The Penguin General Cemetery was heritage listed in 2007 and contains headstones dating from the 1800s.

Ross Hartley has written several papers, published on the LINC website, that document the history of the cemetery and look at the ethics of managing the long dead.

Dr Hartley said his fascination with the cemetery began when he moved to the North- West town several years ago. He said he was concerned about the lack of policy to regulate old town monuments or cemeteries.

"The history is falling away in front of our very eyes," Dr Hartley said. "If people want to capture that history then now is the time to be doing it."

Dr Hartley began his research after he discovered one unmarked grave, and six graves that belonged to paupers.

He said the "John Doe" and the paupers were identified, and the community raised money to purchase headstones for the deceased.

He said there were additional plans to create a memorial garden for the 80 un-named babies that were buried at the cemetery.

"I thought it was a bit offensive that there were paupers here identified with only partial names, when it was so easy to get their names," Dr Hartley said.

He said making a few minor improvements to the site could make it a great tourist attraction.

"There is potential to market this unique North-West coast asset ... there is not even any signage pointing to its location,"he said.