• About Me
  • About My Blogs
  • Diary
  • Moreton Bay Timeline
  • My Publications
    • Queensland’s German Connections
    • Port of Brisbane
    • Moreton Bay Reflections
    • Moreton Bay People – The Complete Collection
    • Peel Island History – A Personal Quest
  • My Shop
  • Reader’s Forum
  • Welcome to my Moreton Bay world

Moreton Bay History

Moreton Bay History

Category Archives: Mona Mona Aboriginal Mission

Miss Red Lead, Marjorie (‘Mardi’) Spencer

16 Saturday May 2020

Posted by historianludlow in Aborigines, Mona Mona Aboriginal Mission, Peel Island

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Aborigines, Marjorie Spencer, Peel Island

Marjorie recalls: I had married Dr Eric Reye in August 1945, and by this time, Eric had been appointed a full-time Government Medical Officer, and was visiting the Peel Island Lazaret (Leprosarium) regularly. In January 1947 Promin therapy was introduced there, and its daily intravenous administration necessitated Eric remaining full time on the island. Thus, he became Peel’s first Resident Medical Officer, and I was appointed a temporary laboratory assistant, because no one was available at the time, and because the nurses were fully occupied. By the end of 1947, the services of a science graduate Miss (later Dr.) Herbert had been obtained, and I was no longer needed. 

There was no provision for accommodation of a Medical Officer on Peel so to accommodate me, Eric purchased a wartime surf landing dory that, because of its flat bottom, was easily beached amongst the mangroves at the base of the lazaret’s north embankment. The mosquitoes and biting midges could be very troublesome at times and we had double mosquito nets on our barge which we also sprayed with fly spray for more protection.

Mardi on Maroomba with Coolooloa in the mangroves (photo courtesy Eric Reye)

Eric and I were forced to continue living on the boat for about a year. Patient accommodation was also desperately short, and it was only on Eric’s threat of resignation that two ex-army huts were procured from Redbank and shipped to the Island. Finally, in September 1947, we were able to move ashore and occupy the new Doctor’s residence which was situated at the top of the embankment several hundred metres to the east of the men’s compound. Its small balcony commanded a fine, sweeping view northwards across the waters of Moreton Bay towards the rolling tree covered sand hills of Moreton Island. Closer to home in the water at the bottom of the embankment, Eric’s yacht Maroomba rested at her moorings. 

My laboratory duties involved taking blood samples, and I went to the Red Cross Blood Bank in Brisbane to learn the basics. There I learnt how to perform white and red blood cell counts. I also tested patient’s urine samples for diabetes. The blood samples were taken from the patients’ ear lobes because there was less chance of infection from that site. Before I took the sample, I would wipe the site with ether to cleanse it.

Another of my occupations on Peel was to read to the blind patients, especially Bert Cobb, who was a learned man with a fine collection of books in his hut. He was not able to learn Braille because his Hansen’s Disease (leprosy) had left him with no feeling in his fingers.

In those days, boat’s hulls were painted with a mixture of red lead powder and linseed oil for protection from seawater vermin. However, we didn’t have any linseed oil, so Eric substituted shark liver oil which had a most unpleasant pong. However, the smell didn’t worry me, so I went on using it. I used to get the red lead in my hair, which I washed out with kerosene from our Primus stove. This turned me from a blond into a redhead, and earned me the nickname of ‘Miss Red Lead’.

One of Eric’s duties as Medical Officer at Peel Island was to search out new cases of Hansen’s Disease occurring on the mainland. Once I accompanied him to Mona Mona on the Atherton Tableland to pick up two Aboriginal sisters who were found to have the disease. One however was sick and she had to be left off at Cairns before being sent on to Fantome Island (the Aboriginal Leprosarium in the Palm Island Group, which Eric was also in charge of).

