Hi Kim, In Brisbane cemeteries (mostly owned by the Brisbane City Council) a person who has been buried in a Government grave (politically correct term for "paupers grave" apparently!!) is not allowed to have a headstone, the theory being if there were relatives around to pay for a headstone they could have paid for the grave in the first place. The Government is then, after a certain time, at liberty to resell the grave to someone else. Maybe this was the situation at Sandgate cemetery. I suppose it could also be the case that if relatives turned up later not knowing the person was deceased they could then buy the grave and its status would change to a private grave. Carol