A walk through Kingston Cemetery located at the back of Cemetery Beach gives one a strong sense of the the sometimes harsh and colourful history of Norfolk Island.br/Originally settled by East Polynesians many hundreds of years previously, Norfolk Island was colonized by Great Britain within months of the First Fleet's arrival in Sydney Harbour in 1788. br/The Island served as a convict penal settlement from 1788 until May 1855, except for an 11-year hiatus between 1814 and 1825, when it was abandoned. br/In 1856 permanent civilian residence on the island began when it was settled by descendants of Fletcher Christian's Bounty Mutineers from Pitcairn Island. br/Norfolk Island became an external territory of the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901 which it has remained until this day.br/Early European burials on Norfolk Island were usually close to the place of death with most sites with the exception of John Bachelor (Landing Place) unkown.br/By 1796 the first 'Burying Ground' had been established behind Emily's Beach. Indeed Emily's grave was located there.br/There were 262 deaths and 13 unconfirmed deaths from 1788 to 1814 on Norfolk Island with few of these burial places known apart from that they were on farms or near settlements, with some in the Emily Bay 'Burying Ground'.br/Some headstones marking deaths pre 1814 are however located in the present Kingston Cemetery.br/By 1829 during the second settlement the present cemetery site appears to have been generally used.