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Commentary: ‘Just the tip of the iceberg’: Queensland’s experience of the influenza pandemic of 1918–20
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 December 2020
Abstract
This article provides a synopsis of the spread of epidemic influenza throughout Queensland in 1919–20.1 Statewide the story was, to a greater or lesser extent, the same – regardless of occupation or whether one was from the city or the bush, on the coast or in the far west, no one was immune; even being 300 kilometres from the nearest epicentre of the outbreak was no guarantee of safety. An examination of the state’s newspapers, particularly the Brisbane Courier, makes it evident that outbreaks of influenza erupted almost simultaneously throughout the state. Aided and abetted by Queensland’s network of railways and coastal shipping, together with the crowding of people at country shows, race meetings and celebrations of the formal conclusion of World War I, the disease was swiftly diffused throughout the state. This article hopes to give the reader a sense of how the sheer scale and urgency of the crisis at times overwhelmed authorities and communities.
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References
Notes
1 The quote in the title comes from Dr Parry, quoted in Brisbane Courier, 6 June 1919, 7
2 Brisbane Courier, 18 February 1919, 7.
3 F. M. Burnet and Elle Clark, Influenza: A survey of the last fifty years (Melbourne: Macmillan, 1942), p. 188; John M. Last (ed.), Maxcy-Rosenau preventative medicine and public health (New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1980).
4 Alfred W. Crosby, Epidemic and peace: 1918 (Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1976), p. 192; Sandra M. Tomkins, ‘The influenza epidemic of 1918–19 in Western Samoa’, The Journal of Pacific History 27(2) (1992), 181. Niall Johnson and Juergen Mueller, ‘Updating the accounts: Global mortality of the 1918–1920 “Spanish” influenza pandemic’, Bulletin of the History of Medicine 76(1) (2002), 105–15.
5 Victor Vaughan, quoted in John Barry, The great influenza: The epic story of the deadliest plague in history (New York: Penguin, 2004), p. 365.
6 Brisbane Courier, 3 May 1919.
7 Dr Harris quoted in Brisbane Courier, 28 May 1919, 7.
8 Brisbane Courier, 16 May 1919, 7.
9 Dr Freshney, quoted in Brisbane Courier, 3 June 1919, 7.
10 Brisbane Courier, 23 May 1919, 7; Brisbane Courier, 28 May 1919, 7.
11 Brisbane Courier, 5 June 1919, 7–8.
12 Brisbane Courier, 7 June 1919, 6.
13 Brisbane Courier, 10 June 1919, 8; Brisbane Courier, 13 June 1919, 7.
14 Brisbane Courier, 7 June 1919, 6; Brisbane Courier, 11 June 1919, 7–8. Western Star and Roma Advertiser, 11 June 1919, 2.
15 Queenslander, 24 May 1919, 40.
16 Darling Downs Gazette, 17 and 22 May 1919, 5; Darling Downs Gazette, 23 May 1919, 6. Northern Miner, 23 May 1919, 3; Northern Miner, 24 May 1919, 6.
17 Brisbane Courier, 31 May 1919, 6.
18 Brisbane Courier, 4 June 1919, 7.
19 Brisbane Courier, 20 May 1919, 7.
20 Brisbane Courier, 31 May 1919, 6.
21 Brisbane Courier, 6 June 1919, 7.
22 Murgon Record, cited in Brisbane Courier, 7 June 1919, 5.
23 Brisbane Courier, 9 May 1919, 9.
24 Morning Bulletin, 5 June 1919, 9.
25 Brisbane Courier, 9 June 1919, 8.
26 Brisbane Courier, 21 May 1919, 8.
27 Brisbane Courier, 23 May 1919, 7.
28 Brisbane Courier, 23 May 1919, 7.
29 Brisbane Courier, 21 June 1919, 6.
30 Brisbane Courier, 23 May 1919, 7.
31 Brisbane Courier, 10 June 1919, 7–8; Brisbane Courier, 26 June 1919, 8; Brisbane Courier, 4 July 1919, 9.
32 Brisbane Courier, 30 May 1919, 6.
33 Brisbane Courier, 3 June 1919, 7–8.
34 Brisbane Courier, 15 June 1919, 7–8.
35 Brisbane Courier, 17 June 1919, 7–8
36 Brisbane Courier, 28 May 1919, 7.
37 Northern Miner, 24 June 1919, 4.
38 Brisbane Courier, 24 June, p. 8; Brisbane Courier, 27 June 1919, 8.
39 Daily Mercury, 21 May 1919, 5.
40 Brisbane Courier, 22 May 1919, 8; Brisbane Courier, 28 May 1919, 7. With the quarantine restrictions placed on shipping, a few individuals were prepared to pay the high fares charged to be conveyed overland.
41 Brisbane Courier, 3 June 1919, 7–8.
42 Brisbane Courier, 21 June 1919, 6; Brisbane Courier, 23 June 1919, 8. Moriarty’s husband resided at Murwillumbah in New South Wales.
43 Brisbane Courier, 26 June 1919, 7.
44 Brisbane Courier, 29 August 1919, 8.
45 The Paringa alone had 37 cases.
46 Brisbane Courier, 28 May 1919, 8.
47 Brisbane Courier, 30 May 1919, 7.
48 Brisbane Courier, 31 May 1919, 6.
49 Brisbane Courier, 7 June 1919, 6.
50 Brisbane Courier, 10 June 1919, 9.
51 Brisbane Courier, 14 August 1919, 6.
52 Cairns Post, 7 June 1919, 4.
53 Brisbane Courier, 9 June 1919, 7–8.
54 Brisbane Courier, 13 September 1919, 6.
55 Brisbane Courier, 9 February 1920, 6.
56 Brisbane Courier, 12 February 1920, 7. ‘Coloured people’ was a euphemism to distinguish the Japanese.
57 Brisbane Courier, 11 and 12 February 1920, 7; Brisbane Courier, 13 February 1920, 4. Medical Journal of Australia, 1(17) (24 April 1920), p. 400; Queensland, Parliament (1921), Annual report of the Aboriginals Department 1920, Parl. Paper, Vol. II: 557–64, Brisbane, p. 559.
58 Brisbane Courier, 13 February 1920, 4.
59 Cairns Post, 23 February 1920, 5.
60 Gordon Briscoe, Queensland Aborigines and the Spanish influenza pandemic of 1918–1919 (Canberra: Aboriginal Studies Press, 1996).