was the last to edit Immigration barracks and quarantine depot system
on Aug 11th, 2016 at 7:43 PM
Topic: Immigration barracks and quarantine depot system
Topic type:
History of the immigration barrack and quarantine depot systems in Canterbury by Grant Hughes
Quarters and Quarantine : Immigrants’ barracks and quarantine depots in colonial Canterbury
Immigrant’s barracks were first residences, albeit temporary, for thousands of immigrants into Canterbury in the second half of the nineteenth century, yet little is generally known about them. Not much was written at the time because of the position they occupied between the old life and the new and they were soon forgotten. Few who kept diaries or wrote reminiscences considered them worth mentioning.
Barracks were nothing new to some arrivals, similar facilities built in England to house migrants until their ships sailed, concentrating migrants in dock areas seen as a means to ensure full ships. Read more
Quarantine
Immigration barracks and quarantine had many features in common, though because of the nature of the facility, substantially less was written about quarantine. Naturally, information about it was not in publicity for intending migrants lest the spectre of illness should cause them to change their minds. A natural reluctance on the part of reporters to visit facilities and see them in operation as they’d done with the barracks was also a factor. The major descriptive accounts were of facilities prior to their opening. Read more
