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Monday, May 7, 2012

Old Luggage Cart

 
Old cart for carrying luggage to and from the disinfecting chamber on display at the Quarantine Station, Point Nepean.

Relic of old times
Sad stories travelled on wheels
Darkened memories


One story - from Discover Mornington Peninsula

In the early 1850's the government established a quarantine station at Point Nepean. Before the original building was completed, an emigrant ship arrived with many passengers affected by yellow fever. She had had a frightful journey and the crew and passengers were in a sorry state. The ship was the 'Ticonderga' which had left Birkenhead, England 80 days before arriving at Point Nepean. She had 811 people on board when she sailed. Because of the lack of the most necessary amenities and over crowding, fever developed amongst the passengers, with the result that there were 96 deaths during the voyage. On her arrival at Portsea on November 6th 1852, the survivors were quarantined. Tents had to be erected to accommodate the overflow from the existing buildings. 82 of the ships passengers died. Deaths were so numerous and sudden that coffins were unobtainable, and burials had to take place without them. Labour to dig the graves was also unprocurable, and to facilitate matters, the bodies were placed vertically in recesses in the cliff face. The overhanging bank broke away and the resulting landslide buried them. 

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9 comments:

Pieni Lintu said...

That's so pretty!

Liz said...

What a find! Have a fabulous week.

My MYM:
Liz @ MLC
Liz @ YACB

Unknown said...

Interesting! :)

p.s I love your grammarcity blog. :) it's fun being there. Hope you will update it regularly.

Daryl said...

nice catch!

Hootin Anni said...

The haiku is great...very fitting for the image. In so few words, you seemed to 'nail' the ambiance of your photo. Well done.

And I like your boardwalk shadows below this post Gemma.

Deb said...

A sad story, I imagine the passengers on board the Ticonderga were dreaming of finding a particular yellow metal, not an early death.

Chubskulit Rose said...

Oldies but goodies!

Tulips, have a wonderful week ahead!

Melbourne Australia Photos said...

Perfect for MYM.

Sallie (FullTime-Life.com said...

Sad history lesson -- important to remember and honor our pioneers (both yours and over here) who went through so much.

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