Quail Island as a Leprosy Colony

Did you know that right here on Ōtamahua Quail Island, in the middle of Whakaraupō Lyttelton Harbour, was the South Island's only leprosy colony? Between 1906 and 1927, fourteen men were isolated here.

Leprosy, or Hansen's Disease, was widely misunderstood before modern medicine advanced. People thought it was highly infectious and often ostracized sufferers because it can cause disfiguring skin lesions and even loss of extremities due to nerve damage. Public fear was made worse by racial prejudice, especially against Chinese and Polynesian people.

New Zealand health authorities in the early 1900s used isolation, like other Western countries. The first man diagnosed in Ōtautahi Christchurch with leprosy and isolated here was Will Vallane in 1906. He spent eighteen months mostly alone, even as his eyesight and mobility worsened. He was first in the old quarantine barracks, but a year after he arrived, they built a purpose-built cottage for him. In 1908, a second man joined him, and a third in 1909.

More small cottages were built as the number of men grew. This bay, now called Skiers Bay, was nice in summer, but in winter, it lost the sun by 2 pm because of the ridge. The men had regular visits from Lyttelton's Dr Upham, and they gardened and swam if they were well enough. They listened to the radio and kept pets like canaries, a parrot, and even tamed wild island rabbits. Sometimes there were church services, family visits, and delegations, but visitors stayed at least six feet away, with white picket fences marking the boundary. The men mostly supported each other, though tensions sometimes tested their camaraderie.

The enforced isolation was hard on them, especially as their health declined. A few men were released after being cured. George Philips was declared free of the disease but had to wait eighteen months for clearance. He couldn't wait and escaped from Moepuku Point, arriving at Orton Bradley's house in Te Wharau Charteris Bay dressed as a clergyman. He made a phone call and was last seen heading to Christchurch in a taxi, where he changed his name and disappeared.

Two men died here. Ivon Crispen Skelton, a 25-year-old Samoan, died on October 20, 1923, and was buried on the headland facing Aua King Billy Island. Reverend A.J. Petrie of Holy Trinity presided. There was also 55-year-old Te Iringa from Kirikau Pā on the Whanganui River, whose death and burial in 1922 were recorded in the Press; Father Patrick Cooney of St Joseph's Catholic Church conducted his service. Skelton's grave, originally surrounded by a picket fence, was part of an archaeological dig in 2015, but no remains were found. It's thought his grave near the cliff edge was washed away in a storm. A simple wooden cross now marks his resting place, but Te Iringa's gravesite isn't documented or marked.

In 1925, the eight remaining men were moved to Makogai Island in Samoa, joining 300 other sufferers. Five of them never left Makogai, including Will Vallane, the original resident here. He died on Makogai in 1937, in his early 60s, after more than 30 years in isolation. The tragedy is that leprosy has low pathogenicity; 95 percent of people exposed don’t develop it. Advances in the 1940s made it curable with early diagnosis and Multidrug Therapy. It's still a serious disease in some parts of the