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The Dictionary of Sydney
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Cleansing the streets 1900

Cleansing the streets 1900

By

John Degotardi Jnr

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

[a147028 / PXE 90, 28]

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Bubonic plague epidemic 1900

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John Degotardi Jnr

Son of printer and photographer John Degotardi who also worked as a photographer, most notably with the Public Works Department of NSW for whom he documented the cleansing operations & demolitions around the Rocks in the early 1900s after the outbreak of plague.

State Library of New South Wales

Planning

From an accidental city without a plan, Sydney has become a city with many plans. The early town grew without controls, but later governments tried to regulate building and development, and keep up with necessary services and infrastructure. From 1900, resumptions, zoning and regulation were used to shape the city and its suburbs.

Epidemics

Roads

Sanitation

Health and Welfare

Architecture

Police

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.