Alfred the Gorilla
Alfred died on 10 March 1948. The press at the time speculated that ‘his pet hate got him in the end’, linking Alfred's dislike of aeroplanes with the passage of one over the zoo shortly before his death. The actual cause of his demise was tuberculosis which he contracted a year before and despite his keepers best efforts, he had been unable to recover. His death was mourned by many of the regular visitors to the zoo, some of whom were even inspired to compose poems in his honour.
Alfred John Raymond
However, it was not a happy time for the newly arrived Raymond family. Shortly after their arrival in Brisbane, their baby son Leslie died on 4 April 1884 and then exactly two years later (4 April 1886) Bessie died. Bessie and Leslie are buried together in Toowong Cemetery. Devastated by Bessie's death, Alfred is said to have returned to England with his surviving son Alfred (known as Fred), only to decide on returning that the climate was better in Brisbane and so he came back to Brisbane. However, there is no proof that these journeys took place, but equally there are no records of Alfred in Brisbane in years immediately after Bessie's death.