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Dictionary of Sydney

The Dictionary of Sydney
Subjects
Health and Welfare
Public Health

The Dictionary of Sydney was archived in 2021.

Public Health

Subject

Royal Commission into Noxious and Offensive Trades 1882

The Red Cross in Sydney in World War One

Inquest Into the Deaths Arising from the Lindt Café Siege 2017

NSW Code of Practice for Dance Parties

Noxious Trades and Cattle Slaughtering Act 1894

Public Health Act 1896

Sydney Slaughter-houses Act 1849

The Answer: a philosophical essay

Dead House, Circular Quay

Intoxicating Drink Inquiry Commission

Royal Commission into Noxious and Offensive Trades 1882

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

Smallpox epidemic 1881

Australian Red Cross

Department of Public Health

Health Commission of New South Wales

Institute of Clinical Pathology

Langton Centre

NSW Health

New South Wales Ombudsman

Sydney City and Suburban Sewage and Health Board

Sydney Medical Mission

Sydney Medically Supervised Injecting Centre

Vaccine Institution

Wayside Chapel Crisis Centre

Wayside Chapel Drug Referral Centre

Alleyne, Haynes G

D'Arcy, Constance Elizabeth

Dixson, Emma Elizabeth

Sutton, Harvey

Aboriginal Medical Service, Redfern 1980

First page of letter from City Health Officer Henry Graham to the City of Sydney Council concerning Devonshire Street Cemetery, 15 January 1860

Front cover of 'The Answer: a philosophical essay' by WJ Chidley 1912

Government and General Orders concerning the closure of the Old Burial Ground and the opening of Devonshire Street Cemetery 22 January 1820

Incidents of the smallpox scare in Sydney June 1881

Letter. Talbot & Son, Circular Quay, complain of the stench from the closets & urinals under Moore's Steps and ask that they be removed. Cannot be complied with. April 1872

Medical Officers of the School Medical Service 29 June 1925

Memo from City Health Officer GF Dansey about condition of the Dead House, Circular Quay, 1879

Mr WJ Chidley will lecture to men and women on health, diet and clothing

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

The Sydney Milky Way; or Infant Poison 1875

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Public Health

Royal Commission into Noxious and Offensive Trades 1882

The stinking industries of mid-nineteenth century Sydney, combined with the theory of miasmas, or infection through smells, led to agitation to move 'noxious' trades away from the city. The Royal Commission of 1882 recommended changes to the siting of polluting industries, but this did not happen until well into the next century.

The Red Cross in Sydney in World War One

A Sydney branch of the British Red Cross was formed in 1913 and it, and a host of new branches, joined the national movement at the outbreak of World War One in August 1914. The earliest activities were training in first aid and home nursing as pre-requisites for membership of Voluntary Aid Detachments. At a local level Red Cross workers undertook sewing, knitting and fundraising, all the while being encouraged to see themselves at 'ministering angels'.

Inquest Into the Deaths Arising from the Lindt Café Siege 2017

Findings by Coroner Michael Barnes from his inquiry into the Lindt Cafe siege at Martin Place that took place on 15-16 December 2014.

full record »

NSW Code of Practice for Dance Parties

Document drafted by NSW Police after the death of Anna Wood in 1995 to ensure the health and safety of participants at dance parties that was published in 1997.

full record »

Noxious Trades and Cattle Slaughtering Act 1894

Legislation to restrict the establishment of polluting industries near residential areas and to regulate the industries by means of a Board of Health.

full record »

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.

full record »

Sydney Slaughter-houses Act 1849

Legislation to ensure no new slaughter houses could be licensed within two miles of the city limits as it was believed that they had become a nuisance to the health and comfort of residents.

full record »

The Answer: a philosophical essay

full record »

Philosophical essay by William Chidley about sexual ethics.

Dead House, Circular Quay

Also known as the North Sydney Morgue, the Dead House at Circular Quay was a morgue and coroner's court on George Street North near Cadman's Cottage and the Waterman's Stairs in the Rocks. The first formalised coroner’s court and morgue in Sydney, it was suggested by Sydney City Coroner John Ryan Brenan in 1853, on land being used by the Water Police. Designed by Colonial Architect William Weaver and built by Thomas Coghlan it opened for use in 1855. The courtroom could hold two bodies, with other cadavers laid on the floor. The stench from the decomposing bodies at the North Sydney Morgue often forced coroner’s inquests out of the building and into nearby taverns at The Rocks.

full record »

Intoxicating Drink Inquiry Commission

Commission set up to inquire into the causes of the excessive use of intoxicating drink, the deterioration it had produced in public morality and the extent to which legislation had been effective or otherwise in repressing the vice of drunkenness and regulating the traffic in liquor throughout NSW.

full record »

Royal Commission into Noxious and Offensive Trades 1882

An inquiry, set up to defer parliamentary discussion of curbs on polluting industries, which ended up agreeing that public health was endangered by the 'noxious trades'.

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 »

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 »

Australian Red Cross

Voluntary aid organisation formed as a branch of the British Red Cross in Melbourne in August 1914. It was quickly adopted and established in each state by the wives of each state governor.

full record »

Department of Public Health

In 1938 the office of the former Director-General of Public Health (established 1913) became the Department of Public Health. It comprised various medical and biological offices and divisions, including hospitals, baby health and sanitary branches. The Department of Public Health oversaw the Division of Forensic Medicine from the early 1960s. It was informally referred to as the Department of Health prior to its restructure in the late 1960s, and was formally abolished and replaced by the New South Wales Health Commission in 1973.

full record »

Health Commission of New South Wales

State government body responsible for health that replaced the Department of Public Health.

full record »

Institute of Clinical Pathology

Division of the Health department dealing with disease diagnosis.

full record »

Langton Centre

Outpatient unit of the NSW Department of Health's South Eastern Sydney Local Health District providing support for people with drug and alcohol problems. The Centre was formerly known as the Langton Clinic and is on the site of the NSW Community Hospital on the corner of Nobbs and South Downing Streets.

