# The Chronicles of Early Melbourne/Volume 2/Chapter 61

​C H A P T E R LXI. THE DISCIPLES OF /ESCULAPIUS.
SYNOPSIS:—The First Medical Board in New South Wales. —The First Roll of Practitioners in Port Phillip.—Death of Sir Astley Cooper. —The First Medical Board in Port Phillip.—"A Board of Honour!'—Dr. Alexander Thomson.— Dr. Barry Cotter.—Dr. Patrick Cussen. the First Public Vaccinator.—Dr. David Patrick and Dr. David E. Wilkie. —Dr. Farquhar M'Crae.—Dr. Arthur O'Mullane.—Dr. E. C. Hobson.—Dr. IV. B. Wilmot.—Dr. David John Thomas.—Dr. J. B. Clutterbuck.—Dr. William Henry Campbell.—Dr. F. T. Ford.—Dr. John Sproat.— Dr. Thomas Black.—Dr. C. J. Sanford.—Dr. John Patterson.—Dr. John Dickson.—De. /. F. Palmer.— Dr. A. F. A. Greeves.—Dr. W. J. Dease.—Dr. Edward Barker.—Dr. C. Walkin.—Dr. Alexander Hunter.— Early Surgical Operations. —The First Medical Association.—Architects, Surveyors, and Engineers.—Ecclesiastical: Rev. Robert Knopwood.
UROPEAN professors of the "healing art" made their appearance in Port Phillip so early as 1803, in the persons of the medical staff attached to the abortive Collins Convict Expedition. They were Messrs. William Janson, Matthew Bowden, and William Hopley, ranking respectively as first, . second, and third Assistant-Surgeons, and rated at annual salaries of ,£"182 10s. for number one, and ,£91 5s. each to the deputies. After the Batman occupation of 1835, arrangements were m a d e with Dr. Alexander T h o m s o n to come from V a n Diemen's Land in the dual capacity of Medical Officer and Religious Instructor or catechist of the settlement, which it was assumed would follow in the wake of the Batman Company, and he arrived accordingly. In 1836, this gentleman acted as a sort of Colonial Surgeon, and was recognized as such until the 12th April. 1837, when he was relieved by Dr. Patrick Cussen, officially detached from Sydney to assume the control of thefirstregular medical establishment formed in the province. T h efirstregular public practitioner was Mr. Barry Cotter, a surgeon ; and as there was but little doctoring in the small community, no other medico seems to have had sufficient courage to try his luck here until 1839, when a trio of M . D s appeared—• Doctors Wilkie, M'Crae, and Patrick. T h e first and the third named entered into partnership, but soon dissolved, whilst the second singly advertised his commencement of the practice of medicine and surgery in Bourke Street West. A Dr. Ewing next opened a medical dispensary in the Market Square, and subsequently embarked in business relations with Cotter (who was to be a sleeping partner) at the north-east corner of Queen and Collins Streets. But sleeping or waking they did not pull long together. T h e first Medical Board established at Sydney under the Act 2 Vic, N o . 22, consisted of Messrs. J. V. Thomson, Deputy-Inspector-General of Hospitals in N e w South Wales ; Charles Nicholson and Frances Lascelles Wallace, M . D s , and to this tribunal the qualifications of all persons proposing to follow the medical profession in any part of the colony should be submitted, and its approval was necessary to secure recognition in the various Courts of Law. T h e first roll of legally qualified medical practitioners resident in Port Phillip is printed in Kerr's Directory for 1842, and is a curious relic of our colonial Medical History :— " Physicians.—Jonathan Clarke, Assistant Colonial Surgeon, Geelong; Patrick Cussen, Assistant Colonial Surgeon, Melbourne; Farquhar M'Crae, J.P., L a Rose, Moonee-Moonee Ponds, Melbourne; Henry Lewis O'Hara, Little Bourke Street, Melbourne; Arthur O'Mullane, Little Collins Street, Melbourne; Forster Shaw, Bayview Cottage, North Corio; William B y a m Wilmot, Coroner for the District, Melbourne. "Surgeons.—James Frederick Palmer, Flinders Street, Melbourne; John Patterson, R.N., Agent for Immigration, Melbourne; Charles John Sanford, Collins Street, Melbourne; David John Thomas, Bourke Street, Melbourne; Henry Watson, Collins Street, Melbourne."
f
m ​In addition to the above there were eleven Doctors and ten Surgeons w h o had not thought proper to comply with the law, but they did so afterwards. In 1841 intelligence was received in Melbourne of the death of Sir Astley Cooper, the eminent London surgeon, and the members of the profession in Melbourne signified their respect for his memory by going into mourning from the 25th June to the 8th July. It is also a fact worth noting that in 1841 the profession in Melbourne numbered 9 Physicians and 9 Surgeons, and of these 18, there was not a single survivor in the year 1885. In 1845 the Provincial Superintendent (Latrobe) procured the appointment of the first Medical Board in Port Phillip, and it consisted of four M . D s , viz., P. Cussen (President), Godfrey Howitt, W . B. Wilmot, and E. C. Hobson.. B y this time the number of the profession had considerably increased, and in 1848 the community were blessed, or otherwise, with forty-seven "legally qualified" Physicians and Surgeons, prognosing, diagnosing, prescribing, and operating amongst them. Towards the middle of 1846 it was announced that the Institution was formally started with Dr. Cussen as President, and its objects were declared to be the promotion of the general interest of the profession, the encouragement of friendly intercourse, and the founding of a "Board of H o n o u r " to adjudicate upon any minor difference that m a y arise. T h e birth of the infant Society obtained the imprimatur of a public dinner at the Prince of Wales Hotel, on the 29th July, wherein a profusion of promises was volunteered and confident anticipations indulged in, not soon to be realized. Amongst the "castles in the air" was a Medical Library, for which it was said the nucleus of a fund had been already contributed. But the project, like others of those days, was premature, and speedily collapsed. Three years passed without further effort, and in 1849 a resuscitation, or rather new organization, sprang into life under the designation of the "Melbourne Medical Society," of which the following were the original members, viz. :—Drs. Wilkie, Barker, Howitt, Motherwell, Thomas, Turnbull, Sullivan, Playne, Wilmot T. Black, and Surgeon J. F. Palmer. O f these eleven only Dr. Black is alive in 1888, and the Association itself was thefirstto m a k e its exit from the stage of mundane existence. I propose to serve up in a general way a few reminiscences of the profession, mostly personal recollections, but in some particulars supplemented by information obtained from reliable sources. I do not propose to treat of every individual member, or to particularize the Universities or Colleges whence they obtained degrees or diplomas. From the heap lying before m e I select any remarkable specimen that comesfirstto hand, and as every practitioner, whether belonging to thefirstor second branch, is by public acceptation dubbed a " Doctor," for convenience sake I claim the same privilege, whether the person referred to is professionally a Physician or a Surgeon. A. THOMSON was the " Batman Physico." He did not remain long in Melbourne, when he moved westward, and established himself in Geelong, becoming so identified with the fortunes of that town that for m a n y years T h o m s o n and Geelong were almost synonyms. In the early days he was even better k n o w n as a politician than as a prescriptionist, and always took an active part in provincial agitations.
DR.
