Woodman Point Quarantine Station

Lilian
Barbara
POORE
(Nee Gleed)

Born 23rd April 1902
Kersey
Suffolk UK


Died 8th February Palmyra WA.1989

The Poore Family name is synonymous in the annals of the quarantine station's history at Woodman Point and Bertie Poore, who was born to Jesse and Clara Poore in 1891, is one such person who justly deserves the recognition of the part he played in tirelessly nursing these victims and many others back to good health and often without assistance at the Woodman Point Quarantine Station from 1921 through to his retirement in 1957, and the place he is entitled to in the realms of Western Australia's early quarantine history.

Naval Cadet No: 895, Bertie Poore, completes the hardships of naval cadet training of the time at TS Mercury in the United kingdom. He is at Training Ship Mercury between 1904 -1907 and on completion, joins the merchant navy. He arrives in Western Australia as a migrant, and it is here, he joins the State Shipping Service and serves on the vessel SS Westralia. With the outbreak of WWI, Bertie endeavors to enlist in the Australian Army, but due to his height is rejected. He returns to the United Kingdom aboard the SS Westralia as a steward, as the ship is to be converted to a hospital ship, and on arrival, is successful in joining the Somerset Light Infantry, and the year is 1914. He serves four years in the British Army and participates in both France and Belgium theatres of war. At wars end , Bertie Poore is 27 years of age, and with the added incentive of double pay ( two shillings per day ) is placed on standby duty for a further six months to provide military assistance to the CZAR during the Russian Revolution of the 1900s. During this period he is stationed at Kersey and it is here that he meets Lilian Gleed, and as time progresses asks for her hand, and " Babs " ( as she became known ) becomes his bride. Bertie always mentioned when the time came there were two places in the world he would prefer to settle down. One being San Francisco, the other Fremantle Western Australia, and hence the earlier reference to a toss of a coin . He returns to WA onboard the SS Ormonde with his new wife, who was eighteen at the time, in December 1919, and hereby the quarantine service of Western Australia became the eventual winner.

Bertie, as he will always be referred to, secures his first job at the Mount Lyall processing works in North Fremantle, however he was not to stay there very long. The opportunity arose when a position becomes available at the Woodman Point Quarantine Station and because of his qualifications ( Boiler Attendant ) he secures a job at the quarantine station as male nurse/general hand in 1921. Quarantine stations during this time could not only be described as dark foreboding places , but also dangerous, with regard a risk to ones own health. This was a period in time when diseases such as bubonic plague, Spanish influenza, yellow fever, typhoid, leprosy and smallpox were much more prevalent and life threatening than they are today and the possibility of contracting these diseases was much easier, especially just coming off the end of the WWI and immigrants and displaced persons relocating from overseas countries where these diseases were prevalent. He commences in this position under the Officer In Charge of the station Mr. Arthur Dumble and during the first year of his employment at Woodman Point, Bertie plants two Norfolk Pine trees to celebrate the occasion of his employment and these still can be seen outside the original residence of the Officer in Charge at Woodman Point.

Due to very strict regulations and procedures, life on an operational quarantine station could be exceptionally lonely for the close knit resident families during a so-called quarantine, as all members of the resident families were expected during this time, to assist with every aspect of cleaning, washing, cooking and delivering meals, as well the usual domestic chores, such as, changing bed linen and assisting the appointed staff in their chores in anyway possible and on top of this, no personal contact with the outside world was available to them. Bertie Poore's son Bob, who was born in 1931, recalls there were times in the late thirties when his mother and father were separated by the high security fence around the Isolation Hospital for up to six weeks at a time because of the intensity of the emergency . His mother would cook the meals in their residence opposite, for those in the isolation hospital, and leave them under the gate at the hospital and notifying those inside that their meals were ready by shouting out aloud outside the isolation hospital gate. However on the lighter side, due to the extreme quarantine restrictions no persons were allowed to leave or enter the station and hence during a quarantine this meant that all school age children were restricted to the base also and it became one big school holiday for them all. Activities included swimming and fishing at secluded clean white beaches, horse riding, bush excursions and the usual childhood adventures.

