The site has the potential to contribute knowledge that will lead to a greater understanding of Somerset's inhabitants and burial practices.

[1] With its separation from New South Wales on 10 December 1859, the new colony of Queensland acquired over 5,000 kilometres (3,100 mi) of coastline extending as far north as Cape York Peninsula.

The colony's first parliament passed a resolution in 1860 favouring direct connection with England via the Torres Strait.

Bowen informed Henry Pelham-Clinton, 5th Duke of Newcastle, Secretary of State for the Colonies, that the government of Queensland would be willing to undertake the formation and management of a station at Cape York and to support a civil establishment there.

[1][2] On 27 August 1862, Bowen left Brisbane on HMS Pioneer to select an eligible site for the proposed settlement.

It has also made known...how much ... or rather, how little, of the 'York Peninsula' is adapted for pastoral occupation, whilst its success in taking the first stock overland, and forming a cattle station at Newcastle Bay, has ensured to the Settlement at Somerset a necessary and welcome supply of fresh meat...".The Jardine River was named after them by order of Governor Bowen.

[22][23] This rapid decline was caused by a number of factors, including introduced disease, exclusions from traditional hunting grounds and frontier violence.

[24][25] Reverend Frederick Charles Jagg, a missionary at Somerset appointed by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel,[26][27] gave an indication of the relationship between European and Indigenous peoples when he reported in 1867 that "The aborigines have been described as the most degraded, treacherous and bloodthirsty beings in existence by the present Police Magistrate, and those whose only idea is to shoot them down whenever they were seen".

Jardine was also suspended for a time from his duties as Police Magistrate whilst being investigated in relation to using his position to obtain a pearl diving licence.

[1][34] Somerset became redundant as a port once a safer shipping route to the Torres Strait was found and a settlement on Thursday Island was built from 1876.

[35][36] Frank Jardine continued to live at Somerset, maintaining the police residence until his death there in March 1919.

[37] During this time, Jardine continued to maintain a beef cattle herd; was engaged in the pearling industry; and created a coconut/copra plantation at Somerset.

[42][43] Buried in close proximity is Frank Jardine's grandson, (Cholmondeley) Gordon Vidgen (1903–1962).

The pearl diving industry was important in Torres Strait and to the Queensland economy, and came to be dominated by Japanese divers after 1891.

Kobori Itchimatsu came from the village of Nishi Mukai in Wakayama prefecture, an area that provided 80 per cent of the 7000 Japanese who left their country to become pearl divers.

[1][61][62][63] The Kennedy Memorial Monument, also within the Somerset Graves Site, located beside the path between the north and south areas of the site was unveiled on 13 December 1948 in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of Edmund Besley Court Kennedy's unsuccessful exploration of Cape York Peninsula.

Reid states the interments in the second cemetery are: two Royal Marines, several Burketown residents, who were brought to Somerset to recover from fever, but who died soon after arrival, and Madame Boisse, wife of a commandant at New Caledonia.

The south grave area is accessed by a sand track which connects to Somerset Road.

The north grave area, located directly inland from the beach of Somerset Bay, has experienced considerable sand deposition.

There are the remains of bounding beach rocks around the grave, however, only the eastern extent, located 310 centimetres (120 in) from the headstone, is clearly discernible.

The headstone has the following inscription:[1] SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF CANCAN - (A GOOD MAN AND TRUE ) - DIED JUNE 21.

The following is a translation of the inscription:[1] Southern face - Kobori [Family name] Ichimatsu's [First name] grave Eastern face - Meiji Forty Two [forty second year of the Emperor Meiji - which is the year 1909] spring died

Western face - Wakayama prefecture Higashi [east] ___ city - Nishi Mukai village - Kobori [Family name] Otomatsu [First name] built The Kennedy Memorial Monument is located on the track between the north and south grave areas.

The plaque has the following embossed inscription:[1]Edmund Besley Court Kennedy J.P. with a party of 12 men landed at Rockhampton Bay 24 May 1848 to explore Cape York Peninsula.

Within the concrete border are rocks, and the centre of the feature appears to be a soil fill.

It belongs to Cholmondeley Gordon Vidgen, Sana and Frank's grandson, who died in December 1962.

[1] Somerset Graves Site was listed on the Queensland Heritage Register on 25 January 2018 having satisfied the following criteria.

[1] The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history.

The Jardine brothers, Francis (Frank) Lascelles and Alexander (Alick) William, were early overland explorers from Rockhampton to Somerset, bringing the first cattle into Cape York.

As a result of this feat, the Jardine River was named after them, and in 1886 they were made Fellows of the Royal Geographical Society and received its Murchison Award.