Melbourne's first public practitioner, who, like Thomson, passed over Bass's Straits, quickly dropped into business. H e occupied a small cobweb-like, brick-nogged, and wattle-and-daub surgery, at the north-east corner of Queen and Collins Streets, though in reality it was nothing more than a huckster's stall where pills and lotions, powders and embrocations, were mixed up with a miscellaneous stock of all sorts. In the Port Phillip Gazette of January, 1839, Barry Cotter, Surgeon and Druggist, promulgates an elaborate manifesto, its gist being, " that he is in active business, and offers for sale a variety of delicacies, from sago to turpentine, from arrowroot to spirits of tar, with candied lemon and bluestone, lemon syrup, corrosive sublimate, and manifold etceteras set forth at m u c h length and minuteness. But though Barry Cotter had the place virtually to himself for a start, he did not do m u c h out of the amalgamated businesses, and after a time, in a manner mixing up cause with effect, he took to tavern-keeping by proxy, when
DR. BARRY COTTER, ​the result was that, in striving to overdo, he ended in doing nothing, decamped to Adelaide, in the course of years returning to Melbourne, and dying obscurely in a remote corner of the colony.* P. CUSSEN, the first appointed Government Medical Officer in Melbourne, was familiarly known as " Old Cussen," a painstaking, indefatigable official, though in reality there was m u c h more fuss than real work in him. Like all his successors, he had a wearying, worrying time of it, yet he clung to his scantily-paid billet from 1837 to 1849, when he died, and was succeeded by Dr. Sullivan (since dead). In the course of 1882 a controversy was raised in the Melbourne Press as to w h o was thefirstPublic Vaccinator in the colony. A certain medical gentleman claimed to be so, but on very erroneous grounds, for there can be no question that Dr. Cussen was such. T h efirstofficial notice on the subject is a communication signed " E . Deas Thomson," the Colonial Secretary of N e w South Wales, dated "Colonial Secretary's Office, Sydney, 29th July, 1839," and published in the Government Gazette of the period. It thus c o m m e n c e s — " In order to avert the calamities which must necessarily follow if the small-pox be introduced into the colony, and to keep up a constant supply of vaccine lymph, His Excellency the Governor directs it to be notified that children will receive vaccination gratis if taken to any of the public hospitals, or colonial surgeons throughout the colony every Tuesday, at eleven o'clock in the forenoon," & c , &c. N o other deduction can reasonably be drawn from this extract than that the performance of public vaccination was amongst the duties assigned to colonial surgeons. It was so performed without any question for m a n y years by the class of officers referred to, until subsequent special legislation m a d e provision for public vaccinators. There were two medical "Davids," staunch pillars of the Presbyterian Church, in 1840. Dr. David Patrick was an elder, and Dr. David E. Wilkie one of the managers. Patrick combined the worldly offices of a grower of wool and a curer of men, accomplishing the former at a place called Cathkin, on the Goulburn River, and attending to the latter in a surgery in Russell Street; but his colonial career was not a long one, and his death was m u c h regretted. Wilkie was one of the best-known practitioners, and had perhaps the largest run of lucrative business of any of them. In other respects he was a useful citizen, and went into political life some years later, representing the Eastern Province in the Legislative Council, of which he was once Chairman of Committees. But his status as a politician never approached that of the physician ; and the one grand mistake of his life was his donning the robe of a Soothsayer, and predicting as positively as did Dr. C u m m i n g the early approach of the Millennium, that the Y a n Yean as a means of a water supply for Melbourne would be an utter failure. Both the doctors survived the futility of their confident predictions. Dr. Wilkie lived for many a long year amongst us, and no doubt, on a hot-wind day, enjoyed thefilteredbeverage of Y a n Yean as much as any other thirsty person. H e died in Paris, April, 1885, during a visit to Europe. DR.
F. M'CRAE was another squatting doctor, with a good professional prospect, but he dabbled a good deal in stations and politics, ultimately transferring himself to Sydney, where he died (20th April, 1850), at the comparatively early age of 43.
DR.
after a short partnership with Barry Cotter, started for himself, and for some time had only a moderate practice; but he was a quiet, mildly-mannered m a n , w h o patiently bided his time, and the time came when no practice in Melbourne exceeded his. H e was the first physician to the Jews, thereby securing an advantage of no small account; and on he went upward, until, professionally, there was not m u c h further for him to go. H e was a general favourite with his patients
DR. ARTHUR O'MULLANE,
- Subsequent to the publication of the above, I received the following from a correspondent, M r . F. M . D. Cotter, which, in satisfaction to - .v.™' V P P ci t h o ."S h ' d ? not necessarily endorse the correctness of his statement, or imply the incorrectness of m y own :-Dr. Cotter, in the early part of 1840, in notifying his having entered into partnership with Dr. O'Mullane, states it is not his intention to take an active part in practising his profession. In the same year he volunteered, and his services were accepted, to take charge of the quarantined passengers of the fever ship (so-called) Glen Huntly, his medical report appearing in the Press up to the time of the release from quarantine in 1841. 1 X "?™ sufficiently successful in his affairs to allow of his returning to the old country, his intended departure being advertised in connection with the sale of his effects. H e held a large interest in Wilson and Co., as also city property, and left power of attorney for the administration of his affairs in his absence from the colony. During his absence at home great depreciation in the value of property, and consequently large failures, took place; and on his return to the colony in 1843, to look after his interests, he found himself bereft of all his proper!) and ruined, his attempts to recover something from the wreck being ineffectual, the affairs of the persons having turned insolvent being so mixed up in each other. Dr. Cotter subsequently removed to N e w South Wales, where he practiced his profession for m a n y years.-[THE A U T H O R ] . ​through his suavity and skill, and few m e n were so fortunate as to number more private friends than he. W h e n he died, m a n y years ago, he was widely regretted; and some of the old colonists of the present day, when his n a m e is mentioned, have always a good word for his memory. E. C. HOBSON was a native of Parramatta, in New South Wales. He rapidly got into practice amongst the most respectable of the community, and when he died, in his thirty-fourth year, Anno 1848, a public subscription was raised to erect a handsome m o n u m e n t over his remains. H e and Dr. Godfrey Howitt (many years dead) held foremost rank in their branch of the profession, and Hobson's death was regarded as little short of a public loss. DR.
W. B. WILMOT, the first Coroner of the County of Bourke, including the town of Melbourne, was a portly, middle-aged individual, of cultivated manner, and a smooth imperturbable placidity of temper which m a d e it almost an impossibility to get up a row with him. In manner and style of march through the streets, he was a counter-part of Pohlman the Barrister, except that he was more sprucely got up, dressed better, and most decidedly wore a superior conditioned hat. Wilmot first lived in Little Flinders Street, afterwards moving to Brighton, and as there was not for years a metalled road between the sea-side location and town, inconvenience would be sometimes caused in wet weather, for the highway would be water-logged, and if a sudden death happened in or about town, the necessary inquisition would have to wait upon the convenience and dry travelling of the Coroner. Practical jokes would sometimes be played off on him by leaving false alarms of unexpected deaths at his office, and his being " sold" in this waggish way was always productive of merriment at his expense. But he took such trifling in good part, or if he winced at the trickery he did not show it. O n e fine morning a sailor was found dead drunk in some scrub near the Doctor's place at Brighton, and it was reported to Wilmot that there was a subject for an inquest. Without waiting for any police intervention the Doctor directed his servant to get a jury together as soon as possible; and, as to moving the body there was no necessity, for the inquest could be held at his house, and it was only twenty or thirty yards to go and "view the corpse." T h e flunkey mounted the Doctor's cob, beat up some neighbouring houses, and in a couple of hours had the required levy of jurymen in attendance. After the opening formalities and swearing in had been gone through, the Coroner blandly informed the gentlemen of the jury that he would accompany them to where the corpse was lying, and away they went on their melancholy duty. O n arriving at the locality and forcing a passage through a dense clustering of scrub they found the object of their search sitting bolt upright before them, lively enough, too, at least in the tongue. Wilmot when reminded of this faux pas, said that the "detested topic" completely upset him. Here is another amusing incident, the m e m o r y of which exists to this day amongst the skeleton traditions of the dead-house of the Melbourne Hospital. Before Wilmot parted with his Coronership, it was a rule in that Institution, that if within twelve months after sustaining an accident a patient died there, an inquest was to be held. A m a n did die once there and the Resident Surgeon, after making a post mortem, was satisfied that no inquiry was necessary, and the corpse was buried. This fact was not reported to the Coroner, w h o heard of the death, and away went Wilmot, puffing and blowing, having previously ordered his constable to forthwith s u m m o n a jury. This was done, the jurors were empannelled, and when they went in search of the body, nothing of the kind was to be found. T h e matter was explained • to the Coroner, w h o worked himself into a gentle excitement, and for a time rejected all overtures of placation. At length, as if stricken by a sudden bright thought, he turned to the Resident Surgeon, and coolly said, "But, M r . , it does not so m u c h matter about the particular body; if there is any other body at present in the Hospital, it will serve just as well." But there was no " b o d y " just then available, and the jury dispersed, enjoying the fun. Years after Melbourne had attained to the position of a City, a separate Coroner was appointed for the district, and Wilmot retained possession of the Metropolis for a considerable time, and close to the period of his death. Professionally and privately, he was m u c h esteemed, and the interest he
DR.
