Cholera ship - the SS Dorunda, 1885

In late 1885 a ship carrying over 470 passengers and crew docked at ports in north Queensland en route from London to Brisbane.  It was also carrying cholera. 



SS Dorunda, docked at Port Said, Egypt, n.d.
Image: State Library of Queensland.

The British India Steam Navigation Company’s ship Dorunda sailed from London on 20^th October 1885, with many of its 367 passengers, immigrants - bound for the port of Brisbane.  The Dorunda stopped at Malta on October 29, Port Said, Egypt on November 2 and Aden on November 9, where the (mainly Indian) crew was exchanged.  On November 27 the Dorunda reached Batavia, in Java.  Up until this point in the voyage, there had been little sickness of note according to the ship’s medical officer, Dr Thomas Hickling. 

At Batavia about 560 tons of coal was loaded onto the ship, and whilst this was being loaded about twenty of the saloon passengers disembarked and travelled to the township of Batavia by rail.  No other passengers or crew were allowed to disembark the vessel.  Although it was discouraged, a few passengers bought fruit from a small boat that came up alongside the Dorunda.  No cargo was taken on board, but fresh vegetables, fruit and potatoes were brought on board for the consumption of saloon passengers only.  No water was taken on board at this stop.

Four days later, on 2^nd December, a 62-year old man became ill with symptoms similar to cholera.  He gradually recovered and Dr Hickling did not believe the man had cholera.  On the 6^th December, an 18-month old child died after suffering convulsions from diarrhoea.  Two family members of the child had been treated for diarrhoea just days earlier. 

The Dorunda reached Thursday Island on 7^th December and Cooktown on 9^th December.  At Thursday Island the health officer had boarded the ship and found no reason not to allow the Dorunda to continue its journey.  The same thing happened at Cooktown, despite the seven cases of diarrhoea.  Twelve passengers (female immigrants) were landed at Cooktown as well as mail and cargo. 

On the same day, a 33-year old man named Thomas Doran fell ill and died that night.  Dr Hickling reported to the captain that he had no doubt the illness was Asiatic cholera.  The Dorunda was now on its way to Townsville.  Two of Thomas Doran’s three children (Frank and Henry) became ill with vomiting and diarrhoea on the night of Doran’s death and died the following day.   

On the 10^th December the Dorunda arrived at Townsville.  The health officer was informed of the illness aboard the ship but proceeded to board the ship to decide for himself.  He confirmed that the ship was indeed afflicted with epidemic cholera but returned to town seemingly unconcerned that he might be taking the illness with him!  The residents of Townsville then lobbied to have him placed under quarantine in his own home.  

 

Under orders from the Colonial Secretary, the Dorunda then proceeded directly to the quarantine station at Peel Island, off Brisbane, bypassing its intended destinations of Mackay and Rockhampton.  Townsville’s quarantine station at Magnetic Island was deemed unsuitable and apparently ill-equipped to deal with so many passengers.  The Dorunda arrived in Moreton Bay on 14^th December and passengers were landed at Peel Island on the following day.  The ship was fumigated and the immigrant passengers’ belongings and bedding were destroyed.  All passengers and crew were isolated on Peel Island for several weeks. 

Advertisement advising readers of precautions against cholera and diarrhoea, October 1885. 
Image: State Library of Queensland.

The outbreak of cholera claimed at least 16 lives, possibly several more if the earlier, suspicious cases are taken into account.  In total, 75 people were treated for illness of a choleraic nature.  The source of the illness was not proven.  None of the saloon passengers who had left the ship briefly in Java fell ill with cholera.   

No cases of cholera developed on mainland Queensland. 

Sources:

Cornish, W.R. ‘On an outbreak of cholera amongst British emigrants proceeding from London to Queensland in the S.S. Dorunda in December 1885’, British Medical Journal, 25 September 1886, pp. 577-580.

Cairns Post, 17 December 1885.
Queenslander, 19 December 1885.

Religious Trends - West End Cemetery - Part 2

Key symbols commonly found on Catholic graves

Roman Catholic monuments in Australia up until the 1880s were predominantly Gothic in design with seraphs and angels common motifs, and crosses found on the majority of memorials.  In areas where the population was high in Irish immigrants, the Celtic cross was particularly favoured.  The crucifix was another favoured form of the cross and iconic representations of the Virgin Mary, Jesus and the Saints were also prevalent.

An example of a 'Celtic' style cross, which includes the IHS symbol.  Photo: T. Fielding.

During the years the West End Cemetery was in heavy use (late 1860s – 1930s) the cross appears to be the most common monument for Catholic graves.  The Celtic cross and the Calvary cross appear equally favoured as monuments and the cross is often used as a motif, along with the IHS symbol.  Often these occur in combination.  The cross was a symbol of faith in all forms whilst the IHS symbol originated in the medieval cult of the name of Jesus and is a Latinised version of the Greek letters of the name and symbolise faith and piety towards the Catholic religion.

Key symbols commonly found on non-Catholic graves

One of the key differences between Roman Catholic monuments and non-Catholic monuments is that non-Catholic adherents (though there were exceptions) did not utilise the cross in commemorating their dead.  The cross ‘was shunned as being too popish and iconographic for funerary monuments’.  The Protestant view was that the use of the Virgin Mary, the Saints, and even the crucifix would encourage the worship of idols, rather than God.  In the Georgian period the non-Catholic religions erected plain-shaped headstones (Gothic, Norman and anthropomorphic) and used a minimum of decoration but in the Victorian and Edwardian eras more and more decoration was employed, and memorials took the shape of obelisks, columns, urns, pedestals, pediments, ledger stones and table-tops.  Angels and weeping willows could be found on Church of England headstones, but figurative sculpture was less popular among non-conformist religions such as the Presbyterians, Weslyans and Independents.

An example of an 'anthropomorphic' shaped headstone.  Photo: T. Fielding

The symbolism on non-catholic headstones in the West End Cemetery between the late 1860s and the late 1920s varied very little.  Ivy, a symbol of fidelity and eternal life is utilised very heavily during this period.  Another very common motif is the clasped handshake symbol.  Often the cuffs depict both men and women’s clothing suggesting a farewell in this life and a reunion in the next. This particular style of headstone was also erected in this cemetery for a number of Anglicans and was extremely popular with Methodists. 

By the 1930s, monuments such as obelisks and pedestals with draped urns and broken columns became popular large monuments in the West End Cemetery, particularly with Church of England and Presbyterian followers.  A change that can be observed in the West End Cemetery is the use of crosses on non-catholic graves.

In this article I’ve only focused on the five most common religions represented in the cemetery. Up to the year 1900, those five religions (Church of England, Roman Catholic, Presbyterian, Weslyan and Methodist*) accounted for approximately 85% of burials. The other three largest groups recorded were listed as Pagan, Heathen and unknown.  While they were recorded as such, it’s likely that many of these last three groups were actually Indigenous, or of Chinese or South Sea Island origin.

* Both Weslyan and Methodist were recorded as separate religions in the West End Cemetery register.