History of Bruny Island Quarantine Station
This Quarantine Station Reserve consists of 320 acres. The Nuenonne Aboriginal tribe were the traditional owners of Bruny Island, Van Diemen's Land, including the land now occupied by the station. Eras of the Quarantine Station site:
Pre 1830 - Traditional owners
1856 - 1884 European settlement
1884 - 1908 State quarantine
1908 - 2002 Commonwealth quarantine
1914 - German internment at the beginning of WW1
1919 - Influenza pandemic
1950's - 1986 - Plant quarantine
2003 - State Government ownership - Parks & Wildlife
2011 - Friends of Bruny Island Quarantine Station formed to support the management, conservation and public appreciation of the station.
Anthony Cox Family
Anthony Cox received a Purchase of Grant of 19 acres at the Quarantine Station site on 20 October 1856…
Influenza Pandemic
The Spanish Influenza Pandemic in 1918 saw returning first world war troops quarantined at the station…
Plant Quarantine
During the 1950s, the Quarantine Station was the only place where plants could be quarantine in Tasmania…
Friends of Bruny Island Quarantine Station
The FOBIQS was formed in 2011 and supports the management of station in partnership with Tasmania Parks & Wildlife Service…
Bruny Island's Quarantine Station - In War and Peace
Book by local Bruny Island author, Kathy Duncombe, documents the history of the Quarantine Station site at Barnes Bay…
German Internment Quarantine Station
The outbreak of World War I in August 1914 brought Australia into conflict with Germany…
Quarantine Station
Quarantine Officers and Caretakers
| 1900 | May 1st 1900 - Michael Delaney. |
| 1900 | May 14th 1900 - Kenneth James Terry. |
| 1912 | John Vicary and Minna Harrison |
| 1914 | John Harrison died 26 Dec. 1914. |
| 1915 | Francis John Smyth |
| 1918 | Francis Smyth died April 14th 1918 |
| 1918 | Edward Keith and Kitty Crane - Quarantine Officer and Caretaker - 40 years. |
| 1958 | Tom and Doreen Miley - Plant Quarantine Officer - 27 years |
| 1985 | Robert and Anita Elliston |
| 1987 | Peter and Margaret Shackcloth |
Site Chronology
| 1856 | Purchase Grants to Archibald Johnston(e) and Anthony Cox |
| 1870 | Purchase Grant to John Martin |
| 1884 | State Govt. Minister for Land inspects site. Tender notice for erection of quarantine buildings. |
| Petition of B. I. residents against establishment of Quarantine Station | |
| 1885 | Land purchased by State Government from Anthony Cox and Elizabeth Martin |
| 1886 | Completion of State Quarantine Station Buildings Typhoid outbreak on S.S. Diamond |
| 1892 | Death of Anthony Cox |
| 1900 | Proclaimed a Commonwealth Quarantine Station. Michael Delaney caretaker later K. J. Terry |
| 1902 | Death of Jane Cox (nee Daly) |
| c1905 | Smallpox scare via New Zealand - two in quarantine as a precautionary measure |
| 1910 | Deputation to the Premier protesting removal of Quarantine Station from Barnes Bay to Claremont. |
| 1912 | Harrison caretaker |
| 1913(Feb 26) | Assistant Quarantine Officer Report recommending a jetty to be built on the Barnes Bay side |
| 1914 | Ship S.S. Oberhausen arrived in Hobart - moored off Queens Battery - Harrison died |
| 1915 (Jan) | Crew members of the S.S. Oberhausen interned at Bruny Island - Mrs. Harrison resigned |
| 1915 (March 9th) | F. J. Smyth caretaker £126 p.a. ( 70 applications received) |
| 1915 (March 12th) | 45 prisoners interned at Bruny Island By April 1915 there were 70 internees and a guard of about 15.; |
| 1916 | Hugo Fernolz still running a store. |
| 1916 (April) | German internees still at Bruny Island |
| 1917 | Tenders called for clearing of 2,000 tons of timber from site to be sold to woodcutters at 1/- a ton |
| 1919 (January) | Influenza outbreak reaches mainland Australia. |
| 1919 (April) | Soldiers returning from World War 1 were quarantined. |
| 1919 | Edward Crane begins as caretaker a position held for 40 years |
| 1920 | Emergency barrack like tin sheds erected. Edward Crane's wife Violet, died of pneumonic influenza |
| 1939 (September) | Permission sought and given to accommodate 20 internees and 20 guards, arrangements similar to 1914 (October) Proposal to accommodate 20 internees and 20 guards abandoned. |
| 1955 | Linen and other requirements for human quarantine disposed off. Some sent to Darwin. |
| 1955-1971 | After plants were introduced in 1955, the station was proclaimed a Plant Quarantine Centre. |
| 1957 | Some of the long tin sheds (dormitories) were dismantled and sold |
| 1958 | Tom Miley became Quarantine Officer and was to remain in the job for 27 years |
| 1960's | Buildings were dismantled and sold by tender on the spot, many relocated on Bruny Island. |
| 1967 | Residential buildings were still being sold and relocated |
| 1971 | Proclaimed a Plant Quarantine Centre officially |
| 1976 | Original medical store became archive repository of quarantine documents |
| 1985 | Robert and Anita Elliston became the caretakers. |
| 1986 | Plant Quarantine relocated to Kingston. Commonwealth declared quarantine site surplus to requirement. |
| Peter and Margaret Shackcloth caretakers. | |
| Expressions of interest were received from National Parks and Wildlife Service and Department of Sport and Recreation. Proposal to swap site for land at Oyster Cove put to the Aboriginal community. | |
| 1996 | Terry Sawyer - Bruny Island Quarantine Station - Heritage Assessment Report compiled. |
| 1990's | Request by Tasmanian Government to transfer the site back to the State as a State Reserve under the National Parks and Wildlife Act |
| 1997 | Tasmanian Regional Forest Agreement between Commonwealth and State signed |
| 1999 | The land was formally proclaimed on 30 April 1999 under the Regional Forest Agreement (RFA) |
| 2000 | Commissioning of Conservation and Management Plan by the Commonwealth |
| 2003 | The formal transfer of the title to the State occurred on the 14 January 2003 |
| 2004-2012 | National Parks and Wildlife Service working on hazard reduction |
| 2011 | Formation of Friends of Bruny Island Quarantine Station Station' (FOBIQS) was formed to “Support the management, conservation and public appreciation of the Bruny Island Quarantine Station.” |
| 2012 | Commonwealth Heritage Grant to enable Interpretative signage for a self guided tour |