William Gardner (surgeon)

William Gardner (c. 1846 – 7 April 1897) was a surgeon in the British colonies of South Australia and Victoria.

History

William Forrest Gardner (c. 1846 – 7 April 1897) was born in Birkenhead, England, the eldest son of (Independent Presbyterian) Rev. John Gardner and his wife Catherine Gardner née Forrest.

The Rev. Dr. Gardner, wife, servant and three children arrived in South Australia aboard Condor in March 1850 after accepting a call to take over the newly erected Chalmers Church (now Scots Church) on North Terrace, Adelaide, and served that congregation with distinction until 1868, when he accepted a call to Launceston Tasmania (which appointment got off to a bad start, then deteriorated and ended in bitter hostility).

Gardner was educated at J. L. Young's Adelaide Educational Institution, and entered the English and Scottish Bank, where he worked for several years, before leaving to study medicine at the University of Melbourne, where he had a brilliant scholastic career, then proceeded to Glasgow University, where he studied hydatids for his thesis, which won for him a gold medal as well as his MD.[1] He returned to Adelaide, where in 1875 he was appointed Junior House Surgeon under Dr. J. Davies Thomas at the Adelaide Hospital, then succeeded him as Senior House Surgeon. When he resigned to enter private practice he was appointed Hon. Surgeon to the Adelaide Hospital, and gained a reputation for his skill as a surgeon, perhaps second only to Mr. Fitzgerald of Melbourne. His assistant for many years was Dr. Anstey Giles.[2]

He received a call from Melbourne to perform a very difficult operation — removal of a cancerous larynx — which had ended in the death of Emperor Frederick of Germany, but in this case, a Mr. Heymanson, successfully.[3] In 1892 Gardner accepted an appointment in Melbourne.

In 1896 he left for England and the Continent, partly for his health and partly for continuation of his studies, and was returning to Melbourne, when he succumbed to a paralytic stroke in Naples, and died shortly after.[2]

Professional appointments

Gardner was President of the South Australian Branch of the British Medical Association and Member of the Board of Management of the Adelaide Hospital for many years. He was elected President of the Intercolonial Medical Congress in Sydney, 1893.

Family

William Forrest Gardner married Louisa Moore (26 Feb 1859 – 10 May 1940) on 30 March 1880. She was the elder daughter of Robert Waters Moore, M.R.C.S. (1819 – 6 December 1884), former Colonial Surgeon. They had no children.

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References
  1. "Dr. Wm. Gardner". South Australian Register. XLII, (9655). South Australia. 24 October 1877. p. 5. Retrieved 17 April 2017 – via National Library of Australia.CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link)
  2. "Obituary". Adelaide Observer. LIV, (2, 897). South Australia. 10 April 1897. p. 26. Retrieved 17 April 2017 – via National Library of Australia.CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link)
  3. "Will the Crown Prince Live". The Border Watch. XXV, (2512). South Australia. 14 December 1887. p. 4. Retrieved 17 April 2017 – via National Library of Australia.CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link)
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