Brisbane’s year of disaster

In Brisbane at this time, most buildings were made from timber and had shingle roofs; sawmills, foundries and tanning workshops produced waste and fumes; and infant mortality was 50 per cent by the age of five due to diseases such as typhoid and cholera.

There were also plagues being brought into the colony on emigrant ships such as the . The Brisbane Health Officer, Dr William Hobbs, boarded the ship and found a child ‘in a dying state’. He questioned the ship’s surgeon, Dr George Sandiford, about the health of passengers and was told that there was no significant illness on board. Hobbs then allowed passengers to proceed to Brisbane.