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Chowder Bay
The Harbour Trust is collaborating with the Office of Australian War Graves (Department of Veterans’ Affairs) on vital works to the Third Quarantine Cemetery. So far, a heritage stonemason has performed conservation works on two gravestones – an undertaking completed last week.
A quick history of the cemetery
Established in 1881 for victims of a smallpox epidemic, the cemetery (together with the nearby North Head Quarantine Station) is included on Australia’s National Heritage List as a significant example of the nation’s evolving quarantine practices.
By the time of the cemetery’s closure in 1925, more than 240 people had been interred there, having succumbed to ravages including influenza, the bubonic plague, smallpox and scarlet fever.
The gravestones undergoing conservation works belong to Private Hector Hicks and Annie Egan, a young nurse who contracted Spanish Flu in November 1918 while tending to ill soldiers at the nearby Quarantine Station. She died within a fortnight, aged 27, and was buried, with full military honours, at the Third Quarantine Cemetery.
Egan’s story captivated the nation because authorities initially denied her request for a priest to be permitted into the station to administer the last rites to her and other Catholics. Public pressure, however, resulted in the decision being overturned.
Knowledgeable and dedicated volunteers
Conservation works on the Third Quarantine Cemetery are being overseen by Libby Bennett, Director Heritage and Design at the Harbour Trust. Ms Bennett has been consulting with Peter Jensen (Environmental Officer, Harbour Trust) as well as 2 Harbour Trust tour guides with extensive knowledge of the historic landmark – Barry MacDonald and Marie Palmer.
The Harbour Trust thanks Mr MacDonald and Ms Palmer as well as the dedicated volunteers from the North Head Sanctuary Foundation who have provided invaluable assistance.