(' (1 G ​manifested in the foundation of early charitable and educational movements, established him as true and loyal to the colony in which he lived and laboured so long. a Welshman, in some measure addicted to stimulants, was the most skilful surgeon and queerest fellow of his time. In Chirurgery he reputedly outstripped his contemporaries, and it is undeniable that he could hold his o w n in competition with any of the Victorian surgeons of to-day. A s a general medical adviser he secured m u c h confidence, and, in cases of a critical nature, where a consultation was deemed advisable, he was usually named by other practitioners. There was a waywardness of disposition about him outside his practice, unaccountable upon any other theory than that his system was charged with frequently intermittent gushes of humorous impulse—gases, which if not vented in what would seem little short of absurd prankishness, would end in spontaneous explosion. Like others of his brethren, he was a frequenter of the Melbourne Club, then the focus of every nocturnal kill-time that could be conceived, yet not satisfied with the co-enjoyments provided. he organized amusements on his o w n account, not very original, but they pleased him all the same. H e would, single-handed, operate on door-knockers and bell-pulls, whilst- a by-play of his was, by the aid of the powers of-darkness, to affix to the door or window of the residence of some other medico, a board or large placard, painted or daubed with the significant indication—"Mangling done here." Once he played a trick upon Mr. Edward AVilson, of The Argus, and though there was not much in it, it occasioned an immense quantity of cachinnation. Late one evening, T h o m a s had conveyed to an undertaker in Queen Street, an intimation that Wilson had unexpectedly departed this life in the course of the day, and for reasons needless to specify, he was to be buried at an early hour the next morning, when a coffin, hearse and mourning coaches were to be in waiting. T h e m a n of funerals should not have been easily gulled by so clumsy a ruse, yet he swallowed the order unsuspectingly, and was up to time with all his gloomy pharaphernalia. T h e vehicles paraded through Collins Street, and halting opposite The Argus office, one of the " gentlemen in black" entered, and politely intimated the purpose of his mission, but he had no sooner done so than he was astounded by the appearance on the scene of the living individual of whose corpus he was in quest. Wilson did not at all relish the notion of a premature interment, and cut up rather roughly in the beginning, but the joke quickly told on him, and readily entering into the spirit, he heartily joined in the general laugh, which was all the remuneration accorded to the undertaker for the expense and trouble incurred. It was said that T h o m a s was considerate enough to pay for the bespoke coffin, but whether he did or not, it was doubtless utilized tofitsomeone else. U p o n another occasion, after the doctor had dined, he indulged in a solitary pedestrian trip through the city. Cabs were then beginning to put in an appearance on the streets, and the wayfarer, either actually or seemingly inebriated, staggered up' to a newly-installed cabby, when something like the following brief dialogue ensued :—
DR. DAVID JOHN THOMAS,
Doctor: Cabby : Doctor: Cabby :
" I say, m y good fellow, do you know Dr. T h o m a s ? " " N o Sir." "Well then, do you know Dr. Wilkie?" " N o sir."
Doctor: " W h a t ; do you really mean to say you do not know either of those two fellows ? I fancied every stone and tree stump in Melbourne was acquainted with their personal appearance. By Jove, you must be a new chum, and no mistake." Cabby: "Just so, your Honour; I only landed in Melbourne last week." Doctor: "Well, then, look you here, I a m Dr. Wilkie, and I have 'grogged' so much that, as you see, I a m hardly able to stand. In this condition I a m not game to face h o m e to-night, so I shall sleep at Dr. Thomas's, and I want you to drive m e to his house in Bourke Street. I will show you the place. At two o'clock to-morrow you will call at Dr. Wilkie's, in Swanston Street, when I will pay you double fare. D o you understand?" Cabby : " Aye, aye, Sir. Right you are. Here, let m e help you into the trap, and we'll be at Dr. Thomas's in quick sticks." ​T h o m a s was forthwith assisted into the vehicle, and driven h o m e accordingly. O n the morrow, punctually at the appointed time, the cabman pulled up at Dr. Wilkie's door, and his knock was responded to by that gentleman personally. T h e double-fare was asked for and peremptorily refused. A n explanation followed, when Wilkie's indignation was intense at the shamefully unprofessional manner in which he had been personated. Ultimately, the cabby was no loser, for Thomas, having had the full enjoyment of his joke, was too generous not to pay for it. In connection with communications for which by which it will be seen trouble, though this time
the subject of these remarks, I append an extract from one of the many I a m indebted to Mr. Robert Russell, Melbourne's first Chief Survey Officer, that T h o m a s had not long been in Port Phillip before he got himself into it was "cold" instead of the proverbial " h o t " water with h i m : —
" T h e late Dr. David J. Thomas, when he arrived in the 'Louisa Campbell,' met with strange mishaps, and used to describe hisfirstadventures in a most ludicrous manner. His boat had been swamped at Sandridge after leaving the ship, and he tramped up to our cottage on the Yarra bank at dead of night. T h e watch-dog seized him, and on hearing his cries, we, in no good humour, called out to him to take the boat, which he did, and went flying down the Falls, in the dark, bringing up opposite Fawkner's Pub., where, no doubt, his troubles ended." But it was not always "cakes and ale" with the light-hearted Doctor, whose vagaries at times brought him into trouble. A s an illustration, it m a y be mentioned, that he had a particular weakness for riding on the portions of the streets by a legal fiction then termed footways, and no remonstrances could cure him of this foible. T h e police were at last constrained to change their tactics from words to action, and as a consequence, the offending equestrian was several times fined for breaches of the law by the Police Court. O n c e he had a narrow escape from death by a muscular garotte, for on the night of the 7th May, 1847, he was waylaid by two soldiers of the 58th Regiment. T h e outrage was committed in William Street, and after knocking d o w n their man, the scoundrels not only half-choked, but rifled him of his watch and all the cash in his pockets. T w o of the military (John Stokes and Shepherd O l d h a m ) were subsequently arrested and tried for the offence, but the former got off through insufficient identification, whilst his comrade was convicted and sentenced to a long term of transportation. This "sticking-up" was the more remarkable, because in the times of which I a m writing, medical men, ministers of religion, and newspaper reporters were free to roam through Melbourne at any hour of day or night, without the slightest danger of personal violence from thieves or rogues, w h o knew them all well, and regarded them as privileged individuals. This immunity I can only account for on the supposition that the doctors and ministers, being about so much at night, frequently visiting haunts of vice to render gratuitous help, or religious consolation, such services inspired a feeling of gratitude towards the givers. A s to the journalists, the whole corps would not at any time number more than half-a-dozen, and as they were all general utility men, the scribe of the Police Court to-day, scribbling in the Supreme Court on the morrow, the rascals w h o invariably attended these places in full force, had a wholesome dread of possible recognition if they ventured upon any nocturnal liberties. Furthermore, the reporters, when pay-day had passed, were, as a rule, so impecuniously situated, that a needle might be as easily found in a bundle of hay as a shilling with one of the tribe. O f this important fact, the town thieves had an instinctive suspicion, and they knowingly considered that in such a case of attempted black-mailing, the game " wasn't worth the candle." Dr. Thomas, after m a n y years' extensive practice, visited Europe, and from his return to his death never recovered the position he temporarily abandoned.*
to a surviving relative of that gentleman. 1 a m very much pained that such is the case, and if I have so offended in this way, I had not the remotest intention of doing so. A perusal of the notice will convey to the mind of a dispassionate reader, that Dr. Ihomas was a man of exceptional professional ability, esteemed both publicly and privately, but prone to the occasional indulgence in a certain practical jocularity of a harmless character, and without a particle of malice or ill-will to anyone. The ftw samples given constituted a portin-i of the popular gossip of Melbourne for more than a quarter of a century, and I have heard them detailed scores of times. A verbal portrait of Dr. Thomas, omitting all reference to the humorous peculiarities of his organization, would be an ideal, and not a real impersonation; in fact the reverse of a reproduction of the "old identity" as he lived, and worked, and laughed amongst us in the days of yore. Every one seemed to be then well acquainted with his innocuous merry making, which never depreciated him in the slightest degree as a skilled practitioner. worthy, kindhearted citizen, and a staunch sterling friend.—24th November, 1885.—[THE A U T H O R ] . ​ D R . J. B. C L U T T E R B U C K was the nephew of a famous London practitioner, and his manner was as
