Take a tour of Sydney’s fascinating pandemic history

City of Sydney staff wearing masks to protect themselves from 1919 flu (City of Sydney Archives)

Aligning with the current curiosity for pandemics and epidemics, Renaissance Tours have curated ‘In Sickness and in Health’, a fascinating look into discovering how disease and contagion changed the course of Sydney’s history from the days of colonisation to the present.

Medical historian Dr Peter Hobbins

This tour is led by Dr Peter Hobbins, a medical historian with a knack for sharing human stories.

The day begins with a walking tour through Sydney’s CBD to the Sydney General Rum Hospital, Lucy Osburn-Nightingale Museum and an abandoned morgue to discover the value of vaccines and advances in medical care and how this altered the lives of Sydney’s residents.

The tour includes a private water taxi journey across the harbour to the Q Station Wharf in Manly where Dr Hobbins continues with a private behind-the-scenes tour of the heritage-listed former North Head Quarantine Station to see how new arrivals to the colony were screened and quarantined and explain how the smallpox epidemic affected Sydney’s First Nations people in 1789.

He will continue to delight with stories on the discovery of convict medicine to tales of renowned figures forced into quarantine to protect the colony.

Dr Hobbins is a regular guest on national radio and television programs as well as community groups and is the co-author of prize-winning book, ‘Stories from the Sandstone’ which reveals poignant tales from Sydney’s former Quarantine Station.

Sydney Quarantine Station ca. 1900 (Dixson Library)

“At Renaissance Tours we love to bring to life culture, history, music and art. Sydney is full of interesting historical stories which we are delighted to share and explore, with the extra bonus of having access to people and places not often on offer to the general public. This tour is part of our day tours program, catering to the culture aficionado, and who better to lead this than Dr Peter Hobbins,” said Evan Petrelis, Managing Director, Renaissance Tours.

The tour includes a relaxing lunch at Boiler House Restaurant served on the beachfront with views of Sydney Harbour.

Tour date is Saturday 19 September, 2020