The Tallegalla Cemetery is a heritage place in the Ipswich City Council. It started with several names before it settled on its final name.
On the 3rd April 1872, Charles Freeman selected 80 acres of Rosewood Scrub at Tallegalla. On 2nd May 1876, 10 acres of his land was resurveyed for a cemetery and church site.
The church occupied 1 acre 14 perches and the balance was the present cemetery reserve. Charles Freeman generously donated this land for these purposes.
On a photocopy of the original survey, the cemetery is called “Walloon Cemetery”, possibly because it was in the parish of Walloon. By 1886 it was known as the “Rosewood General Cemetery”. In 1902 it was known as the “Rosewood Cemetery”, before finally settling with the name “Tallegalla Cemetery” by 1920.
The first burial here was a son of Mr Dart, who had selected land on the western side of the Tallegalla School. The coffin was carried the two miles to the cemetery of burial.
Charles Freeman was also laid to rest here in this cemetery, followed by his wife Mary Freeman in 1927. Some of their 11 children and many of his descendants now share this burial ground.
Sid Cotton, Sidcot Flying Suit, Aerial Spy
The grave of Sid Cotton is at Tallegalla Cemetery, who grew up at Hidden Vale homestead 
near Grandchester. There are two full-size formed graves with headstones, one above the other. To the side of the top grave is the stone plaque for Sidney Cotton.
Sid Cotton enlisted in the Royal Navy Air Service in World War I, inventing the Sidcot flying suit.
The Sidcot Flying Suit helped protect pilots from the low temperatures and harsh elements experienced by pilots in open cockpit aircraft. The Sidcot was used continuously through to the 1950s, a forebearer of today’s flying suits used throughout the world.
After the war, Sid Cotton took aerial photographs. With World War II looming, Sid was given an aircraft and flew the last civilian plane out of Berlin, taking pictures of the docked German navy with a handheld camera.
He was assigned by the British military to head up an elite aerial spy force. Sidney used Spitfires painted sky blue to fly undetected across enemy territory. To be able to take better photos, Sid Cotton designed side bubbles on the cockpit.
It is believed Sidney Cotton is the basis of the fictional character James Bond, created by Sid’s friend Ian Fleming.
Sidney died in 1969 and his ashes were buried in the Cotton family grave. The stone plaque states at the top “Aviator Extraordinary”. At the bottom is written, “Pioneer Aviator – Inventor – Spy, He marched to the beat of a different drummer”.
