The first burial ground in Brisbane was established at what is now Skew Street near the North Quay during the 1820s and used for soldiers and convicts. There was also a small cemetery at Nundah, established by German missionaries in 1838. A public cemetery for South Brisbane was first surveyed in 1843, on the site of the current West End school. This burial ground is reported to have been used only once by the 1860s, at which time the dead of South Brisbane were ferried across the river to be interred at the Paddington Cemetery, which is now the site of the Lang Park sports stadium. 

The new South Brisbane Cemetery (this webpage) was planned in 1866.  The trustees adopted regulations, but it still needed fencing, clearing, and internal roads, and it was almost four years before it was ready to be proclaimed open for use, which happened on 7 May 1870.

The first recorded burial took place 1 August 1870 when Jane Hockings was laid to rest in section 8A. The interment of such a prominent person was a significant moment, and for the first time large numbers of southsiders began to utilise a cemetery on their own side of the river. It has always officially been named ‘South Brisbane Cemetery', as it was in South Brisbane – which was a separate municipal entity to Brisbane itself – although many people know it by the colloquial name of ‘Dutton Park Cemetery'.

The cemetery was full by 1903, and so the reserve was expanded by seven acres on the south side of Cornwall Street, reaching what is now Princess Street.  By 1930 it was once again almost full, and the remnant stretch of Cornwall Street inside the cemetery was closed in to create more burial space. Demand for new graves declined around this time as the new cemetery at Mt Gravatt was well established, and cremation was introduced in Queensland and quickly became the preferred funerary choice for many people.

The cemetery was full again by 1961 and closed to burials in new graves, although interments could still take place in existing family plots. Lawn cemeteries were now coming into vogue and South Brisbane was seen as something of a historical relic. 

Brisbane City Council commenced a beautification scheme in 1970's and the cemetery was listed on the Queensland Heritage Register in 2003. Since that time there has been a massive upturn in research and protection of the cemetery, new grave plots have opened up, and the future of the cemetery now seems assured.  [extract Friends of South Brisbane Cemetery - Chris Dawson 2023]