Black Death — Pneumonic Plague at Maryborough, Queensland, 1905.
At Right: Scenes from the remake of the film: Black Death. |
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Maryborough Plague Film Released
‘Black Death’, a television documentary film on the history of the 1905 outbreak of pneumonic plague at Maryborough, has now been released on DVD, principally as a preservation project.
Originally produced in 1986 by two independent television producers, Douglas Fraser and Tony Matthews, the film has now been completely remade for its 21st century launch, marking 110 years since the fatal outbreak.
The outbreak of pneumonic plague at Maryborough began in May 1905 and continued for several weeks amid huge controversy concerning the precautions taken, or not taken, to contain the killer disease and to prevent it spreading to any of Australia’s major cities where it could easily have caused hundreds of thousands of deaths.
In Maryborough several children were to die, members of the ill-fated O’Connell family, plus Mrs Letitia Edwards, a ‘Good Samaritan’ neighbour who went to the aid of the infected children.
Two heroic nurses, Cecelia Bauer and Rose Adelaide Wiles, also died of plague infection after tending to the O’Connell children. The memorial fountain at the side of the Maryborough City Hall today commemorates their sacrifice.
The documentary film, which runs for about an hour, was a locally produced program, made entirely at Maryborough utilising local actors.
The complete remake of the film has now been accomplished as a community service by Tony Matthews, the writer and one of the film’s original producers, and his wife, Lensie. Copies of the DVD are being donated to the Fraser Coast Libraries and the producers would like to advise that free copies will also be made available to all the actors and interviewees — who were originally involved in the film’s production.
‘The outbreak of pneumonic plague at Maryborough could have spread rapidly to other towns and cities where it might well have exploded into a pandemic,’ producer Tony Matthews said. ‘There was gross ineptitude and also lax quarantine procedures which might easily have caused a rapid spread of the disease, massive public panic and a huge number of deaths.’
Tony Matthews said that the film tells the full story of the outbreak and commemorates the heroism of those who went to the aid of the stricken children, particularly Mrs Letitia Edwards and Nurses Bauer and Wiles.
‘The two nurses were defiantly brave,’ Tony said, ‘as they knew they were tending to children who were dying of a highly contagious disease, yet they went quietly and courageously about their work, unflinching in their determination to care for the sick children, even if their own lives were to be sacrificed.
‘Black Death’, a television documentary film on the history of the 1905 outbreak of pneumonic plague at Maryborough, has now been released on DVD, principally as a preservation project.
Originally produced in 1986 by two independent television producers, Douglas Fraser and Tony Matthews, the film has now been completely remade for its 21st century launch, marking 110 years since the fatal outbreak.
The outbreak of pneumonic plague at Maryborough began in May 1905 and continued for several weeks amid huge controversy concerning the precautions taken, or not taken, to contain the killer disease and to prevent it spreading to any of Australia’s major cities where it could easily have caused hundreds of thousands of deaths.
In Maryborough several children were to die, members of the ill-fated O’Connell family, plus Mrs Letitia Edwards, a ‘Good Samaritan’ neighbour who went to the aid of the infected children.
Two heroic nurses, Cecelia Bauer and Rose Adelaide Wiles, also died of plague infection after tending to the O’Connell children. The memorial fountain at the side of the Maryborough City Hall today commemorates their sacrifice.
The documentary film, which runs for about an hour, was a locally produced program, made entirely at Maryborough utilising local actors.
The complete remake of the film has now been accomplished as a community service by Tony Matthews, the writer and one of the film’s original producers, and his wife, Lensie. Copies of the DVD are being donated to the Fraser Coast Libraries and the producers would like to advise that free copies will also be made available to all the actors and interviewees — who were originally involved in the film’s production.
‘The outbreak of pneumonic plague at Maryborough could have spread rapidly to other towns and cities where it might well have exploded into a pandemic,’ producer Tony Matthews said. ‘There was gross ineptitude and also lax quarantine procedures which might easily have caused a rapid spread of the disease, massive public panic and a huge number of deaths.’
Tony Matthews said that the film tells the full story of the outbreak and commemorates the heroism of those who went to the aid of the stricken children, particularly Mrs Letitia Edwards and Nurses Bauer and Wiles.
‘The two nurses were defiantly brave,’ Tony said, ‘as they knew they were tending to children who were dying of a highly contagious disease, yet they went quietly and courageously about their work, unflinching in their determination to care for the sick children, even if their own lives were to be sacrificed.
Writer and producer Tony Matthews with a DVD of the newly-minted documentary, 'Black Death'.