Mona Mona Mission in the 1940s showing the marriage ceremony of 6 couples (photo Courtesy Eric Reye)

Eric resigned as Medical Officer at Peel Island when he was not allowed by the Health Department to do further patient surveys in the Aboriginal communities behind Cairns. I had been interested in Aboriginal anthropology to the extent of going down to Sydney to the university for six months, but when Eric resigned, I gave it away. We stayed on his boat on the river at Yeronga, where Eric commenced his study of biting midges. We then split up and I went home and worked as a librarian, first at Stones Corner and then at South Brisbane.

Marjorie Spencer

Bulimba

October 2011

Extract from ‘Moreton Bay People 2012 by Peter Ludlow (now out of print)

Recent Posts

  • From a Farm Beside the Sea with Pam Tickner – Part 2
  • From a Farm Beside the Sea with Pam Tickner – Part 1
  • Wellington Point
  • William in Lockdown
  • A Visit to the Royal Flying Doctor Service (Queensland)

Recent Comments

historianludlow on Wellington Point
keith Boulton on Wellington Point
historianludlow on From a Farm Beside the Sea wit…
Brian Russell on From a Farm Beside the Sea wit…
keith Boulton on Wellington Point

Archives

  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015

Categories

  • 1960s scene
  • Aborigines
  • ACGS
  • Aircraft
  • Amity
  • Art
  • Avebury
  • Bancroft
  • Bath
  • Bee Gees
  • bees
  • Bernard Elsey
  • Bird Island
  • Bishop Island
  • boats
  • Bradford on Avon
  • Bribie Island
  • Brisbane
  • Bulimba
  • bushfires
  • Caboolture
  • cataracts
  • Christmas
  • Churchie
  • Cilento
  • Cleveland
  • coal
  • Coins
  • coral dredging
  • Covid 19
  • Cowan Cowan
  • Cribb Island
  • CSIRO
  • CyArk
  • Deception Bay
  • dreams, hallucinogens
  • dredges
  • Dromagh
  • Drones
  • duelling
  • Dunwich
  • Electronics
  • Faith
  • Fantome Island
  • film
  • fishing
  • football
  • Frank Boyce
  • George Symons Suits
  • Germany
  • Glengariff
  • Google Earth
  • Gustav Dux
  • Gutter Bar
  • Heide Museum of Modern Art
  • Historic buildings
  • History
  • Hobart
  • Hogmanay
  • Hong Kong
  • Ian Fairweather
  • Immigration
  • indigenous
  • inebriates
  • Ireland
  • Jack The Ripper
  • Japan
  • jetties
  • jigsaw
  • John Oxley
  • Karl Marx
  • Kastellorizo
  • Kleinschmidt
  • Kooringal
  • Leichhardt
  • Leprosy
  • Literature
  • London
  • Lyne Marshall
  • Mallalieu
  • mandala
  • Maryborough
  • Matthew Flinders
  • Memories
  • Metropol Hotel
  • mining
  • Missionary
  • Mona Mona Aboriginal Mission
  • Moreton Bay
  • Moreton Island
  • Moscow
  • Mr Magoo
  • Mud Island
  • Museums
  • music
  • National Geographic Magazine
  • New Year
  • Nundah
  • oysters
  • Pam and Ernie Tickner
  • Paris
  • Pasternak
  • Pebble Beach
  • Peel Island
  • Petrie
  • Phillip Island
  • Photography
  • Podcasts
  • Politics
  • Port of Brisbane
  • pyjama parties
  • quarantine
  • Raby Bay
  • Redcliffe
  • Redevelopment
  • Redlands
  • Richmal Crompton
  • Robert Burns
  • Rotary
  • Royal Flying Doctor Service
  • RQYS
  • Russell Island
  • Russia
  • science
  • Scotland
  • sharing
  • sharks
  • ships
  • shore birds
  • Siberia
  • soccer
  • Spanish Galleon
  • St Helena Island Prison
  • Stanthorpe
  • Stourhead
  • Stradbroke Island
  • Submarines
  • sugar cane
  • Surfers Paradise
  • Tallegalla
  • Tangalooma
  • The Hunchback of Notre Dame
  • The Seekers
  • Toulkerri
  • Towles
  • travel
  • TV
  • Uncategorized
  • Vintage Vikings
  • Walter Porriott
  • Wellington Point
  • whales
  • Whepstead Manor
  • Woodford
  • World War I
  • World War II
  • yarns
  • zoos

