Set on a picturesque headland overlooking the harbour, Sydney’s quarantine station housed close to 16,000 people from 1835 to 1984. it served as a holding station for passengers on inbound ships to New South Wales arriving from well-known hotspots for contagious diseases. Interned for diseases that terrified the community, people held in quarantine left their mark on the local sandstone – or on forlorn headstones. These inscriptions remain a lasting legacy of Australia’s maritime past and immigration history.
In Memory of Irish Stew
More than 570 people died there. By the early 1880s the existing Quarantine Station cemeteries were overcrowded, produced offensive smells and were suspected of contaminating the water supply.
Quarantine Station 3rd Cemetery
The third quarantine cemetery was established in 1881 for victims of a smallpox outbreak which lasted through until 1882. It was later used for victims of the bubonic plaque outbreak in 1900 and the 1918-19 influenza epidemic. The graves were dug 10 feet (3 metres) deep and the burials covered with lime as an extra precaution against the spread of disease. The cemetery was closed in 1925 and is thought to contain 241 graves.
For over 100 years it served as the gatekeeper between potentially sick immigrants – as well as some sick residents – and the colony and country beyond. Of those who went in, some recovered and were released, while others never made it out. During those years the soft sandstone that the station sat on served as a permanent diary as patients who had arrived from all corners of the world began carving unique messages and images into the surrounding rock
In 2006 the cemetery was added to Australia’s National Heritage List in recognition of the important role the North Head Quarantine Station played in the establishment of the colony of NSW and the evolution of quarantine practices in Australia.
At his talk at our museum on Saturday, 4th August, Peter Hobbins, a co-author of the book “Stories from the Sandstone”, will convey the compelling personal stories of lives lived not just in despair, but also in hope for the future.
The Assisted Passage Migration Scheme was created in 1945 by the Chifley Government and its first Minister for Immigration, Arthur Calwell, as part of the “Populate or Perish” policy. It was intended to substantially increase the population of Australia and to supply workers for the country’s booming industries. Australia required an influx of 70,000 migrants…
When Prince Alfred returned to Australia in 1870, he brought with him a four-year-old elephant that had been presented to him by Sir Jung Bahadur, the ruler of Nepal. It was perhaps an appropriate gift, insofar as the prince was known to be greatly impressed by these majestic animals, although he did rather enjoy hunting…
In 1918-1919, when the Spanish influenza pandemic swept the globe, Australians – with their peculiar sense of humour – devised unique ways of dealing with the apparatus and cures popular at the time. For example, hideous faces were painted onto the face mask, or kewpie dolls and huge wire spiders hung from the sides. However,…
The first Postal Act had been passed in November 1825, empowering the NSW Governor to establish a GPO in Sydney and other places. There had been a Post Office building occupying the site in George Street since 1830s, beginning with one room of the two-storeyed former police office. By 1845 the Post Office occupied the…
Leslie Kenneth Garfield Browning, MC and Bar When war broke out in August 1914 the Australian Naval and Military Expedition Force was hurriedly assembled and dispatched to New Guinea to seize control of the German colony. After limited resistance, the German forces surrendered and the expeditionary force returned to Australia leaving a small detachment to…
Cabarita Point was first named in the 1856 Survey Map. At the time there was a property known as “Cabarita House” near Kendall Bay. It is not clear whether the location took its name from the house or if the house was named for its location. Cabarita is presumed to have derived from a local…