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Dictionary of Sydney

The Dictionary of Sydney
Subjects
Health and Welfare
Public Health
Epidemics

The Dictionary of Sydney was archived in 2021.

Epidemics

Subject

Epidemics

La Perouse

Smallpox epidemic 1881

AIDS Memorial Quilt

Darling Harbour Wharves Resumption Act 1900

AIDS

Asiatic flu pandemic 1890-91

Bubonic plague epidemic 1900

Measles epidemic 1867

Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Management of the Quarantine Station North Head and the hulk Faraway 1881

Scarlet fever epidemic 1875-76

Smallpox epidemic 1789

Smallpox epidemic 1881

Spanish influenza epidemic 1918-19

Vaccine Institution

McCredie, George

Won Ping

Quarantine Station

Quarantine Station Berrys Bay

Backyards, Exeter Place, Surry Hills 1900

Balmain Post Office staff don masks during the Spanish flu epidemic 1919

Captains Hunter, Collins & Johnston with Governor Phillip, Surgeon White &c. visiting a distressed female native of New South Wales at a hut near Port Jackson 1793

Cleansing the street 1900

Cleansing the streets 1900

Demolition of Exeter Place, Surry Hills 1900

Incidents of the smallpox scare in Sydney June 1881

Little Bay Sanatorium Coast Hospital 1884

Medical Journal of Australia, June 1983

Nurses leaving Blackfriars Depot, Chippendale 1919

Plague Proclamation poster, 1 February 1905

Professional ratcatchers 1900

Quarantine Station, Manly c1870s

Rats in quarantine area, Sydney 1900

SOS sign to be placed in window if needing assistance during the influenza pandemic in 1918-1919

Smallpox precautions in Bellevue Street, Surry Hills 1881

Some of the fever haunts of smallpox, June 29, 1881

Sydney Hospital Pneumonic - Influenza Epidemic: General Information for the Citizens of New South Wales 1918

The Bubonic Plague - Wash and Pray! April 1900

Title page of 'An historical journal of the transactions at Port Jackson and Norfolk Island ...;' by John Hunter, 1793

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Epidemics

Epidemics

From the new European diseases that devastated Sydney's Aboriginal people in the eighteenth century, through subsequent epidemics of measles, scarlet fever, smallpox, influenza and HIV, Sydney has faced major threats from epidemic disease. Religion, media, and public health responses influenced the degree of panic and scapegoating that took place, though effective treatments were not in place until well into the twentieth century.

La Perouse

Traditionally owned by the Kameygal, whose descendants still maintain their connection with the land, La Perouse has a history of both invasion and survival. Unwanted by the early colonists who thought it unhealthy, the area was an Aboriginal camp throughout the nineteenth century, though also used for government purposes, such as quarantine and signalling. During the 1930s Depression, unemployed people set up camp there. Repeated attempts to move Aboriginal people away from La Perouse failed, and since 1984 the reserve has been Aboriginal land.

Smallpox epidemic 1881

Starting with a small Chinese child in The Rocks, the smallpox epidemic of 1881-82 had large consequences for the Chinese community who were further reviled and restricted and for the dozens of Sydneysiders quarantined for months at North Head. Despite the relative mildness of the outbreak, fear was rife, and the epidemic led to an overhaul of the colony's health regulations.

AIDS Memorial Quilt

Quilt of individual panels created for, and by, those touched with AIDS, and to illustrate the impact and encourage support for those affected.

full record »

Darling Harbour Wharves Resumption Act 1900

Legislation to allow the resumption and cleansing of wharves and residential areas which was seen as a necessary response to prevent the spread of the 'Bubonic Plague'.

full record »

AIDS

Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by infection with human immunodeficiency virus first recognised in 1981.

full record »

Asiatic flu pandemic 1890-91

Part of the Asiatic or Russian flu pandemic which swept the world in 1889-91 and killed more than one million people worldwide.

full record »

Bubonic plague epidemic 1900

full record »

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.

