Cirrus@Austlit

'In cemeteries throughout Australia, gravestones hint at our history – tales of early settlement, unsolved murders, love lost, mystery, tragedy, health epidemics, scandal and sacrifice. Grave Tales reveals more than the headstone can ever convey by tracing the tumultuous journeys that lead to these final resting places.

'Grave Tales Brisbane Vol. 1 visits five Brisbane cemeteries and tells of the everyday people who may have lived in the same suburbs, streets, and even the same houses as exist now, or finished their days in Brisbane. Willingly or unwilling, they were participants in events that made local and national headlines.'

(Source: publisher's blurb)

'In cemeteries throughout Australia, gravestones hint at our history – tales of early settlement, unsolved murders, love lost, mystery, tragedy, health epidemics, scandal and sacrifice. Grave Tales reveals more than the headstone can ever convey by tracing the tumultuous journeys that lead to these final resting places.    

'Grave Tales: Great Ocean Road Country – Geelong to Port Fairy visits established cemeteries and burial places off-the-beaten-track to feature people who willingly or unwillingly were participants in events that made local and national headlines. They may have lived in the same suburbs, streets, and even the same houses as exist now, or unexpectantly came to rest between Geelong and Port Fairy.

'Meet the ladies of the lighthouse who led an isolated life; the unionist shot in an affray; the stage actor whose career ended too soon; the men who sighted the fabled Mahogany Ship; the two survivors of a shipwreck that everyone wanted to see married, but it wasn’t to be; the inventor of the Ute and what inspired his unusual design; and the lady who rests in a ‘donated’ isolated beach grave.

'These are just some of the stories from the grave in the second book in the Grave Tales series incorporating Geelong, Lorne, Apollo Bay, Cape Otway, Loch Ard Gorge, Warrnambool, Tower Hill and Port Fairy.'

(Source: publisher's blurb)

'Meet the people who were often unwilling participants in the events that made headlines. In cemeteries throughout Australia, gravestones hint at our history – tales of early settlement, unsolved murders, love lost, mystery, tragedy, health epidemics, scandal and sacrifice. 'Grave Tales' reveals more than the headstone can ever convey by tracing the tumultuous journeys that lead to these final resting places.

'Journalists Helen Goltz and Chris Adams have taken a walk through some of Sydney’s oldest cemeteries to get an insight into the incredible lives of personalities that may have lived in the same suburbs, streets, and even the same houses as exist now, or unexpectantly came to rest, in Sydney.

'Using gravestones as their starting points some highlights include:

• 'The story of Henry O’Farrell, our first would-be assassin who in 1868 tried to kill Queen Victoria’s son. He failed and was executed with indecent haste, despite the fact he had long been suffering from a mental breakdown.
• 'The story of Australia’s own ‘Titanic’ – the tragic deaths of all but one of the 122 passengers of the ‘Dunbar’, which crashed and sank as it pulled into Sydney Heads, at the end of its long journey from London. The sole survivor, James Johnson was found clinging to the rock ledges of The Gap amidst the debris of body parts in the sea below.
• 'The unremarkable grave of Patrick Brady – the man linked to the bizarre Coogee Shark Arm Murders of 1935 which gripped the country and remain unsolved today.

'Also featuring missing person Juanita Nielsen, poet Dorothea Mackellar and ‘Mr Eternity’ Arthur Stace, the book paints an incredible picture of Sydney’s past; history colliding with the now. These are just some of the stories and personalities featured in the Grave Tales series.'

(Source: publisher's blurb)

'‘Grave Tales: Bruce Highway’ will give forgotten events, heroes and victims life again by tracing the journeys that lead to their final resting places.

'Stories like how two nurses in Maryborough in 1905 gave their lives to save a town from an outbreak of pneumonic plague; the unsolved mystery of how Mollie Thompson’s body ended up in an impossibly hard to reach water reservoir; the migrant who created his dream and shared it with generations; the mother and her five children who lost their lives in the Mackay cyclone; how gold fever saved the state from going broke; why the first person to be hanged in Rockhampton gaol was a bent cop; the inscription on a tree on the Sunshine Coast that reflects a tumultuous sea journey; and the 13 RAAF members who came to rest permanently in Townsville, to name a few.

'‘Grave Tales’ features people who willingly or unwillingly were participants in events that made headlines. These people may have lived in the same suburbs, streets, and the same houses as exist now in the cities and towns along the Bruce Highway.

'Grave Tales is researched and written by journalists, Helen Goltz and Chris Adams; between them they have years of experience in newspapers, radio and television production and reporting.'

(Source: publisher's blurb)

'What made them do it? What were they thinking? Was it nature or nurture, that is, were they born evil or were they the products of their environment? And why are we so fascinated with crime?

'Journalists Helen Goltz and Chris Adams have been spoilt for choice selecting stories for the fifth Grave Tales book and the first Grave Tales: True Crime volume.

'As our nation developed, the bush prospered and the cities grew, these were some of the terrible crimes that took away our innocence, crimes destined never to be solved that live on in our history… crimes that confound us with their cruelty, stagger us with their brilliance and amaze us with their sheer audacity.

'Grave Tales: True Crime Vol. 1 features those people who were often unwilling participants in the events that would make local and national headlines at the time.'

(Source: publisher's blurb)

'Ordinary people caught up in extraordinary events are captured in 'Grave Tales: Queensland's Great South West'. Visiting cemeteries from Ipswich to Augathella, 'Grave Tales: Queensland's Great South West' tells the stories of everyday people who willingly or unwillingly, were participants in events that made local and national headlines.

'They may have lived in the same suburbs, streets, and even the same houses as exist now in towns and cities along the way, and finished their days in cemeteries in Queensland.

'These are tales of early settlement, unsolved murders, love lost, mystery, tragedy, health epidemics, scandal and sacrifice. Grave Tales reveals more than the headstone can ever convey by tracing the tumultuous journeys that lead to these final resting places.

'This is number six in the awarded and popular Grave Tales series, this book travels from Ipswich to Augathella including Gatton, Toowoomba, Nobby, Goondiwindi, St George, Roma and Charleville.'

(Source: publisher's blurb)

'Grave Tales: Melbourne Vol. 1 visits eleven Melbourne cemeteries to tell the stories of ordinary people caught up in extraordinary events that made local and national headlines. They may have lived in the same suburbs, streets, and even the same houses that still exist, but now lie in the cemeteries of Melbourne. 'Grave Tales' reveals more than the headstone can ever convey by tracing the tumultuous journeys that lead to these final resting places. Written by Logie-award winning journalist Chris Adams and author/journalist Helen Goltz, this is the seventh book in the 'Grave Tales' biography/history series.'

(Source: publisher's blurb)