Phyllis Ebbage collection
Collection
The collection includes photographs and newspaper clippings relating to the Peel Island Lazaret where Phyllis Ebbage spent 13 years of her life from 1939. The photographs include colour images of Peel Island taken about 2000 and some older family photos. Also included are newspaper clippings and photocopies of newspaper articles relating to Peel Island and the treatment of leprosy (some annotated by Phyllis Ebbage's daughter); and an oral history by Phyllis Ebbage held on cassette tape and a copy of the recording on CD.
Phyllis Ebbage lived in Ayr, Queensland with her husband and two young daughters and was diagnosed with leprosy (Hansen's Disease) in Townsville in 1940. Despite there being some doubt over the actual diagnosis, and without being told the reason, Phyllis was taken from Townsville to Peel Island, off the coast of South-East Queensland on 26th January 1940. She was not able to return to her home to say goodbye to her daughters, Desley and Verree who were only 5 and 6 years old. It was eight years before saw her children again. Family visits were restricted to once a fortnight for just 30 minutes and the only way to access the island was by taking the government’s steamboat. A round-trip took eight or nine hours and no children were allowed. Phyllis' husband, Les Ebbage moved to Brisbane to be closer to his wife and after buying a sailing boat, made secret trips to the island with their two daughters. Eventually Les was caught and despite an outpouring of public sympathy, was fined 10 pounds by a magistrate (the minimum amount prescribed by law). Phyllis Ebbage spent 12 years and 8 months confined to the Lazaret on Peel Island.
In copyright.