Challenge and Response in Fremantle's Community
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A COUNCIL & ITS CRISES: CHALLENGE AND RESPONSE IN FREMANTLE’S COMMUNITY DURING THREE TIMES OF CRISIS – THE BUBONIC PLAGUE THE GREAT WAR THE DEPRESSION ERA BY MICHELLE MCKEOUGH B.A History, Post- Graduate Degree Public History This thesis is presented for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, History 1 Three Town Clerks: Henry T Haynes (1911-20); George Bland Humble (1874-1904) and James Shepherd (1922-1947). Photo courtesy of Local History Library, Photographic Collection. Fremantle City Council. 2 Declaration: I declare that this thesis is my own account of my research and contains as its main content work which has not previously been submitted for a degree at any tertiary education institution. Michelle McKeough ……………………………………………………………. 3 ABSTRACT This thesis examines three cases studies in Fremantle’s history that can be defined as times of crisis. These studies are; the visitations of the Bubonic Plague 1900 to 1904; the Great War 1914 to 1919 and the Depression Era 1929-1933. Each of the periods in this thesis examines the challenges faced by Fremantle’s council, as representative of Fremantle community. Fremantle’s council had an engaged sense of what was needed in each crisis and it determined its actions and policy to manage and resolve the challenges in each case. In essence, Fremantle’s leaders pursued policies of change, both locally and on a State-level, which would better the lives of its community, in response to three times of crisis. 4 Acknowledgments: ................................................................................................................... 6 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 7 Chapter One: Bubonic Plague in Fremantle from 1900 to 1904 .......................... 18 Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 18 Origins: Crime and Sanitation in late Nineteenth-Century Fremantle ......................... 19 The plague looms: 1900 ................................................................................................................ 28 The Plague arrives: April 1900 ................................................................................................... 35 Fremantle: The physical environment and the Local Board of Health......................... 49 The plague returns: 1901-1902 ................................................................................................. 57 A more vigorous response: The plague in 1903 ................................................................... 65 The plague’s last gasp: 1904 ........................................................................................................ 78 Conclusion: The plague as bringer of conflict and progress ............................................ 81 Chapter Two: Fremantle and the Great War, 1914 to 1919 ................................... 88 Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 88 The first year: August 1914 to June 1915 ............................................................................... 90 The war comes home: July to December 1915 ...................................................................... 95 The cost of living: Lumpers and strikers ................................................................................. 98 Repatriation and employment: The need for training ..................................................... 104 Repatriation and employment: State and local policy ..................................................... 114 The threat of moral panic: Venereal disease and influenza, 1918-1919................... 125 Conclusion: Fremantle post-war and recovery ................................................................... 135 Chapter Three: The Depression Era in Fremantle, 1927 to 1932 ...................... 139 Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 139 Prologue to Depression: 1927-1929 ....................................................................................... 142 The Depression begins to bite: 1929-1930 .......................................................................... 146 The crisis deepens: May-December 1930 ............................................................................. 158 Facing despair: January to December 1931 ......................................................................... 173 Finding relief: gambling and the lottery ............................................................................... 181 The Council confronts its finances, 1932-1933 .................................................................. 185 Conclusion – Moving forward .................................................................................................... 190 Conclusion .............................................................................................................................. 193 Addendum: ............................................................................................................................. 196 Appendix A: ............................................................................................................................ 208 Appendix B: ............................................................................................................................ 210 Appendix C: ............................................................................................................................ 212 BIBLIOGRAPHY ..................................................................................................................... 215 5 Acknowledgments: To my sons, who have endured this interminable saga with unflinching love, forbearance and enthusiastic zeal. To my husband… there would be no thesis without you… thank you… To my family, all of you, for your constant support and encouragement. To Fiona, Gari Emma and Kirsteen… my personal motivational speakers, cheer squad and medi-vac team … thank you for your unswerving belief. To Andrew, thank you for your guidance, your patience and your sage advice. And finally thank you to Geoff, for sharing your immense knowledge, for your enthusiasm, your time and your wisdom. I hope this would make you proud. 6 Introduction This thesis will examine the role of a municipal authority in three times of crisis in the early twentieth century: the visitation of bubonic plague (1900-1904), the Great War (1914-1919) and the Depression era (1929-1933). Traditionally, as the governing body representing a local community, a Council has certain obvious obligations and responsibilities. However this thesis suggests that in these times of crisis, the role of the Council in Fremantle went even further. It played the part of protector, confidante and champion – an advocate for, and a part of, the community it represented. In each of the episodes examined in this thesis, the evidence suggests that Fremantle thought of itself as a definable community and, as such, the town’s Council had a more engaged sense of what was needed and understood the needs of its community more than the Western Australian state authorities in Perth or, indeed, the Federal government in Melbourne.1 Fremantle’s leaders pursued policies of change, both locally and on a State- level, that would better the lives of its community. Under the leadership of its Mayor, councillors and a committed Town Clerk, the Council proactively sought solutions to the crises it faced. In doing so it had to operate within or against the constraints of higher authority: both State and Commonwealth governments and their various authorities and departments. In each time of crisis, Fremantle Council in essence asked: ‘what can we do to get our local people through?’ And in each period, the Council successfully created and changed policy, provided funding and devised solutions. In this context, this thesis shows that a local council can be effective amidst the tensions imposed by its relationship to larger authorities and that in a time of crisis it can make a difference for its own community. The constant theme which emerges from the experience of Fremantle was that the Council chose deliberately to act for its own people, within the constraints of a wider 1 As a matter of style, I have capitalized the various councils, boards and departments following the usage employed within the primary documents: e.g. Local Board, Central Board, Department of Defence, etc. 7 administrative landscape. The result, across all three crises and spread over nearly forty years, was the emergence of new ideas and conceptions of ‘social policy’, whether in health, sanitation, education, employment or welfare. This thesis places Fremantle as a town and community as its core. ‘Fremantle’, in this sense, represented multiple identities: a geographical space (e.g. ‘the West End’), a local government entity (the town council), a vibrant self-aware community (captured by and represented in the myriad local newspapers), and an economic apparatus (the port). Fremantle, considered in this way, becomes a lens that allows the thesis to examine three historical events of quite different origins and nature: plague, war and economic depression. Fremantle remained very much a town apart during the first