Crematorium and Morgue

For some, the journey to Australia ended here. Some of the diseases that existed in the 1800-1900s were among some of the deadliest the world has ever seen. The 1918-19 Spanish Flu pandemic infected a third of the world’s population (about 500 million people infected), with between 2.5% and 5% of the world’s population dying from the disease. That’s the equivalent of over 300 million fatalities in today’s figures!

Smallpox killed over 300 million people in the 1900’s and the bubonic plague (black death) has killed over 100 million people over a number of centuries.

There were 98 people listed as either dying, buried or cremated at the Quarantine Station between 1893 and 1943.

• Pneumonic Influenza (Spanish flu) 34
• Bubonic Plague (black death) 25
• Smallpox 15
• Measles/pneumonia 6
• Leprosy 3
• Other causes 10
• Unknown causes 5

The foundation slab is all that remains of the morgue building, which was used to prepare a body for burial or cremation. The crematorium is the oldest surviving crematorium in Australia.