Manly Quarantine Station

Quarantine Station History - pre 1828

Aboriginal
Heritage

History
Immigration

Buildings
in 1999

Carvings
on site

Residents
in the past

Natural
Environment

Conservation
Plan

Aboriginal Phase :

Aboriginal people occupied this site for thousands of years before British colonists arrived in Australia. Spring Cove and surroundings have evidence of middens, Aboriginal burial sites and an engraving. The area was occupied by people of the Kameraigal Clan who spoke the Guringai language.

Soon after the First Fleet arrived in 1788 with its cargo of convicts, contact was made in Manly between Aboriginal people and the colonists. This resulted in the disasterous spread of smallpox amongst Aboriginal people who had no resistance to introduced diseases and a large number of deaths occurred.

QS717.jpg (17246 bytes)
View from the wharf - looking South.
Photo : J.Simpson 1999

Click here to read about what happened in 1814
with Robert Cross and the Plague Ship
before the Quarantine Station was built.

In the 1820s the number of ships arriving in Sydney increased and with it the need for quarantine. Spring Cove was first officially used for quarantine purposes in 1828 when the "Bussorah Merchant" arrived in Sydney with smallpox on board. The convicts from this ship together with their guards camped at Spring Cove whilst the free passengers camped at Neutral Bay.

References:
Quarantine Station : Sydney Harbour National Park CONSERVATION PLAN,
NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service 1997 printing
43 Bridge St, Hurstville, NSW 2220, Australia

Quarantine Station : Sydney Harbour National Park Open Day booklet 1999
NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service
Visitors Services Unit, Scenic Drive, Manly, NSW 2220, Australia