One of the things we enjoy doing when we travel is to visit the local cemetery. We do not have gruesome preoccupation with death, nor are we fixated on religious beliefs. We view the cemetery as an expression of culture. They very greatly from country to country.
The Cooktown cemetery dates back to around 1800. It is segregated by religion and ethnicity: Protestant, Catholic, Jewish and Chinese. About three thousand bodies are there, but only a few hundred markers.
There is one Jewish marker, though Jews have been prominent, including being mayor of Cooktown.
There is a Chinese marker, but almost all the Chinese dead have been returned to China. The Chinese were numerous during the 1870's when there was a gold rush.
The Catholic Church was always a presence in the town.
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