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NSW Health

State government department responsible for the provision and management of health care services. The Health Department was established in 1982 following the abolishment of the New South Wales Health Commission. The branch of Forensic Medicine and Clinical Pathology was under the authority of the Department and was restructured in the 1990s to form a more streamlined approach to public health and safety. The department underwent further structural changes in 2009 when it was established as the Department of Health. Two years later, the department was restructured and renamed the Ministry of Health.

full record »

New South Wales Ombudsman

Created in 1974, the New South Wales Ombudsman was introduced as an independent agency to hold State Government agencies accountable when a complaint by the public is made regarding their performance. The NSW Ombudsman can be called upon to provide evidence to the Coroner regarding the cause and patterns of deaths (e.g. child deaths). The Ombudsman can help facilitate improvements to government agencies if a coronial inquest has resulted in further recommendations in order to prevent further deaths.

full record »

Sydney City and Suburban Sewage and Health Board

Government body established in the late 19th century to investigate and report on health issues affecting the city and suburbs.

full record »

Sydney Medical Mission

Charity established to provide health care services and medicine to underprivileged adults and children in Sydney’s poorest inner suburbs that operated between 1900-1917. It was established by Dr Julie Carlile-Thomas and funded by Emma Dixson. Its first premises consisted of three small rooms in a building on Elizabeth Street before it was relocated to Macquarie Street. Mission doctors provided a unique service for sick Sydneysiders who were unable to leave their homes to enter hospital, particularly women with young children, and chronic incurable patients for whom no hospital bed was available. In its early years, a dilapidated phaeton pulled by an old horse, and driven by an even older man with a long white beard, transported the doctors on their house calls, and became a common sight in what were then known as the ‘slum’ suburbs of Sydney.

full record »

Sydney Medically Supervised Injecting Centre

Safe centre for drug addicts to inject under medical supervision at 66 Darlinghurst Road Kings Cross.

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 »

Wayside Chapel Crisis Centre

Organisation to deal with drug overdoses, potential suicides and other youth related problems in Kings Cross.

full record »

Wayside Chapel Drug Referral Centre

First drug referral centre established in Australia in 1967 by Ted Noffs at the Wayside Chapel.

full record »

Alleyne, Haynes G

Doctor who was chief health officer in the 1880s.

full record »

D'Arcy, Constance Elizabeth

Obstetrician and gynaecologist who worked to reduce maternal deaths and improve nursing standards and levels of hygiene in hospitals.

full record »

Dixson, Emma Elizabeth

Philanthropist, devout Baptist and wife of one of Sydney's most prominent businessmen.

full record »

Sutton, Harvey

Professor of medicine at the University of Sydney with particular interests in public health and preventative medicine.

full record »

Aboriginal Medical Service, Redfern 1980

full record »

Contributed By

National Archives of Australia

[A6180, 22/4/80/19]

First page of letter from City Health Officer Henry Graham to the City of Sydney Council concerning Devonshire Street Cemetery, 15 ...

full record »

Contributed By

City of Sydney Archives

Front cover of 'The Answer: a philosophical essay' by WJ Chidley 1912

full record »

By

William James Chidley

Contributed By

National Library of Australia

[nla.aus-vn5214043-s1]

Government and General Orders concerning the closure of the Old Burial Ground and the opening of Devonshire Street Cemetery 22 January ...

full record »

Contributed By

National Library of Australia

[Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 22 January 1820, p1 via Trove]

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]

Letter. Talbot & Son, Circular Quay, complain of the stench from the closets & urinals under Moore's Steps and ask that they be removed. ...

full record »

Contributed By

City of Sydney Archives

Medical Officers of the School Medical Service 29 June 1925

full record »

Back row: Dr JW Bruce, Dr S Buckingham, Dr C Madde, Dr W Dillon-Smith, Dr WC Malone, Miss AB Harris, Dr AE Machin, Dr PL Quessy, Dr D McClemens, Dr N Robertston

Front row: Dr SC Bevan, Dr G Vale, Dr LOS Poidevin, Dr Harvey Sutton OBE (Principal Medical Officer), Dr CO Stewart, Dr IF Coghlan, Dr M Edelsten-Pope

Absent: Dr A McCloy, Dr D Ratcliff, Dr WK Flook

Contributed By

State Archives & Records New South Wales

Memo from City Health Officer GF Dansey about condition of the Dead House, Circular Quay, 1879

full record »

Contributed By

City of Sydney Archives

[Letters Received, Vol 155 (21/01/1879 - 18/02/1879)]

(26/155/062)

Mr WJ Chidley will lecture to men and women on health, diet and clothing

full record »

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

[a128079 / V/120]

(Mitchell Library)

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]

The Sydney Milky Way; or Infant Poison 1875

full record »

Contributed By

National Library of Australia

[Sydney Punch, 14 May 1875, p1 via Trove]

Health and Welfare

Birth control and Family planning

Disease

Epidemics

Health promotion and Preventative care

Immunisation

Infant mortality

Quarantine

Sanitation