South Australian Colonial Surgeons Office (1836 - 1914)

Summary

The post of Colonial Surgeon was established in 1835, the first Colonial Surgeon did not arrive in the Colony of South Australia until 1837. The Colonial Surgeon and later the Colonial Surgeons Office was responsible for sanitation, oversight of public hospitals and medical care for people interned in 19th century institutions established in the colony. These included a goal, convict stockade, 'destitute asylum', and a 'lunatic asylum'. The Colonial Surgeon was also expected to give evidence to the police, courts and coroner, to certify the health of prospective police officers and oversee vaccinations. In 1914 the Colonial Surgeons Office appears to have become the Inspector General of Hospitals Office (1914 - 1940).

Related entries

Timeline

 1836 - 1914 South Australian Colonial Surgeons Office
       1914 - 1940 South Australian Inspector General of Hospitals Office
             1940 - 1978 South Australian Hospitals Department
                   1978 - 2008 South Australian Health Commission
                         2004 - 2012 South Australian Department of Health
                               2012 - 2018 South Australian Department of Health and Ageing
                                     2018 - South Australian Department of Health and Wellbeing

Published resources

Journal Articles

• Bell, Maureen, 'From the 1870s to the 1970s: the Changing Face of Public Psychiatry in South Australia', Australasian Psychiatry, 11 (1) (2003), 79-86. Details

Resource Sections

• 'GRG78 Hospitals Department, and predecessors', in Agency Details, State Records of South Australia, State Records of South Australia. Details
• 'GA2054 Colonial Surgeon, later Colonial Surgeon's Office', in Agency Details, State Records of South Australia, State Records of South Australia. Details