Quarantine in question: the 1913 investigation at William Head, B.C.

Abstract

The Canadian government operated a quarantine station at William Head B.C. from 1881 to 1958. In the spring of 1913, a ship arriving from the Orient was detained because of smallpox. Subsequently, the station's medical inspector, Dr. A. T. Watt, became the subject of a Royal Commission of Inquiry established to investigate his medical and administrative practices. That summer Watt committed suicide, but was posthumously exonerated from all the charges. This paper explores the conflicting class and racial questions that arose from this incident and the political reactions of those involved including the detainees, the government, and the media.