out of the way as his name. N o t getting on as well as expected, he moved from Melbourne to Kilmore, and not a bad joke arose out of his departure from town to country. In advertising his meditated exit in the Herald, the township to which his allegiance was to be transferred was by some typographical fatality printed "Kill-more," a lapsus emphasized by a special paragraph, which was read with m u c h amusement. That a Melbourne medico could by any possible wilfulness have the heart to kill anyone was too m u c h for the c o m m o n belief; but when the m a n himself, over his own sign manual, deliberately published his intention of going to " Kill-more," those w h o usually did not pay m u c h attention to the capitalizing or punctuation of what they read, looked up from the newspaper, and could account for the m a d announcement upon no other supposition than that the doctor was as " m a d as a hatter." Clutterbuck was so mercilessly chaffed over the printer's accidental or designed mishap, that he rushed in rage to the Herald office, and had the editor been there before him, the doctor was in a fair way of correcting the erratum of Kill-more, by certainly either wholly or in part killing some one. T h e production of the M S . , however, turned the tables in a manner not expected, for therein the n a m e of the country town was spelt with a "double 1," and in a handwriting too that left little doubt as to the authorship. DR. W. H. CAMPBELL.—Towards the end of 1841 there was a flutter of excitement in the then few fashionable dove cotes of Melbourne, and the unwedded pigeons cooed with delight, for a young sEsculapian had arrived, and was soon k n o w n by the flattering sobriquet of "the handsome doctor." This unassuming personage was M r . William Henry Campbell, a youthful surgeon, He who left England with high credentials, and selected Melbourne as his adopted home. was until recently amongst us (1888), traversing the streets with the same upright figure, and firm, but less elastic instep, as of yore; and a person looking at him might well fancy what a fine specimen of manhood he was seven and forty years ago. T h e circlet of whisker still surrounding his frank, honest face, n o w snow white, was then coal black, and there was superadded a luxuriant, well-pruned moustache, which in an age when hairy faces were deemed a relic of some remote barbarism, by its novelty added a piquancy to his appearance, which for a brief season rendered him the most observed and perhaps the most admired of the few presentable bachelors constituting the chief prizes in the great lottery of life presided over by Cupid and Hymen. Campbell pitched his tent in a cottage at the corner of Nicholson and Palmer Streets, Fitzroy, opposite the Convent; but the place was then a picturesque, bushy wilderness, on the outskirts of the suburbs of Newtown, where the most sanguine never dreamed a Sisterhood of Mercy would ever exist. Here he waited patiently for patients; but none came, a circumstance he could not well comprehend, until one day a medical friend communicated the astounding information that if he waited for business until doomsday he should be troubled with little or none until he put away the hirsute adornments with which he was physiognomically garnished. T h e Melbournians, he added, distrusted people, especially professionals, with other than closely-shaved faces. Whiskers of moderate dimensions might be tolerated, but as for any medical practitioner w h o sported a semi-circle of hair between his nose and upper lip to expect a call from any family of standing in " society," it was simply preposterous. A second though lesser obstacle was the fact of Campbell being a celibate, and the conclusion sought to be enforced was that he could never have a reasonable chance of making any perceptible way until he called in the services of a barber and a clergyman, and submitted himself to the tonsor.al and connubial ordeals. This was "a heavy blow and great discouragement" to the young surgeon, then standing on the threshold of his career, and he took it m u c h to heart. A s to the second alternative-to marry a wife-that difficulty was not insurmountable, and it was an infliction he could survive; but to cast from him his moustache and whiskers, which he adored as a M a h o m m e d a n doth his beard, perish the thought! H e would sooner pitch his scalpel and lancet to the winds than turn infidel to the hair-worship in which he so implicitly believed. A few days' reflection, however, soon reduced the temperature of his enthusiasm. T h e patients still shunned his door-bell. Other friends remonstrated, and at length he half-capitulated to the prejudices of ​the age, so far that with some twinges of conscience he m a d e up his mind to sacrifice the moustache ; but to the artistically-cultivated whisker he resolved to cling irrespective of consequences to the last day of his existence. T h e razor was accordingly set to work, and mercilessly did it do its duty. Campbell and his moustache went through a sorrowful parting; and when he next appeared in the streets it was like a sunbeam shorn of half its brilliancy, and from a high premium he sank to par in the estimation of the ladies. However, professionally, the compromise was good-humouredly accepted by the public; his practice increased, and moving into Swanston Street the moustache deficit was supplied by a matrimonial alliance with a rose from the garland of historical spinsters, w h o accompanied their father, thefirstEpiscopalian clergyman, on his migration to the cure of souls in Melbourne. Dr. F. T. Ford was Campbell's partner, and Campbell and Ford constituted a well-known co-partnery, after the dissolution of which they separately enjoyed a fair business. O n the death of Cussen, in 1849, Campbell had strong claims for, and a half promise of the Colonial Surgeoncy, but by some unexplained fluke he was jostled out of it. After the Colony of Victoria was established Campbell was appointed the first Coroner of the County of Bourke ; but he was not a docile animal in Government harness, and once he so kicked over the traces that his voluntary or compulsory cashiering was inevitable. It was during the reign of Governor Sir Charles Hotham, in 1854, when everything official and non-official was in the state known as " sixes and sevens." A m a n took it into his head lo die suddenly at the Rocky Water Holes (Donnybrook). Campbell held an inquest on the body, and an order for burial was given, for which job the undertaker (being under no contract to the contrary) coolly charged ,£20. T h e excessive demand came before Hotham, w h o worried himself to death in vain endeavours to check financial trickery, and it drove him into a towering passion, the Coroner, in his opinion, being the prime offender for not having entered into some prior agreement. Campbell accordingly received an uncommonly sharp missive, asking for an explanation, to which he replied with a pungency little expected from a subordinate. T h e correspondence was prolonged until at length Campbell, worked to a high degree of exasperation, brought it to a close by declaring that he could not reasonably be supposed to know whether the charge of an undertaker was unreasonable or the reverse, as he had not been brought up to the business. After this it is no wonder that he never held another inquest as District Coroner. Campbell was always held in high estimation, and had considerable ability, but he lacked the knack to push himself as others did. Though long in the colony, he was singularly deficient in the colonial characteristic known as " cheek," for otherwise he might have acquired m u c h betterfilledpockets than he did. During late years he let everyone know he was alive by his annual appeals through the Press for funds to treat the paupers in our charitable institutions with a tobacco Christmas box. His begging letters in this respect are swathed with a philanthropic haziness which makes them somnolent reading, but as they are intended to end in smoke, this is perhaps an advantage. If Campbell had looked after his o w n interests with half the pertinacity with which he held out the hat for mendicities, there would be few wealthier m e n in the profession ; but as one of his medical brethren once remarked to me, " Campbell was, in fact, too m u c h of the gentleman for his business." Melbourne, through all its wondrous changes, has seen few better fellows than W . H . Campbell, surgeon, & c , and reckoning from the period of his commencement, he must be accounted Victoria's senior practitioner, the " Father " of the medical profession—numbering a rather numerous and mixed progeny, in age, condition, qualifications and reputations. is still in Melbourne, where he arrived in 1847, and for many years has acted as medical attendant to the police, w h o find him a very different person from the gentleman w h o medicinally ministered to their predecessors—a Dr. James Martin, under whose regime every sort of malingering was possible. Ford asserts his right to be recognized as the first public vaccinatoi. H e is the first statutably appointed one, but as has been already conclusively shown, Cussen as Colonial Surgeon was the first ex-ofpicio operator in that respect.
