Browse Items (13 total)

A letter to the editor arguing against compulsory vaccination.

Chinese immigrants frequently worked as fruit and vegetable hawkers. This eventually became a commonly held stereotype.

Officials were meticulous in their efforts to ensure the outbreak was confined to Sydney. Passengers of both ships and trains frequently underwent health checks or were quarantined.

A newspaper article reporting on the first suspected smallpox case. The victim was the child of a prominent Chinese merchant.

An editorial attacking Chinese immigrants. It was widely believed that the Chinese were harbingers of transmissible diseases due to their 'dirtiness'.

An anti-Chinese cartoon.

Part of a cartoon summarising the events of the outbreak. Blame was widely placed on Sydney's Chinese population.

Fumigation was commonly employed during the outbreak in an attempt to prevent the disease from spreading. In this illustration, railway passengers at the New South Wales border are being fumigated.

An illustration encapsulating treatment of Chinese immigrants suspected of carrying smallpox. Violence against Sydney's Chinese became increasingly popular during the outbreak.

The smallpox outbreak catalysed efforts to restrict Chinese immigration to the colony on a parliamentary level, culminating in the Influx of Chinese Restriction Act 1881. There was significant debate surrounding the particulars of this bill. This…