Visiting the dead

It's Halloween today. We don't really celebrate it, athough I'm partial to the odd ghoulish story.

I've been trying to do a little research on the original owners of the Sow's Ear  - the Stables family. It was owned by two sisters and their bachelor brother. I've written a little about it here and here. 

They seem to be an interesting bunch, particularly paranormal Zoila who used to have out of body experiences. Spooky, huh?

Recently, I found a death notice on the National Library of Australia newspaper records for the patriach of the Stables family - William Cordukes Stables. He was buried at Mount Thompson Crematorium in 1935. It appears he also lived in the same street as his children.

funeral notice for William Cordukes Stables from The Courier Mail 1/08/35

This morning, I went to the Crematorium to pay him a visit. I'm good like that. Actually, I thought that I would be able to find out whether the rest of the Stables were buried there too. 

Unfortunately, the crematorium office was closed today, so I couldn't view their records or obtain a map of where to find the plaque. 

It would be like looking for a needle in a haystack...but for some unexplained reason, a strong force lead me to the West Chapel of the gardens. 

Mt Thompson Memorial Gardens - courtyard

I entered a small courtyard to the right of the chapel and was instantly drawn to a simple fountain.

And, remarkably, I found William's plaque. It is quite a large ornate plaque which indicates to me that he was perhaps a man of some wealth. 

Sadly, there were no other plaques for the Stables family surrounding him, which was the main purpose for my visit.

I will have to wait for the Office to re-open to see if the rest of the family are in fact there. However, some sixth sense tells me that they are not...