The cemetery out along Gorge Road is abandoned, marked only with a single strand fence, and has badly eroded away over the past century.

There are no markers left, and only a few posts remain to reveal any sign at all of the pioneer’s cemetery.

Even more horribly, there are recent sightings of what are possibly human bones being uncovered in the area from the wear of wet seasons.

According to local historical records and especially those from the NT Genealogical Society, many of these deaths have been reported as drownings, illness or have no mention on how they passed at all.

Out of the 33 people there was only one recorded female who was buried, Elizabeth Kingston (aged 44, died March 22, 1912) wife to Michael John Kingston (aged unknown, died April 2, 1908) who was a member of the SA Police Force.

Of course, the NT was part of South Australia back then.

Michael was also buried in the original cemetery four years before Elizabeth.

Why was Elizabeth the only female to be recorded in 41 years, I wonder?

While most of the 33 people in the old cemetery have been forgotten about, four possibly five of the bodies were exhumed and interred to the new, well maintained council cemetery on June 11.

The four who were moved included four-year-old boy, Henry Hammond Murray.

Poor Henry died 138 years go, the cause of his death is not known.

Thomas J Martin, 26, supposedly used carbolic acid for sauce and subsequently died in 1896 still sound suspicious today.

Charles Patrick Johnston’s sudden death in December 1907 was diagnosed as “sun stroke and heart apoplexy”.

Charles was a Mounted Constable of the S.A Police Force and it is believed that Michael Kingston may have been relocated with Charles to the new site along with Edwin (Tassie) Dwyer who died in 1914, death not stated.

There are also two people in particular, Henry Lape (died 02/06/1888) and Samuel Mackay (died 06/02/1906), which were not buried because they had drowned in the Katherine River and their remains were never recovered.

But their deaths still remain in the old cemetery records.

How many more people died in Katherine’s early years we will likely never know.

To give the era some context, we remember the explorer John McDouall Stuart only passed through the area in 1862 and gave Katherine it’s name – a few decades before the first burials.

Construction of the Australian Overland Telegraph Line passed through here about the same time.

How many women and children died and were never even afford the simple respect of a recorded burial?

No matter how they died, who they were or when they passed they still need to be remembered and their remains afforded more respect than they are today. 

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