Measles epidemic 1867

An epidemic during February and June 1867 affecting residents in Sydney city and inner suburbs. 748 people died, mostly children under 4 years.

full record »

Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Management of the Quarantine Station North Head and the hulk Faraway 1881

Commission established in the wake of the outbreak of the smallpox epidemic in 1881 which highlighted the inadequate management and vaccination practices.

full record »

Scarlet fever epidemic 1875-76

Epidemic during 1875-76 causing more than 8,000 deaths in Australia, mostly of children.

full record »

Smallpox epidemic 1789

Outbreak of disease that decimated the Aboriginal population of the Sydney area.

full record »

Smallpox epidemic 1881

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

full record »

Spanish influenza epidemic 1918-19

Influenza pandemic which lasted from March 1918 to June 1920 and is estimated to have resulted in over 25 million deaths worldwide.

full record »

Vaccine Institution

Government vaccine facility that opened at the Emigration Barracks on Bent Street in 1847, moving to the top of King Street beside Hyde Park Barracks in May 1857 and remaining there until late 1886 when the Barracks were redeveloped.

full record »

McCredie, George

Architect and engineer with Scottish heritage who was given charge of the cleansing, lime washing and demolition in The Rocks area after the outbreak of plague in 1900. His photographic record of the housing and poverty of the area remains an extraordinary reminder of 1900s Sydney.

full record »

Won Ping

Survivor of the 1881 smallpox epidemic, who was isolated for many weeks at the North Head quarantine station.

full record »

Quarantine Station

full record »

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.

Quarantine Station Berrys Bay

Quarantine station established in 1912.

full record »

Backyards, Exeter Place, Surry Hills 1900

full record »

By

John Degotardi Jnr

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

[a147102 / PXE 91/102]

Balmain Post Office staff don masks during the Spanish flu epidemic 1919

full record »

Contributed By

National Archives of Australia

[C4076, HN558]

Captains Hunter, Collins & Johnston with Governor Phillip, Surgeon White &c. visiting a distressed female native of New South Wales ...

full record »

Contributed By

National Library of Australia

[nla.pic-an7890412]

Cleansing the street 1900

full record »

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

[a147029 / PXE 90, 29]

Cleansing the streets 1900

full record »

By

John Degotardi Jnr

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

[a147028 / PXE 90, 28]

Demolition of Exeter Place, Surry Hills 1900

full record »

By

John Degotardi Jnr

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

[a147105 / PXE 91, 105]

Incidents of the smallpox scare in Sydney June 1881

full record »

Contributed By

National Library of Australia

[Australian Town and Country Journal, 25 June 1881, p31, via Trove]

Little Bay Sanatorium Coast Hospital 1884

full record »

Contributed By

State Archives & Records New South Wales

[7_16215 Sh1512]

Medical Journal of Australia, June 1983

full record »

Contributed By

Medical Journal of Australia

[MJA 1983; 1 (12)]

(Â© Copyright - reproduced with permission)

Nurses leaving Blackfriars Depot, Chippendale 1919

full record »

Contributed By

State Archives & Records New South Wales

[NRS4481_St6674]

Plague Proclamation poster, 1 February 1905

full record »

Contributed By

State Archives & Records New South Wales

[CGS 4917, [SR Document 31]]

Professional ratcatchers 1900

full record »

By

John Degotardi Jnr

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

[a147264 / PXE 93, 264]

Quarantine Station, Manly c1870s

full record »

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

[a280009 / PXA 969, 36]

(Mitchell Library)

Rats in quarantine area, Sydney 1900

full record »

By

John Degotardi Jnr

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

[a147265 / PXE 94, 265]

SOS sign to be placed in window if needing assistance during the influenza pandemic in 1918-1919

full record »

Contributed By

National Library of Australia

[Health services : ephemera material collected by the National Library of Australia]

Smallpox precautions in Bellevue Street, Surry Hills 1881

full record »

Image courtesy of the

State Library of Victoria

[A/S02/07/81/221]

Some of the fever haunts of smallpox, June 29, 1881

full record »

Image courtesy of the

State Library of Victoria

[IAN29/06/81/125]

Sydney Hospital Pneumonic - Influenza Epidemic: General Information for the Citizens of New South Wales 1918

full record »

Contributed By

National Library of Australia

[nla.obj-37300238]

The Bubonic Plague - Wash and Pray! April 1900

full record »

By

Livingston Hopkins

Contributed By

National Library of Australia

[The Bulletin, 14 April 1900, p17 via Trove]

Title page of 'An historical journal of the transactions at Port Jackson and Norfolk Island ...;' by John Hunter, 1793

full record »

By

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

[a1978007 / C 689]

(Mitchell Library )

Public Health