Fifteen graves in the cemetery were unmarked and as a result of his research, which included around 40 hours spent at the Queenstown District Court and countless hours researching online, he has been able to put not just names to those buried in the previously unmarked graves, but also some of their stories.
Those buried ranged in age from 2 days old to well into their 80s.
In some cases, more than 100 years had passed since the deaths, members of the Queenstown and Glenorchy communities were told on a blustery day in the cemetery, on Saturday. Many of those buried were people who helped make life in Glenorchy easier, from clearing trees for roads to helping the village prosper. Occupations such as miner, bushman and blacksmith can be seen on plaques on the new headstones now marking the graves.
A sprig of rosemary was placed on each grave and Salvation Army Major John Richards, from Kinloch, recognised the importance of the village's ancestors and performed a ''recommittal'' ceremony.
Some Queenstown Lakes District Council files pre-1906 were destroyed in a fire, so court death records were utilised, though Mr Jones also employed the internet which he said, became more and more useful over the years, as new websites were established.
The council endorsed the project, which was self-funded and helped by Queenstown Signs, which designed and printed the plaques, Aurum Survey Consultants, which provided a detailed map of the cemetery and Jim and James Veint, who supplied the headstones.
Mr Jones' next project, which he and others are working on, is to gather information on the people listed on the Glenorchy War Memorial, to tell their story.
A power pole, located beside the war memorial, is to be moved by Delta. Some of the information gathered will be on display at the memorial when the project is completed.