DR. FORD
or as he was commonly called "The Old Sprat," was a tall gaunt grey-headed customer, w h o divided m u c h of his affection between the chess-board and the tap-room. His constituents
DR. JOHN SPROAT, ​were of the so-so rather than the select, and there was never much difficulty in working a sick certificate out of him though at times he was cautious and equivocal, when he put pen to paper in this way.' O n e noticeable instance m a y be cited. A fashionable m e m b e r of the demi-monde was once sued in the Court of Requests for a long outstanding oyster account, which it was inconvenient for her either to discharge, or to defend in person, as was then the rule. O n the morning of the hearing she sent for "Sprat" to ask a medical certificate from him, through which she expected a postponement of the case. H e found her in bed, helplessly intoxicated and unwilling to disoblige one of a lucrative connection, he good-naturedly, .scribbled out a professional formula in which he certified that was in such a condition of prostration as to be physically unable to attend the Court. Miss But the ruse did not take, for Commissioner Barry having some inkling of the reality, rejected the tendered document, and gave a verdict against the indisposed lady, to the immense enjoyment of an unwashed aggregation of " Little-Go " frequenters. arrived from Sydney in 1843, with the appointment of Medical Officer to the Military, received from Sir Maurice O'Connell, then C o m m a n d e r of the Forces in N e w South Wales. U p to this time Cussen had charge of the soldiery, from which he was n o w released. Black was also in private practice and continued so for several years after the separation of Port Phillip, rendering the colony many valuable services outside his profession. H e was one of a handful of gentlemen who founded an Ornithological Society, which subsequently grew into a Zoological Society, and may be fairly considered the basis upon which our present acclimatization system is constructed. H e also distinguished himself by his efforts towards the introduction of ostrich farming and the Angora goat; and he was the originator of the Bank of Victoria.
DR. THOMAS BLACK
C. J. SANFORD was a young man somewhat of the Creole in aspect, and collaterally related to the once well-known Captain G. W . Cole. After a brief business connexion with Dr. Campbell he set up on his o w n hook, was well liked, and would, in all probability, have been a marked success, only for taking it into his head toflitfrom the colony after a few years' sojourn in it. From the date of its inception the Melbourne Corporation seemed to find favour with the medical profession, for at the first election of T o w n Councillors in 1842, twro Doctor " J o h n s " — Patterson and Dickson—were returned amongst the maiden members, and subsequently Drs. Palmer, Greeves, Campbell and Sanford, found seats at the Civic Board. But as Medical m e n they did not attain to the position of others mentioned. Indeed Palmer, w h o in London had given m u c h promise as a surgeon, never seriously took to the profession here, for he started in colonial life as a concoctor of effervescing drinks suitable to a warm climate, and his debut in this humble though useful line is thus unpuffingly announced in the following advertisement, printed in the Melbourne newspapers of July, 1841 : — " M r . Palmer has c o m m e n c e d the manufacture of sodawater, effervescing lemonade and ginger beer, in Little Flinders Street." T h e ginger-beering did not turn out the paying spec. expected, and "Doctor" Palmer embarked in the wholesale wine and spirit trade, in which he did better, and so continued for years. " Doctor" Greeves obtained a license for a publichouse known as the Yarra Hotel, at the wharf, and though, unlike Barry Cotter, he superintended the bar in person he shared m u c h the same fate, for he and the concern soon parted company, and the ex-Boniface betook himself to newspaper writing and prescribing. His medical practice could not be said to be considerable, but his well-known public spirit, and activity in all questions of popular moment, so kept him in the public eye that until his death he was never without a moderate run of business.
DR.
J. DEASE, son of Oliver Dease, Army Surgeon, and descendant of the celebrated Surgeon Dease, of Dublin, was born at Malta in 1819. Mr. Dease adopted the medical profession, and became Licentiate of the Royal College of Surgeons, Ireland. In 1847 he arrived in Melbourne, when he settled and rapidly acquired an extensive practice. Dr. Dease had, deservedly, the reputation of being a clever and skilful practitioner. His general disposition and many excellent qualities both of mind and heart could not, however, postpone the inevitable hour, and, deeply regretted by a wide circle of friends, he died in 1855.
DR. WILLIAM ​arrived in Port Phillip in 1840. In 1864 he was appointed Lecturer on Surgery in the Melbourne University, and he retained the position for several years. A s a remarkable instance of his physical powers of locomotion and endurance, it m a y be mentioned, that in May, 1841, accompanied by two friends, Messrs. Edward Hobson and Henry Broadribb, and four blackfellows, he walked from Melbourne to Port Albert, being thefirstoverland expedition of the kind. Their regular start was from Lyall's station, n o w known as the Inlets, and for five days they had rather rough and hungry times of it, for their stock of provisions running out, they had nothing to eat, and (great fact for the teetotallers) for the five days actually lived on water! Dr. Barker died in June, 1885.
DR. EDWARD BARKER
C. WATKIN, M.R.C.S.E. and L.A.C.L., late of Shaldon, Devon, commenced business at 180 Bourke Street East, in May, 1851, and advertised himself as ready to work on the following annual scale:—A family, ,£10 10s. ; one person, ,£5 5s. If in indifferent circumstances the charges would be reduced to one-half the amounts. Confinements were to be extras, and consultations from 9 to n a.m. daily.
DR.
the same time appeared a notification which will recall to the recollection of many still living, an individual long gathered to his fathers, but, w h o in his day, attracted some attention and m a d e a wonderful deal of noise in our city :—
DR. ALEXANDER HUNTER.—About
VTOTICE.—To the Poorer Classes of Melbourne and its Vicinity.—Dr. Hunter, -1-" Consulting and Operating Surgeon, has made arrangements to devote from 9 to 10 o'clock every morning, to giving advice free, to all those classes w h o are anxious to consult him, but who, from circumstances, are unable to pay for it. 162 Great Collins Street, Eastern Hill.
This Doctor Hunter was a tall, sallow-faced, black-haired, well-whiskered, and well-developed individual, admittedly a clever operating surgeon, but too fond of the steel, for his first impulse on seeing a patient was (like some of our present practitioners) to effect an operation of some kind if possible. H e did not get on very fraternally with his contemporaries, as, though several of them were his professional superiors in every way, he regarded them with an amusing mixture of compassion and disdain, deeming them not abreast with the scientific requirements of the age. But it was as a stump orator, that Dr. Hunter appeared in the zenith of his fame, for he was the most bumptious talker and veriest political quack in creation. H e once found his way into the Legislative Assembly as member for East Melbourne, where his parliamentary career was as fruitless as an immense soap-bubble.
EARLY SURGICAL OPERATIONS.
