How have so many groups of people come to Australia without the introduction of new and deadly diseases? 

In History, Year 9 has been learning about movements of people and its effects on human society in the modern history period. So far we have explored slavery and its impacts on European and African societies.

Shifting from slavery to the movement of free settlers in Australia, we have been learning about the experiences of free migrants to Australia, specifically their experiences in quarantine. 

On Tuesday 14 March, we went on a two-hour bus ride to the Quarantine Station at North Head, near Manly. With incredible views of Sydney Harbour (and allegedly a few ghosts), Q Station was the frontline of protecting Australia from deadly diseases at the time such as smallpox and the Spanish flu.

We explored the buildings that for a quarantine period of 40 days many migrants called their home. Some of the most interesting buildings included the shower room, luggage sanitation, hospital areas and the morgue in which my group’s lovely tour guide moved a corpse (mannequin) in order to, as our class likes to put it, “not” scare us. Not only was the tour a great opportunity for our classmates to bond but also to gain a further perspective on the hard experiences migrants, even possibly our ancestors, had to go through in order to give us better opportunities.

A fun part of the excursion was uncovering the meaning of many lullabies and tall tales like Ring around the rosie and Always marry a milkmaid. Excursions such as these allow us to immerse ourselves in the perspectives of the people we are studying and gain a deeper understanding of the course topics.

Thank you to Mr Chamberlain and Mr Southcombe who made this experience possible.