep in childhood memory, wrapped up with noise, colour, food, dust, excitement and the almost unbearable wait for it to come around again.

Here in Queensland, the annual agricultural show has long been one of the great community traditions. Across the winter months, regional shows are still held throughout the state, leading eventually to the Royal Queensland Show — the Ekka — in Brisbane each August.

The show tradition began as a celebration of rural life, with livestock, produce, flowers, baking, needlework and local skill proudly displayed. Over time, though, it became something more - a gathering place, a social occasion, and for many families, one of the most eagerly awaited days of the year.

In my hometown of Bowen, the Show was inextricably woven into the rhythm of community life. The agricultural heart of it was still there, but around it grew all the colour and excitement that made Show Day so memorable — pavilion displays, ring events, sideshow alley, food stalls, showbags and, of course, fireworks.

The Bowen Showground became the place where the district’s rural strength and the town’s social life came together in one bright, noisy celebration.

I lived for Show Day

As a child growing up in the 1960s, I lived for it.

Family photos taken on Show Day at the Bowen Show 1960s-1970s 

- my parents, myself and my brother

All year I dreamt of it, yearned for it, and relived every sight, sound and taste of it. I would have willingly wished 364 days of my life away just to have Show Day arrive again.

Not my birthday.
Not Christmas.
Not even Cracker Night, which probably came a close second.

No — for me, it was the unforgettable, spectacular Bowen Show.

It was a grand occasion, and I dressed for it. I always had new clothes.  

As a very young child, they were often made and sewn by my mother. She even made the hats I wore. That, too, was part of the Show — not just the excitement of going, but the preparation beforehand, and the sense that this was a special outing worthy of new clothes and a little extra care.

Looking back now, I can see how much love and effort sat quietly behind those childhood memories.

Part of the excitement was also knowing I would catch up with family and friends there. Everyone seemed to be going.

The first glimpse of the Ferris wheel

One of my earliest memories of Show Day -
around the age of 3 getting out of the car
and searching for the ferris wheel

Even now, I can still picture that first glimpse of the top of the Ferris wheel in the distance. 

That alone was enough to send a current of excitement through me that could probably have powered the whole town of Bowen.

Then came the moment the car door opened, and the full force of the Show hit me.

Bright flashing lights of every colour imaginable filled my vision. The smells from the food stalls drifted through the air — the sickly sweetness of fairy floss and candy apples, the smell of popcorn and hotdogs, all mingling with those other showground aromas that seemed to belong to that one special day.

But above all, it was the noise that made the biggest impression.

There was the excited babble of the announcer from the show ring, the discordant music and shrieks from sideshow alley, the cries of animals from all over the grounds, and the chatter, laughter and occasional whingeing of the crowds elbowing their way past.

As a child, I found it utterly intoxicating.

Sideshow Alley, chips and showbags

Before the Show opened, my family would sometimes drive past the Showgrounds to take a peek and see what rides had turned up that year.

Would the Big Dipper be there?
What about the Zipper?
Would the Dodgems be back?

The Ferris wheel, of course, seemed to turn up every year.

Showbags from the 1960s

My favourite part, however, was Sideshow Alley. On a tight budget, I was allowed just one precious showbag, and I held on to it as though it were treasure. I could only gaze at most of the game stalls as I wandered past, admiring the prizes and all the excitement around them.

1967  

Me with cupie doll in hand

One thing that especially captured my imagination was the cupie (or is it kewpie?) doll — that little celluloid doll perched on a cane stick, dressed in a frothy tutu dusted with glitter. 

It was an established favourite with every young girl at the Show.

To me, those dolls looked magical. But they were expensive, so they were certainly not something bought every year.

Inside the Pavilion

The Pavilion was a world of its own and an important part of the Show. It gathered together all the careful work that had been done in homes, schools and gardens across the district and put it proudly on display.

There were competitive sections for cookery, with jams and preserves, pickles, chutneys and honey, alongside cakes, sponges, lamingtons, pies, puddings, scones and sweets such as coconut ice, marshmallows, fudge, caramel and jellies. There were sections for produce too, including vegetables, fruit and eggs.

The flower sections must have been a delight for those who loved them. Entries included flower arranging and cut flowers such as roses, gerberas, carnations, gladioli, pansies, snapdragons, pentas, marigolds, phlox, nasturtiums and petunias.

My Dad, a dyed-in-the-wool rose lover and admirer of other flowers, loved lingering there. For him, the flower displays were not just something to admire - they were something he was part of.

Dad loved entering his blooms in the Show each year, and he often won prizes. In my later childhood years, I remember helping him transport his entries to the Show Pavilion ahead of Show Day. I can still picture him packing cotton wool carefully between the petals of his treasured roses so they would travel safely and arrive in the best possible condition.

Roses were a favourite entry, but he also entered gerberas and carnations.  This photo of some of his prize ribbons shows just how remarkable his flowers were.  They were not simply garden blooms taken along on the day - they were outstanding quality, grown with patience, skill and pride.

The Pavilion also celebrated arts and crafts and all the fine handwork that so often filled women’s spare hours. Fancywork sections included knitting, crochet, hand embroidery and needlework, along with smocking, embroidered tablecloths, dressed dolls, patchwork and quilting.

Looking back now, it is easy to see how much patience, pride and quiet skill was represented in those displays.

Children also entered competitions that brought together schoolwork and creativity. There were entries for handwriting, map work, printing, freehand drawing, pencil drawing, pastel drawing and painting. The Show gave children, including me, a place to proudly display both their schoolwork and their imagination.

Not every display in the Pavilion had the same appeal for me as a child. Dad’s beloved flower displays were not always high on my list, and I remember dragging my feet and moaning my way through them often enough.

But I endured them because I knew there were other pleasures waiting.

There were the mouth-watering Dagwood Dogs I had dreamt about for days, the legendary Shannon’s chips, and the chance to watch the ring events while I ate.

The heart of the Show: the ring events

The ring events were a major part of the Show’s appeal in those years. At local agricultural shows in the 1960s, the main ring was the centre of entertainment, bringing together equestrian skill and rural competition in a way that perfectly captured the spirit of the day.

High-jumping contests were major attractions, woodchopping events drew the crowds, and there was always interest in the livestock judging, including the prize bulls.

The Grand Parade, with its winning horses, cattle and local producers, was one of the traditional highlights — a proud display of the district’s effort and achievement.

For me, showjumping was always a particular favourite. I watched it eagerly while biding my time for the great “ooh-ah” event still to come.

That grand finale was the fireworks.

By the time they began, the whole day seemed to have built towards them. They lit up the sky and drew gasps from the crowd, and as a child they felt like the perfect ending to a day that had already overflowed with excitement.

It was one more marvel to store away in memory for another whole year.

A treasured piece of family memory

Looking back now, I think that is part of what made the Bowen Show so special. It brought together the serious business of rural life, the excitement of entertainment, and the small but important family rituals that surrounded a special day out.

The Show has always stood for more than entertainment. It reflects local pride, rural heritage and community resilience.

But for me, as a child, it also lives on as something deeply personal — a treasured piece of community and family tradition, stitched together from the memories of new clothes sewn by my mother, the first sight of the Ferris wheel, the smell of fairy floss and hotdogs in the air, the noise of the ring, the thrill of the Dodgems, the glamour of kewpie dolls with glittering tutus, and the fireworks blazing at the end of the night.