Surgery in Melbourne performed its first recorded feat on the night of 4th April, 1839. It was the occasion of the visit of Lady Franklin, wife of the Governor of V a n Diemen's Land. She was staying at Fawkner's Hotel, and amongst the Melbournians w h o turned out in the evening to give her a vociferous welcome, was one Isaac Smith, a carpenter by trade, w h o discharged a shaky blunderbuss in her honour; but the piece burst, and blew off one of the unfortunate fellow's hands. The sufferer was removed into a tavern, and the Colonial Surgeon (Dr. Cussen) amputated the limb from the elbow. T h e patient was not long in recovering, and a few pounds generously left by her Ladyship as a solatium, compensated for the mishap. T h e first experiment with ether was made in Melbourne in July, 1847. Mr. James Egan, a settler on the Goulburn, was amusing himself one day on a shooting excursion, when the barrel of his gun burst and shattered his right arm. H e was conveyed for more than a hundred miles to Melbourne, and placed under the care of Dr. Thomas, w h o decided on amputating the limb under the influence of ether. T h e operation was performed on 2nd August in the presence of Drs. Campbell, Greeves, and Playne. T h e experiment was a success, and Egan was soon restored to health. Ether was not long in the ascendant before it was partially superseded by chloroform, and the first Melbourne operation undertaken with its aid happened on the 27th May, 1848. A Mrs. Barr, ​of Russell Street, laboured under an affection of the eyes, the result of a burn, which rendered necessary a critical surgical process. Chloroform was applied, and the operation successfully performed T h e patient was rid of her troubles, and both she and by Drs. Greeves, Campbell, and Wilkie. her eyes got on well together for many years after.
THE FIRST MEDICAL ASSOCIATION.
A meeting of the medical profession, "for the purpose of organizing a Society for the promotion of medical knowledge and a more free professional intercourse," was held at the Prince of Wales Hotel on the 16th May, 1846, when there were present Drs. Cussen, Black, Campbell, Wilmot, O'Mullane, Greeves, Griffin, Flemming, Thomas, Wilkie, and Keatinge. Resolutions were adopted, originating an institution to be designated " T h e Port Phillip Medical Association." T h e first office-bearers w e r e — D r . P. Cussen, President; Dr. D. E. Wilkie, Vice-President; Dr. T h o m a s Black, Treasurer; M r J. J. Keatinge, Secretary. Committee : Drs. W . H . Campbell, A. F. Greeves, and D. J. Thomas. T h e first dinner came off on the 29th July, at the Prince of Wales Hotel. O n the 8th August, a meeting was held, and the library was placed under weigh by a ,£25 remittance to a Mr. Simmonds, of London, to invest it in books and periodicals. Dr. T h o m a s Black, one of the most prominent members of this n o w defunct confraternity, has permitted m e to inspect a minute-book recording the transactions of the short but useful life of the Society from 1846 to 1851. I a m not n o w writing its biography, and shall therefore confine th is sketch to a few notable incidents, which deserve to be rescued from oblivion. T h e canons of physico-philosophy and etiquette were :— 1. That as the dignity and influence of this Association essentially depend upon the friendly co-operation and harmony of its members, this Association strongly reprobates all hostile collisions and personal animosities. 2. That as differences of opinion of necessity arise in the treatment of diseases, this Association enjoins upon its members the exercise of honourable feelings and mutual forbearance in their professional intercourse. 3. That no m e m b e r of this Association shall give any countenance whatever to disparaging reflections, or false reports affecting the professional character of other members. 4. That in all cases where one m e m b e r is called in to attend for another, and in all consultations of members, the m e m b e r called in shall neither say, look, nor insinuate such things as he knows will operate to the injury of the m e m b e r in previous attendance, nor otherwise endeavour to supplant him in the estimation of his patient. 5. That any m e m b e r w h o shall in any manner attempt to undermine, or otherwise injure, the professional reputations of other members shall, on proof of such offence, incur the highest censure of the Association. 6. That in the event of a difference of opinion in consultation, an additional medical man shall be called in, to be mutually agreed upon by those in attendance, but not without the consent of the patient or friends, the opinion of the majority to be final in the treatment of the case. 7. That when any m e m b e r is called to attend any case in consequence of the unavoidable absence of another member, w h o is the regular medical attendant, he shall be entitled to the usual fee for such attendance, but not to the case, unless by the express desire of the patient or his friends. 8. That any m e m b e r w h o shall attend a midwifery case in town or country for another member, shall be entitled to the whole fee for such attendance, but not to the case. 9. That when any m e m b e r is in regular attendance on any patient for any illness, no other m e m b e r shall consider himself at liberty to take such patient under his care until the patient or his friends have intimated to the former m e m b e r their intention of dispensing with his attendance. ​10. That in a case of emergency when the patient has no regular medical attendant, the first member in attendance shall have the treatment of the case, unless otherwise determined by the patient or his friends. n . That no m e m b e r shall knowingly meet in consultation any practitioner in medicine w h o is not legally qualified. 12. That this Association will repudiate any attempt on the part of members, to practise on other principles than those recognized by the medical profession. TOWN VISITS.
Single visits ... ... .. When only one visit is required Each visit from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m.
1st Class. £ s. d. o 10 6 1 1 0 1 1 0
2nd Class. £ s. d. 0 5 0 0100 0100
3rd Class. £ s. d. 0 3 0 0 6 0 0 6 0
COUNTRY VISITS. Any distance not exceeding one mile ... ... Ditto, exceeding one mile for every additional mile The above charges will be doubled from 9 p.m. to 7
am
£ s. d. 0106 0 5 0
s. d. 0 5 0 0 3 0
£ s. d. £ s. d. Consultations at home . ... 0106 0 5 0 Detention—Every hour that the practitioner is detained after thefirst,either from urgency of the case, or desire of patient or friends 1 1 0 o 10 6 In chronic cases a discretionary deviation from the above charges may be made.
s. d. 0 3 0
MIDWIFERY. 1st Class.
I s. d. Attendance in ordinary cases
5 S
0
2nd Class.
£ s. d. 3 3 0
3rd Class.
£ s. d. 1
1
0
£ to
2
s. d. 2
0
CONSULTATIONS.
With Physician or Surgeon Ditto by letter Certificate of health Vaccination... Extracting teeth ... Fractures and dislocations In these cases the charge is m a d e for the operation only.
1st CI ass.
2nd C lass.
£ s. d.
£ s. d.
1
1
0
0 10
6
2
2
0
1
0
1
1
0
0 10
6
0 10
6 6
0 5 0 5
0
0 10
1
3rd Class £ s. d.
0
1 1 0 3 3 T h e subsecjuent visits will be an additional charge. 0
2
2
0
This tariff was subsequently amended in some particulars, and adopted; and a resolution was passed, " That the members be held bound in honour to adhere as far as possible to the same, and any m e m b e r failing to do so, shall incur the censure of the Association." T h e Society transmitted a petition to the House of C o m m o n s , concurring in a Medical Registration Bill, introduced by M r . Wakley, M e m b e r for Finsbury, praying "That the same privileges and protection as therein proposed to be conferred on the members of the medical profession in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, be extended to the members of the medical profession in the Australian Colonies, w h o form in this part of H e r Majesty's dominions, a numerous and respectable body of H e r Majesty's subjects." Dr. Wilkie continued Secretary until 1850, when he was succeeded by Mr. Edward Barker. T h e last minuted meeting of the Association was held 20th November, 1851, and was soon after dissolved, or rather died a natural death; the library was sold, the debts were paid, and all was over. T h e old minute-book was affectionately retained by Dr. Black, the Society's ​Treasurer from first to last, and after it left my possession I was informed its destination would be the Melbourne Public Library, where it would be provided with a quiet resting-place for all time. It would seem that such intention was on further consideration abandoned, for the book has passed into the guardianship of the present Medical Society of Victoria. A meeting of that body was held on the 7th October, 1885, and from a precis of its proceedings as printed in the Australian Medical Journal, I extract the following:—" T h e H o n . Secretary read the following letter from Dr. T h o m a s Black:— " 14th September, 1885. " Mr. President and Gentlemen,—I a m happy to say I a m n o w in a position to offer for your acceptance the minutes of the first Medical Society formed in Melbourne, by the late Dr. Wilkie and myself; also a list of the legally qualified medical practitioners of the Colony of N e w South Wales, 1838-the first published list in any of the Australian colonies. " I have good reason to believe that the only survivors of the late Port Phillip Medical Association and the N e w South Wales list are Sir Charles Nicholson, Bart., n o w residing in London ; Dr. William Campbell, Russell Street, Melbourne ; and myself. " I have the honour to be, Gentlemen, " Yours faithfully,
" THOMAS BLACK, M.D. " The President proposed that a vote of thanks be accorded to Dr. Black for his valuable gifts, and further that he be created an Honorary M e m b e r of the Society. " The motion was seconded by Dr. Allen and unanimously agreed to." ARCHITECTS, SURVEYORS, AND ENGINEERS.
