Citation

Ambrose LM. Can. Bull. Med. Hist. 2005; 22(1): 139-153.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2005, Canadian Society for the History of Medicine, Publisher Wilfrid Laurier University Press)

DOI

10.3138/cbmh.22.1.139

PMID

15981356

Abstract

The Canadian government operated a quarantine station at William Head B.C. from 1881 to 1958. In the spring of 1913, a ship arriving from the Orient was detained because of smallpox. Subsequently, the station's medical inspector, Dr. A. T. Watt, became the subject of a Royal Commission of Inquiry established to investigate his medical and administrative practices. That summer Watt committed suicide, but was posthumously exonerated from all the charges. This paper explores the conflicting class and racial questions that arose from this incident and the political reactions of those involved including the detainees, the government, and the media.

Language: en

Keywords

Administrative Personnel; British Columbia; Canada; Health Policy; History, 20th Century; Humans; Naval Medicine; Quarantine; Smallpox; Social Class