Typhoid fever in colonial Toowoomba and Brisbane

Hampton, Margaret (2005) Typhoid fever in colonial Toowoomba and Brisbane. [Thesis (PhD/Research)]

Preview	Text (Introductory Pages) Hampton_2005_front.pdf Download (1406Kb)
Preview	Text (Whole Thesis) Hampton_2005_whole.pdf Download (3112Kb)

Abstract

Typhoid fever is a forgotten disease in today's society, but for the people of nineteenth century Australia it was part of their every day lives. This thesis examines the role that the Queensland colonial government, the medical profession, and the communities of Toowoomba and Brisbane played in the fight against the disease. At separation from New South Wales the Queensland government officials were new and inexperienced and had inherited a financial debt. These circumstances resulted in cautionary governance when it came to public health policy and issues, but determination and single-mindedness when it came to development of roads and railway lines. The government’s view at the time was if the colony was to prosper then this type of infrastructure must be developed at all costs. What the government failed to realise was that the infrastructure of drainage and sewerage, associated with good public health policies, needed to go side by side with other types of infrastructure. The prosperity of the colony rested on the health of its people. Because of the failure of the government to recognise the value of strong public health legislation it was up to the medical profession and the community to be vigilant and take the challenge to the government. This study has found that throughout the second half of the nineteenth century the medical profession and the community with the support of various newspapers had to challenge the government on public health issues consistently in relation to typhoid fever. This political pressure was more successful in Toowoomba where William Groom’s leadership achieved some important engineering solutions whereas campaigns in the capital, Brisbane, were marked by diversity and divisions. Intransigent colonial government policy condemned both cities to inadequate sanitation infrastructure until the twentieth century.

Statistics for this ePrint Item

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD/Research)
Item Status:	Live Archive
Additional Information:	Master of Philosophy thesis. Transferred from ADT 28/11/2006.
Faculty / Department / School:	Historic - Faculty of Arts - No Department
Supervisors:	Connors, Libby
Date Deposited:	11 Oct 2007 00:43
Last Modified:	01 Aug 2016 02:15
Uncontrolled Keywords:	typhoid fever, Toowoomba, Brisbane, government, death
Fields of Research :	16 Studies in Human Society > 1603 Demography > 160305 Population Trends and Policies 11 Medical and Health Sciences > 1117 Public Health and Health Services > 111708 Health and Community Services 22 Philosophy and Religious Studies > 2202 History and Philosophy of Specific Fields > 220205 History and Philosophy of Medicine
URI:	http://eprints.usq.edu.au/id/eprint/1435

Actions (login required)

Archive Repository Staff Only