The first survey operations conducted in Port Phillip were those of the expedition despatched from Sydney in November, 1802, in charge of Mr. Charles Grimes, the Acting Surveyor-General of N e w South Wales. T h e party consisted (in addition to the gentlemen named), of Dr. M'Callum, a surgeon ; James Meehan, a surveyor; and James Flemming. T h e curious story of this expedition is told in the journal kept by Flemming, and exhumed in 1877 by Mr. J. J. Shillinglaw, amongst piles of musty State Papers in the office of the Colonial Secretary at Sydney. W h e n Batman effected his memorable officially repudiated bargain with the Aborigines, he had in his party Mr. Charles Wedge, in the capacity of Surveyor, and this gentleman m a y be fairly recognized as the "father" of the profession in the colony. The first to announce himself as an architect in Port Phillip was Mr. Samuel Jackson, whose brother, William, came from V a n Diemen's Land with Fawkner's party of occupation in 1835. The Jacksons afterwards took up some country on the Saltwater River, and Jackson's Creek near Sunbury was named after William. Samuel settled in Melbourne, and followed the practice of his profession for many years. Russell was more of an Architect than a Surveyor, for he first served articles in an eminent Architect's office, and it was through an afterthought that he became a Surveyor. Melbourne was not many years a proclaimed township when the Surveyors and Architects began to pour in, and at the close of 1840, according to Kerr's Port Phil/if Directory for 1841 the following were located in Port Phillip : — L a n d Surveyors — Messrs. Henry Douglass, Henry B. Foot, S. P. Hawkins, T h o m a s H . Nutt, George Smyth, Thos. S. Townsend, C. J. Tyers, James Williamson. Architects and Surveyors—Messrs. James Purves, Robert Russell, and Alexander J. Skene. M r . James Ballingall appears as a Surveyor of Shipping, Mr. John Manton a Civil Engineer, and Messrs. Joseph W . Hooson and Peter Hurlstone simply as Engineers. T o these m a y be added Mr. James Rattenbury, the Clerk of Works, who claimed to be an an Architect, but whether so or not I cannot undertake to decide. It is singular that there is no mention made of Mr. Robert Hoddle, the head of the then Government Survey office, but he is given in the Directory for 1842, in which also appears the name of Mr. Charles Laing. Gradually other names crept into the newspapers such as Messrs. George Wharton, John Gill, Arthur Newson, James Blackburn, etc., etc. For some unaccountable reason Russell was never appreciated as his ability and integrity deserved. ​From the incorporation of Melbourne (1842), until after the end of these sketches, there were only three T o w n or City Surveyors, viz., H o w e , Laing, and Blackburn. T h efirstand second resigned the office, and the third died in harness. O n Laing's arrival, seeing what a small opening there was for architectural ability, he very prudently pocketed his profession for a while, and accepted the position of manager to a Butchering Company, which owned a small shop in Bourke Street, subsequently pulled d o w n to make way for the Coffee Palace near the Theatre Royal. There were half-a-dozen professed Civil Engineers, and most of them had a pet hobby exercising their minds. Of the four most notable, J. A . Manton projected bridges never to be built; N . L. Kentish devised baths never to succeed ; L. Rosson dreamed of a water-supply from the Yarra at Studley Park never to be utilized ; and J. Blackburn's name will be for all time associated with the Y a n Yean Reservoir. Rattenbury had been superseded at the Public Works Department by Mr. Henry Ginn, who, after Separation, held the office of Chief Architect. A meeting was held on the 12th May, 1851, at which was inaugurated the "Association of Architects." A resolution was passed inviting the Superintendent (Mr. Latrobe) to accept the office of Patron, and Mr. Henry Ginn (the Colonial Architect), was elected thefirstPresident. But ere the year had been rung out the Architects had more important "fishto fry" midst the astounding changes wrought by the gold discoveries. A. J. SKENE, for many years the official head of our Survey Department, arrived in Port Phillip as far back as 1839, and if I have been correctly informed, he obtained his first Government employment from M r . Robert Russell. In 1842 he was located at Geelong, and in 1868, he was appointed Surveyor-General vice Mr. C. W . Ligar, the successor of Mr. Robert Hoddle.
MR.
arrived in Melbourne at the beginning of 1844, and he is still (1885) in business in Melbourne. Mr. Wharton soon found that there was little or no scope for the exercise of whatever abilities he possessed as an architect. T h e streets were unformed, the buildings mostly weatherboard cottages and shops. A three-storey building was looked upon as a giant. John Hodgson's house, also in Flinders Street, where the Port Phillip Club Hotel n o w stands, though only a two-storey building, was nicknamed " Hodgson's Folly." Under these circumstances he gave up the idea of following his profession. H e purchased an interest in a sheep-station where the town of Daylesford n o w stands. In the meantime the Melbourne Corporation began to form the streets, and appointed Mr. Charles Laing (an Architect known to Wharton in Manchester) as T o w n Surveyor. Laing was allowed to practice privately, and requested Wharton to assist him, which he did, and so was accidentally brought back to his proper avocation. T h efirstbuilding he was engaged upon was St. Peter's Church, for which he m a d e most of the drawings. About this time Mr. Wharton prepared a Plan of the City of Melbourne, showing all the houses then erected. This Plan should be in existence n o w in either Laing's or the Corporation papers, and would be an object of much interest. H e also prepared another Plan of Melbourne for the Mayor (Dr. Palmer) indicating the division into four Wards to carry out a scheme of the Mayor's to let the Wards at a rental to milkmen to depasture their cows. H e also completed Plans of a scheme to supply Melbourne with water, by connecting with pipes two bends of the river Yarra at Studley Park. Wharton also assisted Laing in making designs for a new theatre and hotel built in 1845, m Queen Street (still in existence) for the late J. T. Smith. This was a great step in advance of the dingy, tumble-down old theatre close by the Bull and Mouth, in Bourke Street. T h e late Samuel R a m s d e n came out in the same ship with Wharton as a stonemason, and his partners, Charles and Henry Brown, and the late James W e b b . O n e of the oldest of " O l d Colonists" has favoured m e with the following m e m o : —
MR. GEORGE WHARTON
" T h e first Land Surveyors to arrive in Port Phillip, doubtless were the Wedges. They were not Government Surveyors, but came on a special mission. Mr. John Helder W e d g e prepared a plan, showing the land proposed to be purchased by the V a n Diemen's Land Company, from the natives, a copy of which is still to be had. This was, however, no survey, but simply a field sketch, which was all that was wanted. Mr. William W e d g e Darke, a near relation of the Wedges, came down with Mr. Robert Russell in the Government service from Sydney in 1836; also Mr. Fred Robert Darcy, at which period thefirstsurvey was made by Russell, a copy of w h i c h — n o w very scarce—I a m ​aware you have. Private surveyors subsequently appeared. A Mr. Le Roux was the first; he also held office as Clerk of W o r k s under M r . Lewis, the Colonial Architect, of Sydney, and M r . Russell held his billet for a short time after his death. His n a m e appears to a very early subdivision of a Melbourne allotment in Russell's possession." It is s i g n e d : — C H A R L E S F. L E R O U X , Architect and Surveyor, 17th July, 1839. " T h e first Melbourne sub-division is dated 25th April, 1839, allot. C Block 2. It was surveyed by Russell for Mr. R. II. Browne (commonly called Heidelberg Browne), acting for Thos. Walker, of Sydney. Then came a tribe of private Surveyors. Williamson, M'Gregor, Thomson, Craig, Foote, Gibbins, D e Grady, Russell, & c , and of still later date (I find his name in 1851), Penrose Nevins. There were others doubtless whose names I have omitted, but not many. O f private surveys in and near Melbourne after Russell left the Government service, the lion's share certainly fell to him. Russell was responsible for the first design of St. James's Church, which was built under his superintendence, though for the simple spire of his design, the Building Committee substituted a heaven-directing "pepper-pot," Dr. Palmer being, I fancy, the chief instigator. T h e first Custom House, Lyon Campbell's house on the Yarra, the first bank of Australasia, & c , were also Russell's work. Samuel Jackson designed the Hospital and Mr. Duerdin's house in Flinders Street, if I mistake not, and sundry other buildings. St. Patrick's Cathedral was begun under his jurisdiction, as was also St. Patrick's Hall. M r . Blackburn designed the Anglican Bishop's Palace. Charles Laing made his appearance and assisted Dr. Palmer in the "pepper-pot" perpetration.