The Poore family consisted of five brothers and one sister, namely, Violet, Arthur, Jim, Frank, Bill and Bob and all of whom were born at the quarantine station in the 20s and early 30s, with the older children now attending the Coogee State School. The monthly family trips by way of the horse and sulky to Fremantle to purchase the necessary household items were exciting trips to look forward to and even today Bob Poore still recalls that the family always used to stop on the way home at the Newmarket Hotel where the horse " Darkie " was watered and Bob was also given a Lemonade. Also once a week Mrs. Poore and the OIC of the station, Mr. Dumble travelled to Fremantle via horse and cart to collect the quarantine station's mail from the Head Office in High Street Fremantle. With the announcement of the declaration of war imminent the majority of families and their children were required to vacate the station and take up residence outside the station. With the outbreak of WWII, Bertie Poore endeavours to enlist for service with the Australian Army, however this time he is rejected because of his age, he was then 47 years of age. The Poore family moves to their new place of residence in Murray Road in Palmyra in 1938 and this means that Bertie Poore will spend the majority of the war and a number of the ensuing years isolated at Woodman Point and only being allowed home on weekends, and this was by way of a push bike, that he chooses to use between Palmyra and Woodman Point. It should be mentioned that one had to endure the frustrations of isolation from your family and the remoteness of the quarantine station during a quarantine alert, whilst having to provide medical care to the patients suspected of having smallpox or some other contagious disease. In one incident in 1944, (see The War Years) he was to spend three months in isolation from his family at the quarantine station during a smallpox scare, and where the only means of communication was by way of the telephone or shouting to one another over the isolation security fences.

With WWII over, the strict regulations and procedures still continue at Woodman Point Quarantine Station and this was brought about by the continuous influx of displaced persons from Europe and immigrants from the United Kingdom seeking a new way of life in Western Australia and a large majority of these had to pass through Woodman Point due to poor health and hygiene regulations in their country of birth. Also the prevention of Foot and Mouth disease were also becoming a priority and a major concern. In the late forties, Bertie becomes the proud owner of a motor bike and chooses to traverse daily by way of this small motorcycle between Murray Road and the quarantine station, and residents still recall that you could set your watch daily, as Bertie Poore travelled to work through the streets and the roads heading south on his way to Woodman Point. Even though Bertie's family members are not full time residents at the station, they are given permission to visit there regularly and Bob Poore and his brothers vividly recall the exciting days and adventures spent there with their father during school holidays. These times were also spent exploring the abandoned buildings that were used during the war by the military and the remains of the internment camps that were situated throughout the quarantine station and the Woodman Point area in general.

Prior to Bertie Poore's retirement, he was to be involved in another chapter of Woodman Point history. This occurred when the P&O vessel RMS Strathaird arrived in Fremantle and caused a major quarantine on the 7th August 1954 with a suspected case of varioloid. After the diagnosis of smallpox was confirmed, nine stewards and close contacts of the victims who occupied the same cabin were taken off the vessel by launch and transferred to Woodman Point. Following this, a further three boat loads of passengers including their hand luggage were also sent off to the quarantine station by launch. The incident above was described as a typical procedure of the day, including the disinfection of the Isolation Hospital.

On a Friday in early April 1957 the end of an era was coming to a close , one that had originally started by the toss of a coin back in 1900s, and ended in the retirement of the Senior Male Nurse, namely Bertie Poore at the Quarantine Station Woodman Point south of Fremantle on that historical autumn afternoon in April.

The 65 year old Bertie Poore retires in April 1957 after serving 36 years with the Quarantine Service at Commonwealth Quarantine Station at Woodman Point, and is reputed to be , the most important quarantine station in Australia. In that time, Bertie Poore has personally nursed every case of smallpox and attended every quarantine at Woodman Point and furthermore has handled more smallpox cases than any other man in Australia. He originally entered the service as boiler attendant and then qualifying as male nurse and finally retiring with the qualification as Senior Male Nurse. A distinction that can only be described as second to none and also i doubt if it will ever be surpassed. After Bertie Poore's retirement the Poore Family are given permission to hold a family reunion every Boxing Day at Woodman Point of which Bertie and his wife Babs always attended. Bertie Poore sadly passes away on Friday 3rd April 1964, but the Boxing Day family tradition at Woodman Point continued until 2008.

The Poore Family's association with the Commonwealth Quarantine Service ( AQIS ) has been a long and distinguished one, three generations in fact. Bertie's son Jim was a member of the quarantine service up until his retirement in the 1980s and in turn his son Brian was also a member up until his untimely passing at the age of 52 years in 2006.
In 1995 a special plaque of remembrance was unveiled to Bertie Poore and placed under the two pine trees that he planted back in 1921 by the Poore Family and his relatives who had gathered to pay tribute to this humble and kind gentle man.

The family connection with Woodman Point continues even today with valuable assistance and historical knowledge readily available from Bob and June Poore and members of their families that will guarantee the legacy of Woodman Point Heritage continues, and the story, the lives and the hardships of the people who were involved at the Woodman Point Quarantine Station are not forgotten and will continue to live on in the annals of Western Australian History. Bob Poore was awarded with the initial Life Membership of Friends of Woodman Point Recreation Camp in 2008

The Poore Family Legacy Page was compiled by Earle Seubert and its completion could not have succeeded without the kind support of Bob and June Poore and the Poore family for making available their family history, and their generosity is greatly appreciated.

Robert Edward Poore passed away on 28th February 2009.
June Poore passed away on the 20th March 2011
Both will be sadly missed.