The Dictionary of Sydney
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Health and Welfare
Public Health
Disease

The Dictionary of Sydney was archived in 2021.

Disease

Subject

Public Health Act 1896

Bubonic plague epidemic 1900

Smallpox epidemic 1881

Quarantine Station

'In case of consumption' - public health education poster about tuberculosis at the Bourke Street baby clinic 1914

Incidents of the smallpox scare in Sydney June 1881

The Bubonic Plague - Wash and Pray! April 1900

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Disease

Public Health Act 1896

Legislation which increased the powers of the Board of Health over many aspects of municipal jurisdiction concerning public health and established compulsory notification of infectious diseases.

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Bubonic plague epidemic 1900

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Outbreak of bubonic plague that spread from the waterfront as rats carried the disease throughout the city. Over eight months in 1900, 303 cases were reported and 103 people died. Millers Point resident Arthur H Payne (Paine) was diagnosed on Saturday, January 19 with the first reported case of plague in Sydney. He and his family were sent to the Quarantine Station on January 24, and their house in Ferry Lane was fumigated. He recovered and was released on Sunday, February 18. The first recorded death from plague in Sydney was that of Captain Thomas Dudley who died on February 22 at his home in Birchgrove and was buried at the Quarantine Station on February 24. In September the city was declared free of plague and the yellow flag that had been flown at the Quarantine Station was taken down. Numerous other outbreaks took place in subsequent years.

Smallpox epidemic 1881

Outbreak of one of the world's most feared diseases that led to big changes in public health administration in Sydney.

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Quarantine Station

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Former quarantine station at North Head which was the main arrival point for immigrants from 1832 to 1984, now home to a hotel, conference complex and restaurant.