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
Jessie died in 1933 following many years of heart trouble. In January 1935, Alfred (then 78 years old) scandalised his family by marrying his third wife, May Evelyn Nott (née Wright). May was in her late fifties and was the widow of Frederick Lancelot Nott, a Queensland parliamentarian. However, many believed that, after Jessie's death, Alfred had become very lonely living on his own in his large house at River Terrace, as his children had by then all married and established their own homes. The marriage was short-lived however, as Alfred died that same year on 14 October 1935. He was buried in Toowong Cemetery with his second wife Jessie and their three young children: Ruby, Elsie and Wilfred.