The origins of the elevated Queensland house Donald Charles Roderick Bachelor of Architecture (UQ) A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at The University of Queensland 2004 School of Geography, Planning & Architecture Foreword The final draft of this thesis was written by Don Roderick in the shadow of impending death, and through the pain from cancer and its treatments. The final writing, collation and editing of this thesis was undertaken in the last months of his life without the knowledge of his advisory team and as a private project kept secret from even family and friends. The thesis was printed, read, submitted and assessed at very short notice, after Don was hospitalised. The distinguished architectural historians who accepted the task to read and assess the thesis, contributed their time at very short notice. On their advice the thesis was accepted for conferral of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, and the University of Queensland honoured Don’s achievement with a special conferral ceremony at the Wesley Hospital, on 12 August 2004, attended by many senior academics. In posthumously preparing the thesis as a permanent record for the university library, the factual and stylistic corrections requested by the readers have been undertaken. The most important comments by the readers cut to the argument at the core of the thesis, the hypothesis that pre-twentieth understanding of infectious disease, the miasma theory, was the most significant of the many rationales offered for the elevation of the Queensland house. The readers observed a degree of unevenness in the strength of claims made for the miasma theory and in the testing of alternate arguments. The advisory team has undertaken a final proof-edit in response to these comments. With Roderick’s passing, the pursuit of further research in support of the hypothesis or to test it will be left to subsequent generations. In only a few places have editorial footnotes been inserted to clarify the text or to respond to the readers’ criticisms. Vale Donald Charles Roderick 10.6.1934 - 29.11.2004 i Abstract The vernacular elevated housing of Queensland is to be found widely in its homeland Australian state. This elevation of housing as a key distinguishing feature is commonly regarded to be emblematic of Queensland. Contrary to widely held opinion the Queensland House is not unique. Elevated housing existed in other parts of the world well before its appearance in Queensland. Those who research the elevated housing of these other places generally attribute their elevated form to the desire to create a cool habitat. Some declare that they were elevated to overcome flooding problems. Some identify the use of the understorey as the primary intention of the elevated form. These rationales have also been advanced in Queensland where diverse reasons for elevation are part of the local folklore. This thesis argues that the elevated housing to be found both overseas and in Queensland had a principal intention to provide protection from the endemic fevers that were prevalent and dangerous in the tropical world. To understand this argument this study examines the state of medical understanding at the period of the development of the elevated house. Prior to 1900 the causes of many diseases were attributed to miasma, or tainted air, emanating from places such as swamps, warm wet soil and lush vegetation. These emanations were believed to be at their most intense close to the ground. With height there was seen to be a rapid loss of concentration as the miasma was dispersed by the free circulation of air or diluted by combination with clean air. The notion of elevation of living quarters was derived from that belief. Building above the ground level, with the underfloor area left open, was deemed to isolate and protect the building from the miasma and at the same time allow the dispersal of the miasma by the free circulation of air. While these notions are now dismissed as ‘the miasma theories’ they were not theories at the time in review. They were regarded as facts proved by hundreds, possibly thousands, of years of empirical observations. The later years of the nineteenth century saw some dissent from their canons. Pasteur and other microbiologists showed that disease was the consequence of microorganisms such as invasive bacteria, parasites and viruses. In a similar movement the emergent notion of the spread of disease by ‘contagion’, or contact ii with other affected people, was supplanting the miasmatic theories. The virtual end for the miasmatic theories came with the discovery that mosquitoes were the vectors of malaria. This study shows how the elevated house form was initially developed in places other than Queensland. Case studies are made of the West Indies, the East Indies and at Port Essington where elevated buildings made their first appearance on the Australian mainland. It is then shown how the elevated mode was adopted in Queensland in response to the presence of fevers and the considerable demand for housing in the early years of European settlement. The arrival of the elevated mode of housing was simultaneous with the arrival of the first free migrants to Queensland. It is argued that as a cultural endeavour the elevated house had its origins and development in classical scholarship. With its foundations established by Hippocrates, and its progression to the era of its final development via the Renaissance, its lineage lies within the high cultural stream of learning. iii Declaration by author This thesis is composed of my original work, and contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference has been made in the text. I have clearly stated the contribution by others to jointly-authored works that I have included in my thesis. I have clearly stated the contribution of others to my thesis as a whole, including statistical assistance, survey design, data analysis, significant technical procedures, professional editorial advice, and any other original research work used or reported in my thesis. The content of my thesis is the result of work I have carried out since the commencement of my research higher degree candidature and does not include a substantial part of work that has been submitted to qualify for the award of any other degree or diploma in any university or other tertiary institution. I have clearly stated which parts of my thesis, if any, have been submitted to qualify for another award. I acknowledge that an electronic copy of my thesis must be lodged with the University Library and, subject to the General Award Rules of The University of Queensland, immediately made available for research and study in accordance with the Copyright Act 1968. I acknowledge that copyright of all material contained in my thesis resides with the copyright holder(s) of that material. Where appropriate I have obtained copyright permission from the copyright holder to reproduce material in this thesis. iv Publications during candidature No publications. Publications included in this thesis No publications included. v Contributions by others to the thesis No contributions by others. Statement of parts of the thesis submitted to qualify for the award of another degree None vi Acknowledgements The research was supported in part by the Society of Architectural Historians of Australia and New Zealand (SAHANZ) David Saunder Founder’s Grant in 2002 for field study of ‘Queensland Vernacular Architecture’. The author acknowledges the assistance of the following people and institutions who provided advice and information that assisted in compiling this text. Dr. John Macarthur of the University of Queensland gave valuable support and encouragement to an author who felt that his advanced years might have been an impediment to undertaking research study. The author’s advisors Mr. Peter Skinner and Dr. Antony Moulis of the University of Queensland guided the process of turning a manuscript into a much-strengthened thesis. Jessie Lymn and Belinda Daw undertook the final editing and layout. Forty years of architectural practice tied to a personal enthusiasm for history has resulted in forty years of wondering about the origin of building forms and styles. This curiosity was nourished by contact with the History Department of James Cook University. Professor Brian Dalton promoted the notion that an awareness of local history should be encouraged within the community at large. His enlightened view was that buildings were a valuable historic resource. Studies by the writer of buildings in Charters Towers and Ravenswood were important steps in honing an appreciation of the origins of building modes. An important segment of initial research was a study trip to Jamaica and Louisiana with a small foray into Mississippi. To find buildings that were so obviously relatives of the Queensland House, and built in response to similar climatic and medical circumstances, was a rewarding and reassuring experience. Professor Jay D. Edwards of Louisiana State University accompanied me on these trips and explained to me what we saw. He has also replied to many letters and forwarded copious information on the vernacular housing of the Caribbean and the American South. Peter Bell is a long-standing and valued friend. He was possibly the first Australian historian to identify miasma as being of primary significance in the development of the Queensland House. vii Professor Alan Frost of LaTrobe University who had researched the high set houses of the Herbert River Valley in relation to the miasmatic theories and who kindly sent me a copy of his manuscript on the elevated houses of Queensland. An interchange of information and the generous forwarding of a copy of his typescript accompanied discussions with Professor Alan Frost. A seminal event in the formation of this thesis was a trip to Singapore followed by the purchase of Norman Edward’s book The Singapore House and Residential Life 1819 – 1939.