The decision to create a separate burial ground was made around the turn of the century after the recommendation of a visiting doctor who was concerned about the quality of the community's water supply.

The grave of Suma, an original settler from Alexander Hare's party, can still be seen beneath a tree at the back of the school.

Suma arrived on Cocos as a small boy and went on to become an 'imam' or priest in the late nineteenth century.

Urgent repair of the broken headstone is required to avoid loss and further damage.

[1] This Wikipedia article was originally based on Early Settlers Graves, entry number 105362 in the Australian Heritage Database published by the Commonwealth of Australia 2019 under CC-BY 4.0 licence, accessed on 15 May 2019.