Lenagan Island, named after its early 19th century owner Louis Lenagan, was completely uninhabited before and during Lenagan's lifetime. Following his death, the island was passed to his son, who died shortly after. The island was then repossessed by the government and used as a quarantine locale beginning 1866.
Immigrants, especially East Indianindentured laborers, bound for Trinidad and Tobago often caught illnesses and contagious diseases during their sea journeys. When nearby Nelson Island began to be used for quarantine, Lenagan became a hospital for the critically ill and highly contagious immigrants. Foreigners who died on Lenagan were illegally cremated on a platform on the Western end of the island.[2][3]