|
The Piper Memorial - Ipswich Cemetery
The Memorial as it appeared prior to it being vandalised
|
The Memorial as it appears today with Bertie's statue absent
|
The above memorial for Terrence 'Bertie' Piper was erected by his parents in Ipswich Cemetery upon his death in 1904. It was a Victorian belief that by creating an effigy of a loved one they would be awakened on the Day of Reckoning. It was truly one of the greatest pieces of Victorian-era stone masonry in Queensland.
However in early 21st century vandals pushed Bertie off his plinth and smashed him into several small pieces. The stone plinth he stood upon is all that remains of his memorial today.
Ghost Tours is currently raising money to restore Bertie to his former glory and honour his parents wish that he be standing ready for the day of Reckoning.
|
Thankyou to everyone who attended our Ghost Tours in the last 6 months and helped us to raise the money to restore this grave. We have finalised our quotes and restorations works will be starting before too long.
Ghost Tours is proud to have contributed to keeping Queensland's heritage alive and would like to thank our clients for thier support.
Check back soon to see photo's of Bertie after restoration has been completed.
|
The Strange Coincidences Surrounding the Restoration of Bertie Piper's Memorial
A strange twist of events has led to the location of Bertie Piper's statue and the plans to return him to Ipswich Cemetery are well on their way.
Mr Jack Sim, Managing Director of Ghost Tours Pty Ltd, always wanted to see Bertie back at Ipswich Cemetery and was very saddened to hear of his destruction by vandals. Upon opening the Haunted Heritage Trust Fund Jack knew that the first piece of restoration he wanted to do was Bertie Piper's memorial.
He contacted Alyn Hawkes of the cemetery division in Ipswich City Council to put forth this proposal and learned that the council also had plans to restore the grave and were simply waiting on the funding and the time to begin the project. With Ghost Tours donation the project would now go ahead.
However, there was one snag - no one knew where the original statue (now broken into pieces) was located. Mr Hawkes knew that the statue had been given back to Bertie's last living relative but a name and address could not be found. Then, by some strange coincidence, Alyn opened up a notebook he hadn't used in years (looking for something completely unrelated) and found the name of the man who last had Bertie's broken statue.
He rang the number but found that Bertie's relative had since passed away and someone else had bought his house. However, they happened to have a contact number for this gentleman's relatives (just in case someone rang the house looking for him). Alyn then contacted them and discovered that they had sold all of his possessions... except the following:
- Several old photographs of a small boy and a statue in his likeness
- And the pieces of the broken statue that was in the old photographs
At last Bertie's statue was discovered. He was given back to the council to repair and replace on Bertie's grave.
The broken statue of Terrence Hildebert Piper, located at last
But the coincidences don't stop there. Mr Jack Sim set about arranging quotes to restore the statue and had a stone mason recommended to him. Upon meeting with him and receiving a quote it was decided that this stone mason was the best person for the job. The coincidence being that it was his grandfather that originally built the Bertie Piper memorial in 1904.
|
