WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are warned this article contains images of deceased persons which may cause sadness or distress.
From late January to May 1919, the Queensland and New South Wales border was closed to help stop or at least slow, the spread of the influenza virus, later identified as H1N1, into the state.[1] The Health Acts 1900 to 1917, authorised the Queensland Commissioner of Public Health to issue regulations for state intervention of a person’s civil rights such as mandatory examination, detention and isolation of anyone likely to have been infected or who had been in contact with anyone sick. In 1919, regulations issued by John Moore, the Commissioner of Public Health, empowered Police Officers to use reasonable force required to prevent any breach, or to apprehend any person, who had committed or was suspected of committing a breach of the public health laws.
On 28 January 1919, Queensland Police Commissioner Urquhart issued instructions to stop all persons from crossing into Queensland from New South Wales. Inspectors at Toowoomba and the Depot were directed to provide necessary help to all border stations by means of extra men and horses. Soon after, an additional officer was sent to the border towns of Coolangatta and Wallangarra. Eventually, 11 more officers from the Depot were sent to Coolangatta, equipped with 2 Bell tents, 22 brown blankets and 11 x bush rugs, waterproof sheet, pillows and slips and bed covers, for their accommodation and use.[2]
Police encampment at Hungerford during influenza epidemic, ca February 1919.
PM3248
Initially Coolangatta, Wallangarra and Goondiwindi were the only towns with dedicated border crossing points under Pneumonic Influenza Regulations.[3] Though Wallangarra camp was located entirely within the territory of New South Wales, it was run by the Queensland government and health officials. The government’s decision to rigidly adhere to only three entry points resulted in significant number of applications for exemptions from the public. In the face of such pressure, the government soon relented and established a medical screening process allowing bona fide Queenslanders to return to the state via Wompah, Hungerford, Wooroorooka, Adelaide Gate and Mungindi. Border patrols were also operating out of Killarney, Stanthorpe, Texas and Hebel among other locations.[4]
Penalties for breaching Pneumonic Influenza Regulations ranged from fines of £2-£20 to short-term imprisonment.[5] In one case, from 12 February 1919, a man travelled to Blackall from the southern border over 600 kilometres, before he was located. He was subsequently isolated for 7 days and then prosecuted for breaching the regulations. The offender admitted to crossing the border at Mungindi, walking to Dirranbandi, then back to Thallon via Warwick, Toowoomba and Brisbane before being arrested at Blackall.[6]
‘Arrival at Quarantine Camp, Wallangarra. People arrive at the quarantine camp in Wallangarra during the influenza epidemic of 1919. The camp consists of tents and corrugated iron buildings, surrounded by bushland. People are waiting to be registered and admitted to the camp. They have their suitcases and other belongings with them.’ JOL 188018 Note: This was the last group that served the full 7 day quarantine period before the camp closed and the state re-opened.
All officers on border patrol had to keep an individual diary, while Inspectors and Sub-Inspectors were required to report to the Commissioner on a weekly basis. These notes revealed that Constable Gray stationed at Adelaide Gate, Charleville Police District was provided with three camels by Lucas Hughes, the manager of the Nockatunga Station. The camels were said to be the only means available to Gray for border patrolling through the Western Desert Country. He had to employ an Aboriginal man from the station to help handle the animals. One camel later died, and the owner was compensated £20 for the death.[7] Elsewhere in the Charleville district, border patrol officers had the use of three Howard brand bicycles.
Constable M. T. Gray to Sub-Inspector John Harlan, Charleville 7 June 1919. QSA Item No 18278.
In recognition of the arduous duties performed by the patrol policemen, every day for duration of the border closures, each officer’s pay was supplemented by 7/- per day. The men were at the higher risk of infection due to likely exposure to infected persons. In late March 1919, Mungindi seems to have become a hot spot for Border Breakers, including women and children. In early May, the virus finally crossed into Queensland and soon after the government re-opened the borders, as the authorities were no longer able to justify the lock down despite the appeals to keep the borders shut. As a result, all border patrol officers were recalled back to their usual stations.
