Death of Doctor John Hargrave AO MBE.  27 Years at the East Arm Leprosarium

Malcolm Fyfe MSC, Vicar General, Diocese of Darwin, has written:

I am sending you a Commentary I have put together, following on the recent death of Dr John Hargrave to recall and recognize the very significant contribution made by the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart over a 27 year period out at the East Arm Leprosarium.

It is very relevant to the history of the Darwin diocese.

Malcolm

DEATH OF DOCTOR JOHN HARGRAVE AO MBE

His work with the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart at the former Darwin East Arm Leprosarium

Last week on August 6, Dr John Hargrave passed away in Hobart, where he retired following on his mammoth lifetime of commitment to surgically improving the conditions of some of the most disadvantaged and disabled people in the Northern Territory. John was not a Catholic but I have heard him plausibly described as a Saint.  I knew him from my earlier time in the Territory, 1978 to 1983 inclusive. During that period on a number of occasions as part of a roster, I said Mass out at the East Arm Leprosarium for the OLSH Sisters (Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart) who were the day to day carers of the lepers. Many patients attended the Masses as well.

And we had a long talk when he revisited Darwin from retirement in Hobart, in  May 2008, when the OLSH Sisters were celebrating their Centenary of ministry in the Northern Territory. On that occasion a representative group of us visited the Monument to the East Arm Leprosarium out at its original site. John shared with me his enduring admiration for the work that numerous OLSH Sisters had done for the patients at the Leprosarium over the many, many years that he had been working there as a microsurgeon, employing innovative techniques to restore sensation and movement to improve the quality of life of the indigenous patients. 

As most would know, Leprosy is an infectious disease that has been known since biblical times. It is characterized by disfiguring skin sores, nerve damage, and progressive debilitation. Leprosy was first observed in the Northern Territory in 1882 and soon after, cases of the disease were noted among Aborigines. However, for many years no action was taken in respect of Aboriginal sufferers. From 1884 Chinese lepers were confined on Mud Island in Darwin Harbour, pending their repatriation to China.  In the late 1920s the government adopted a policy designed to confine all Northern Territory lepers, and it was resolved to establish a leprosarium on Channel Island (in Darwin Harbour), which had been the site of the Commonwealth's only Northern Territory quarantine station since 1914.  In 1955 the Channel Island Leprosarium was closed and all inmates were moved to the East Arm Settlement on the mainland.

And so, the East Arm Leprosarium opened in 1955 and replaced the Channel Island Leprosarium. Situated several kilometres south east of Darwin, it was run by the Northern Territory Administration and was staffed by nursing Sisters from the Congregation of the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart. Patients isolated at the Leprosarium included children as young as four years of age. Improvements in treatment and changing attitudes towards the disease led to the closing of East Arm Leprosarium in 1982, after which patients were treated in regular hospitals.

OLSH Sister Kathleen Leahy, currently living and working in Alice Springs, has provided me with extensive information about Dr John Hargrave’s work done in conjunction with the care and support of the OLSH Sisters. I can only include segments of her commentary here.

Sister writes: “Those of us who worked with DR John Hargrave over the years experienced a man totally given to researching, studying, teaching, experimenting and learning how the lives of those with the stigma of leprosy – even in the 20^th century - could live to their full potential. 

John was not one to keep his knowledge to himself.  He encouraged patients and families to become involved in the care and treatment of their family members.  John’s vision was to have Aboriginal men and women with the knowledge and training to treat patients, and to ensure that their home community would carry on with the treatment when patients returned home. To witness the friendship and trust between both parties was startling for those of us coming from working in Hospitals in the southern States.

Actually, it was during my time at East Arm that the numbers of actual leprosy patients began to decline.  When the new Royal Darwin Hospital opened, Aboriginal patients preferred to go to East Arm with its openness, lawns, freedom of movement and weekend activities such as hunting or shopping.  We not only saw cured leprosy patients preferring East Arm for general medical care, but also their family members.” 

Working alongside John have been many generations of Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart. 

Sister Naomi wrote “It was a cause of wonderment for me, that I was appointed to the leprosarium so soon after my temporary profession.  East Arm was just one big joy-filled family.  I think the patients were the happiest people that I have known.  At this time Doctor John Hargrave, Medical Superintendent, did the first reconstructive surgery for claw hands to be done in Australia.  I was taught how to give post-surgery physiotherapy to those who had this surgery.” 

Sister Kathleen Leahy added: “It may be some years since East Arm existed, but the “East Arm Mob” comes together at times such as now to thank our God for having given us the privilege of working and learning how to bring to those whom society is unable to accept because of their race or illness, a knowledge that they do matter and we are there for them.  Thank you, John, for having taught me so much about Aboriginal people and also encouraging me to go forward with the gifts I have been given.”

And finally, a quotation from Diana Giese’s book “A Better Place to Live” page 34: “Dr John Hargrave trained indigenous health workers to assist in the leprosy field and also provided practical guides for diagnosing and treating the disease. Hargrave was quick to pay tribute for their “devoted and experienced care” of patients to the Sisters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, who worked throughout the Territory. He praised the way in which they had brought new ideas, polices and treatments to adjust to changing perceptions of, and more enlightened public attitudes to the disease”.