ECCLESIASTICAL.
The first minister of religion who placed a foot on Victorian soil, was the Rev. Robert Knopwood, A.M., Chaplain to the Collins "Convict Expedition," at Sorrento in 1803. H e was an Englishman, w h o entered the world in 1761, and left it in 1838. After holding the office of domestic Chaplain to Lord Spencer, he accepted the latter appointment, which transferred him to the Antipodes. T o a diary kept by him, the public is indebted for a quaint narrative of incidents of his voyage to Australia, the attempted settlement at Port Phillip, and actual settlement at Hobart T o w n , where he retained his Convict Chaplaincy until 1822. T h e following notice of him is from the pen of West, the V a n Diemonian historian :—" In addition to his clerical functions he (Knopwood) regularly sat as a Magistrate. H e had not m u c h time to care for the spiritual interests of hisflock,and of his success in their reformation nothing is recorded. His convivial friends are the chief eulogists of his character. His little white pony was not less celebrated, Knopwood received a pension, and was subsequently appointed Chaplain to a country district. T h e gaiety of his disposition made him a pleasant companion and general favourite, and conciliated whatever esteem may be due to a non-professional reputation. H e was, however, not unwilling to tolerate the assistance of a sect whose zeal wore a different aspect from his own. T h e Wesleyan ministers found a kindly welcome and an open field." In the Shillinglaw papers, appended to the K n o p w o o d Diary is a portrait of this primitive parson, " from a sketch by T G. Gregson, Esq., of Risdon." His reverence is mounted on a white pony, and peeping from the hind pocket of his dark overcoat is the corked nose of a black bottle. A rough-skinned, sharp-looking little piece of dog-flesh trots along in front, to all appearance anxiously on the scent for some kind of a wind-fall. In connection with this matter Mr..A. C. Macdonald, F.R.G.S., Collins Street West, has favoured m e with a curiously interesting relic, now, for the first time, communicated to the public through the m e d i u m of a newspaper. It is a copy of verses composed years ago by M r . John Graves, a well-known Hobart T o w n Solicitor, for some time dead, with the following m e m o , thereon, in the penmanship of the writer, an ex-Chief Secretary of Tasmania :— " Old Bobby K n o p w o o d arrived in February, 1803, " First and best Parson that ever preached in this colony. "WM.
GREGSON."
T h e old gentleman w h o was of a convivial turn of mind, thinking with Shakespeare that "good wine is a good familiar creature, if it be well-used," c a m e to the conclusion that a glass of port could not be applied more advantageously than in helping to administer bed-side consolation to the bodily afflicted, and consequently whenever he was engaged in what is known as " sick call duty" the wine bottle was his invariable companion, and the sufferer's spiritual and bodily condition considerately looked after. W h e n it is understood that M r . Knopwood's religious offices would be ​mostly required by unfortunates of the convict class, in assignment and expirees, his kind-heartedness in what he did cannot be too highly appreciated, though at the present day it will doubtless be sneered at by those w h o can have no conception of the horrors and privations attending the early convictism of the neighbouring colony. I subjoin the Graves' effusion, with the remark that any modicum of literary merit that m a y be displayed, is sadly marred by the sarcastically offensive bigotry indulged in towards other Christian denominations :— "BOB PINCHKR AND TIIE PONY." THE
D O G G E R E L B Y PINCHER.
'Bob Pincher and the p o n y " — a s Gregson used to say, W h e r e sickness was you found him there—to sympathize and pray; T h e bottle's neck seen peeping out—you m a y readily divine His mission's one of mercy—and he carries with him wine. This fine old English Clergyman—one of the " good old sort," W h o , when he visited the sick, he brought them all to port ; A n d , by the sick bed kneeling, would utter words divine, Then cheerfully rising, s a y — " N o w take a glass of wine ; It's better for your stomach's sake—than wafers and cold water ; For good old Port and solid food will surely m a k e you fatter." N o whining, doubtful d o g m a s — n o brimstone fire and hell— H e preached God's love and mercy—and kindly wished them well; This fine old English Clergyman—one of the olden time, W h o , when he visited the sick—he always took them wine. H e wore no cross upon his back, but acted on the square— A thing that's often talked about—but practised very rare ; H e dressed not like a mountebank—nor yet like columbine, Nor ritualistic vestments wore—this worthy old divine. If gaudy dresses were to be true signs of what was meet, Priests soon would m a k e the surplice, the Church's winding sheet ; So thought this good old Clergyman—one of the olden time, W h o , when he visited the sick, he always took them wine. If rampant ritualists will wear—silks, satins, and brocade, They'd better change their uniform—and join the Pope's brigade; For in the ranks of Protestants—they're called the " a w k w a r d squad, A n d looked upon by Churchmen—as the cast-out of God. Yet Popish priests and Protestants—their cant is " loving brother," A n d in Christ's n a m e — O h ! what a shame—they'd crucify each other : So 'tween the doctrines of the t w o — n o mortal soul can tell, Which is the road to H e a v e n — a n d that which leads to Hell. But this fine old English Clergyman—drew doctrines from the Fount, A n d prayed, as the Great Teacher did—in His sermon on the Mount ; This fine old English Clergyman—one of the olden time, W h o when he visited the sick - h e always took them wine. H e had no crook to guard his flock—or keep them in the fold, 'But tended them as shepherds did. in the by-gone days of old ; But 'bout the preaching now-a-days—-there is a deal of g a m m o n , Still less of that there'd surely be—but for the G o d call'd M a m m o n . Apostle Peter never asked for pence, State-aid, or pay, If such were n o w the state of things—how many Priests would pray? N o w shepherds don't much mind the sheep—their eye is on the fleece, A n d rather than no wool at all—they'd take it in the grease; But better days are dawning fast—there's shout from pole to pole, For liberty of conscience—and freedom of the soul. Then let us chronicle the words—spoke by the old divine, A n d to his m e m o r y let us drink—now ' Take a glass of wine ;' That fine old English Clergyman—one of the olden time, W h o when he visited the sick—he always took them wine."