Moruya and District Historical Society introduces the town's first doctor, Edward Boot. He was well named to enforce the Cottage Hospital's rules, especially Rule 48: "The Medical Officer shall have the right to discharge summarily any patient who refuses to obey his medical directions, who is guilty of misconduct, or whose presence seriously interferes with the welfare of other patients; but they shall forthwith record the circumstances for the information of the visiting Committee who shall report theron to the General Committee."
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Edward Boot and his wife Catherine arrived in Australia in 1841 on the immigrant ship "United Kingdom" as the ship's surgeon looking after 514 passengers.
Dr Boot had been born in 1814 in Lincoln, England. He came from a family of surgeons. His father, Dr Henry Boot was Surgeon to the Lincoln County hospital for 45 years and his brother Dr John Hopkinson Boot practised at Sleaford, Lincolnshire for ten years. Dr Boot studied his profession in Dublin and was admitted to the Royal College of Surgeons in 1837. He practised in England for a few years before marrying and deciding to come to Australia.
Edward and Catherine came almost immediately to Moruya where they built a home at Yarragee and lived there the rest of their lives with their eight children.
Conditions in Australia were fairly primitive in 1841. Moruya had been settled for not much longer than a decade. Roads were practically non-existent and Dr Boot had at first walked long distances to visit patients. Trackless bush and flooded streams were no obstacles to this very fit young man. At night the doctor was often guided by an Aborigine carrying a lantern. He purchased the first available horse for £50, making visits a little easier. For nearly 50 years he was the only doctor in the district. He was the local Government Medical Officer for over 30 years and was appointed Honorary Medical Officer at the hospital in 1891.
On August 21, 1897 he completed the 60th year of his professional career. He was presented with an address and a purse of sovereigns by the Mayor of Moruya, Alderman M. Vaughan. Dr Boot retained all his faculties until the hour of his death. He never grew feeble and when his fatal illness overtook him he was comparatively strong. His wonderful constitution and vitality enabled him to withstand the inevitable for a long time.
Another doctor who spent time in Moruya was Dr Edward Gregory. Like most of the early doctors Dr Gregory was a ship's Surgeon. In August 1863 he was called to Nelligen when two of the crew of the Mynora got caught in the paddle wheels. In February 1864 he gave evidence at the trial of Patrick Flanagan for assault and in March the same year his services were called on during the St Patrick's Day celebrations at Moruya. No further records of him have been found so presumably he left the district.
In 1877 Moruya's second permanent doctor arrived. He also came from a family of medical practitioners with his father, brother and two nephews all doctors. Dr Henry Kirwan King matriculated at the London University in 1863, passed his degree as Bachelor of Medicine and Master in Surgery at Aberdeen University, became a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, England in 1866 and held the L.S.A. degree. He practised in England for several years but for health reasons decided to come to Australia. He arrived as medical office on board the immigrant ship Whampoa in 1877. Shortly after he opened a practice in Moruya where he soon gained the goodwill of the inhabitants with his prompt attention and moderate scale of charges.
He built the "Braemar" homestead, which was the first house on the right on the South Head Road, where many new houses are now being built. As the house was some distance from the town Dr King would fly a flag when he was home so that town speople did not make an unnecessary trip.
He soon became involved in the affairs of the town, taking a great interest in the Mechanics' Institute and the advancement of the Agricultural and Pastoral Society. He was also prominent in Masonic circles and was one of the founders of Masonic Lodge at Moruya.
Mrs King was also much involved in town affairs and held in high esteem by members of the community. An interesting little story was told about Mrs King. In 1879 whilst mixing some cornmeal for her fowls Mrs King lost her wedding ring. She searched but could not find it and gave up all hope. Sometime later she was enjoying her breakfast egg when she came across something hard embedded in the egg white. It was her own wedding ring. Doubt was cast on this story but how this could happen was explained by a correspondent to the Bega Standard who sent the following copied from "Land and Water", a scientific journal published in England and accepted as an authority on all subjects coming within the sphere of science generally:- "Foreign bodies swallowed by fowls are not infrequently found in eggs, they get enclosed in the shell of the egg if they happen to be passing the opening of the duct which secretes the lime portion, that is, the shell of the egg, just at the moment that the soft portion of the egg is descending from the ovary".
Dr and Mrs King decided to visit England in 1885 and the people of Moruya gave them a farewell dinner at Windsor's Royal Hotel. It was hoped that when they returned to Australia they would return to Moruya, however that was not to be.
We have in our Museum collection some artefacts that belonged to Dr Boot to see these go to https://ehive.com/collections/5495/moruya-and-district-historical-society-museum and type Dr Boot in the search box.