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.com

Recent Posts

  • From a Farm Beside the Sea with Pam Tickner – Part 2
  • From a Farm Beside the Sea with Pam Tickner – Part 1
  • Wellington Point
  • William in Lockdown
  • A Visit to the Royal Flying Doctor Service (Queensland)

Recent Comments

historianludlow on Wellington Point
keith Boulton on Wellington Point
historianludlow on From a Farm Beside the Sea wit…
Brian Russell on From a Farm Beside the Sea wit…
keith Boulton on Wellington Point

Archives

  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015

Categories

  • 1960s scene
  • Aborigines
  • ACGS
  • Aircraft
  • Amity
  • Art
  • Avebury
  • Bancroft
  • Bath
  • Bee Gees
  • bees
  • Bernard Elsey
  • Bird Island
  • Bishop Island
  • boats
  • Bradford on Avon
  • Bribie Island
  • Brisbane
  • Bulimba
  • bushfires
  • Caboolture
  • cataracts
  • Christmas
  • Churchie
  • Cilento
  • Cleveland
  • coal
  • Coins
  • coral dredging
  • Covid 19
  • Cowan Cowan
  • Cribb Island
  • CSIRO
  • CyArk
  • Deception Bay
  • dreams, hallucinogens
  • dredges
  • Dromagh
  • Drones
  • duelling
  • Dunwich
  • Electronics
  • Faith
  • Fantome Island
  • film
  • fishing
  • football
  • Frank Boyce
  • George Symons Suits
  • Germany
  • Glengariff
  • Google Earth
  • Gustav Dux
  • Gutter Bar
  • Heide Museum of Modern Art
  • Historic buildings
  • History
  • Hobart
  • Hogmanay
  • Hong Kong
  • Ian Fairweather
  • Immigration
  • indigenous
  • inebriates
  • Ireland
  • Jack The Ripper
  • Japan
  • jetties
  • jigsaw
  • John Oxley
  • Karl Marx
  • Kastellorizo
  • Kleinschmidt
  • Kooringal
  • Leichhardt
  • Leprosy
  • Literature
  • London
  • Lyne Marshall
  • Mallalieu
  • mandala
  • Maryborough
  • Matthew Flinders
  • Memories
  • Metropol Hotel
  • mining
  • Missionary
  • Mona Mona Aboriginal Mission
  • Moreton Bay
  • Moreton Island
  • Moscow
  • Mr Magoo
  • Mud Island
  • Museums
  • music
  • National Geographic Magazine
  • New Year
  • Nundah
  • oysters
  • Pam and Ernie Tickner
  • Paris
  • Pasternak
  • Pebble Beach
  • Peel Island
  • Petrie
  • Phillip Island
  • Photography
  • Podcasts
  • Politics
  • Port of Brisbane
  • pyjama parties
  • quarantine
  • Raby Bay
  • Redcliffe
  • Redevelopment
  • Redlands
  • Richmal Crompton
  • Robert Burns
  • Rotary
  • Royal Flying Doctor Service
  • RQYS
  • Russell Island
  • Russia
  • science
  • Scotland
  • sharing
  • sharks
  • ships
  • shore birds
  • Siberia
  • soccer
  • Spanish Galleon
  • St Helena Island Prison
  • Stanthorpe
  • Stourhead
  • Stradbroke Island
  • Submarines
  • sugar cane
  • Surfers Paradise
  • Tallegalla
  • Tangalooma
  • The Hunchback of Notre Dame
  • The Seekers
  • Toulkerri
  • Towles
  • travel
  • TV
  • Uncategorized
  • Vintage Vikings
  • Walter Porriott
  • Wellington Point
  • whales
  • Whepstead Manor
  • Woodford
  • World War I
  • World War II
  • yarns
  • zoos

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.com

Blog at WordPress.com.

Cancel