Colverwell Graves

The Colverwell Graves are located within the Kowen Pine Plantation off the Kings Highway. The two marked graves with head and footstones, are those of Elizabeth and Margaret Colverwell, who drowned in the Glen Burn Creek in a tragic accident in December 1837, aged 6 and 5 years respectively. The graves are believed to be the oldest marked graves in the ACT and were erected by Luke Colverwell, the girls’ father. Historical records and evidence of ground disturbance suggest that three additional family members may also be buried there, including the girls’ parents, Luke and Mary Colverwell and their sister, Eliza (b.1837 d.1857).

Inscriptions

Prior to the 2005 conservation works, the head and footstones had fallen and weathering and lichen encrustation had caused deterioration of the inscriptions making some letters no longer legible. It is not known who engraved the stones however they have been roughly carved and contain several factual and spelling errors, as evidenced by the squeezing of the last letters of the family name on both headstones and the miss-spelling of their father’s name. The best estimate of their wording is:

Scared to the Memory of
ELIZBETH COLVERwell
Who Departed this Life
The 16 December 1837
Aged 6 years
Erected by Luke Colowell
Footstone: E.C. 1837

Scared to the Memory of
MARGARET COLVERwell
Who Departed this Life
The 16 December 1837
Aged 5 years
Erected by Luke Colowell
Footstone: E.C. 1837

Restoration

In 2002, the ACT National Trust received an ACT Heritage Grant to prepare a Conservation Management Plan for the Glenburn Homestead, which included an assessment of the graves. The graves were nominated to the ACT Heritage Register in 2004 and funding was secured to commence the restoration works. Conservation works undertaken by Environment ACT in consultation with interested community groups, began in August 2005. The works undertaken included:

• The gravestones were erected on hidden aluminium frames, which will help reduce erosion from wind and rain.
• The footstones were also re-erected by burying the bottom of the stones in the ground.
• All stones were covered in black plastic for a period to eradicate the lichen through non-chemical means.
• The post and rail fence surrounding the graveyard was repaired and restored.
• A new security fence was erected to protect the graveyard from stock.
• An interpretive sign was installed to provide visitors with an overview of the history and management of the site.

The restoration works of the Colverwell Graves was officially launched by Jon Stanhope MLA, Minister for Arts, Heritage & Environment on Tuesday 28 February 2006. Environment ACT now manages the Colverwell Graves.

The ACT National Trust received a 2005–2006 ACT Heritage Grant to undertake a Conservation Management Plan for William Collier’s Homestead, also located within Kowen Forest.

History of the Area

European settlement in the Kowen area pre-dated the establishment of Queanbeyan. European occupation is marked by buildings, ruins, fences, exotic vegetation and gravesites. Glen Burn Creek (also known as ‘Glenburn’, ‘The Swamp’, ‘Dirty Swamp’, and ‘Glenbirnie’), was the first place in the Kowen district to be settled by Europeans. Evidence of this early settlement is still visible today, in the Glenburn Homestead structures, the Glenburn shearing shed and shearers’ quarters and the Colverwell Graves. The Colverwell Graves are located between Glen Burn Creek and the homestead structures.

Luke Colverwell (1795-1876), a convict from England, arrived in Sydney Cove on the Guildford in 1812. He was granted a conditional pardon on 28 November 1821 and on 28 May 1831, married Mary Danahy (1799-?), whom he had met whilst working in Gundaroo. Mary Danahy, an Irish convict, arrived in Sydney Cove on the City of Edinburgh in 1828. Shortly after their marriage the couple settled at ‘Dirty Swamp’, living in a hut located on the banks of Glen Burn Creek, just above the site of the present Colverwell graves. They had six children: Elizabeth (1831), Margaret (1832), Eliza (1835), Mary (1836), Jane (1839) and Luke (1841).

Gold prospecting flourished in the 1850s and a small open-cut copper mine operated in the area in the late 1800s. These practices influenced the pattern of settlement in the Kowen area. The first pines were planted in 1927 in an attempt to control wattle infestation on abandoned farm land.

The ACT Government recognises the important contribution of Mr Colin McAlister of the National Parks Association in collating and documenting this history.