Roma Police Station, 1921. PM0360.
On 1 June, Constable Hubert James Kelly, who was assigned to Mungindi Border Patrol from 2 February 1919, returned to Roma. Constable Kelly was severely asthmatic and a regular tippler which seemed to help him cope with his asthma. Kelly returned unwell and given his respiratory issues his condition deteriorated quickly. He was placed on sick leave on 6 June, but his health worsened again and rapidly. Kelly died four days later at the hospital, on 10 June 1919.[8]
Staff File, QSA 565852
The official cause of death was Influenza and heart failure. Kelly’s death devastated his family, wife Mary Bridget neé Maguire and two sons aged 5 and 6 years old, personally and financially. Kelly’s wife received a lump sum payment of £191/12/6 but as there was no widows’ pension fund to support families of the deceased officers, the family was soon in financial distress. In November 1921, Mary Kelly applied to be a female searcher at the Brisbane Watchhouse as she was advised there was a vacancy, however, she was misinformed.[9]
Tracker Corporal Sam Johnson was another Queensland Police Force casualty of the outbreak. Johnson was stationed in Longreach when he contracted the virus and died on 22 June 1919.
At Longreach. The influenza epidemic has got a great spread on, and it is safe to say nearly every home has at least one patient. The hotels and businesses are all hopelessly short handed, and in fact some places have been obliged to close. Thursday morning the Post Office closed its doors until after the mail was got away, not having enough assistants left to attend to the counter business and dispatch the mail. For the week there have been three deaths. (‘At Longreach.—’, The Western Champion and General Advertiser for the Central-Western Districts, 14 June 1919, p. 7. )
Sam and Limerick Johnson. PM3985
Born about 1877 in Charleville in western Queensland, Sam was a member of the Bidjara people. He was a highly respected horseman and tracker with a quiet and sincere disposition, well built, and fit.
He gained renown in 1902 following his role in the Kenniff brothers’ case and murders of Constables Doyle and Dahlke. The trial of the Kenniffs included significant and damning evidence by Sam Johnson. Being the sole survivor of the police party that arrived at Lethbridges Pocket, Sam was subjected to intense cross examination attempting to discredit his testimony. Johnson was survived by his wife, Limerick, who moved to the Rockhampton area later in 1919, where she died in 1921 and was interred at the Rockhampton Cemetery.
Headstone of Sam Johnson’s grave in Longreach.
[1] Oxford, JS (2000), ‘Influenza A pandemics of the 20th century with special reference to 1918: virology, pathology and epidemiology’, Reviews in Medical Virology, Vol 10, pp. 120-21.
[2] Commissioner of Police to Inspector Carroll, Police Depot and Inspector O’Connor. Toowoomba, 28 February 1919. QSA Item No 18246.
[3] Commissioner of Public Health circular memorandum, 6 February 1919. QSA Item No 18246.
[4] Chief Secretary’s Office 19/02167 and Commissioner of Public Health Memorandum, 6 March 1919. QSA Item No 862691.
[5] Queensland Police Gazette, January-December 1919.
[6] Commissioner of Police Correspondence Register 19/4914, 12 February 1919. QSA Item No 318614.
[7] Constable M. T. Gray to Sub-Inspector John Harlan, Charleville 20 February 1919 and 7 June 1919. QSA Item Nos 76483 and 18278.
[8] Staff File, QSA Item No 565852.
[9] Ibid.
The article was researched and written by Dr Patrick Hodgson and Dr Anastasia Dukova. The Queensland Police Museum is currently closed due to COVID19, with staff working remotely by email and phone. When reopened, hours of operation will be 9am to 4pm Monday to Thursday and 10am to 3pm on the last Sunday of the month. QPM is located on the Ground Floor of Police Headquarters at 200 Roma Street, Brisbane.
Contact by email: museum@police.qld.gov.au
‘FROM the VAULT – Queensland Border Policing During 1919 Influenza Outbreak’ by the Queensland Police Service is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (BY) 2.5 Australia Licence. Permissions may be available beyond the scope of this licence. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/au/legalcode