There is no cemetery on White Island but there are people buried there, from a tragic eruption in 1914.

White Island or Whakaari, as it is called in Maori (meaning to uplift or expose to view), is an active volcanic island in the Bay of Plenty, off the coast from Whakatane and Opotiki, East Coast, North Island. It is cherished by the Ngati Awa and Te Whakatohea tribes, who call it the "Dramatic Island" and have legends of fiery dragons associated with it. It is also well known to all New Zealanders as being a dangerous but very interesting place, and tourism has now taken over where mining left off. It is possible to fly there by helicopter and walk on the island under guide. It looks very dramatic with yellow, orange and other coloured deposits, but the place stinks of "rotten eggs"...sulphur!

The "island" is most famous of course, for it's volcanic Sulphur deposits. It also has Gypsum deposits (used for making Plaster of Paris etc). It has always been active and every-so-often will erupt with acidic steam, smoke, ash, sometimes huge rocks and often lahars (mudslides). The island itself is just the tip of a huge underwater volcano which rises from the seabed like an underwater Mt Everest.

In the early 20th Century, an attempt was made to mine sulphur and gypsum there, with men living on the island. The sulphur was of course, used to make Sulphuric Acid and also was used to manufacture Superphosphate fertilizer powder which is constantly used in N.Z. agriculture. There was mining equipment there, not to mention buildings and the 10 or 12 men working for the N.Z. Sulphur Company. On 10th September 1914, the island erupted and a huge hunk fell off the inside of the crater as a lahar and buried all who were working there, including the Company Manager, Mr A.J.C. McKim. As well as the men, several pet cats were also killed, the only living survivor being one very hungry cat, "Peter the Great" who was retrieved 3 weeks later. Repeated searches were made of course, but there was never any sign of men. There are still some remains of wrecked mining equipment lying around but the acid atmosphere is always eating away at it.

Wreckage was also later found on the mainland beach. This took the form of sulphur encrusted barrels, staves, pieces of barrel heads, hundreds of bits of litter, pieces of wood, tram sleepers showing a gauge of 1 ft 6" as used on the island, as well as the remains of several boats. "The scarcity of signs of house furniture suggests that possibly the greater portion of the living quarters was simply buried where it stood and the men with it." See PapersPast website, "White Island Disaster", Otago Witness, 30 Sept, 1914. It appears no one was totally sure just how many men were actually out there, certainly 10 but possibly 12.