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

Early life and education

William Forrest Gardner was born in

Birkenhead Birkenhead (; cy, Penbedw) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England; historically, it was part of Cheshire until 1974. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the south bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liver ...

, England, in 1846, 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 North Terrace is one of the four terraces that bound the central business and residential district of Adelaide, the capital city of South Australia. It runs east–west, along the northern edge of "the square mile". The western end cont ...

, 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 Adelaide Educational Institution was a privately run non-sectarian academy for boys in Adelaide founded in 1852 by John Lorenzo Young.B. K. Hyams'Young, John Lorenzo (1826–1881)' ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'', Volume 6, Melbourne Univ ...

, and entered the English and Scottish Bank, where he worked for several years, before leaving to study medicine at the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb no ...

, where he had a brilliant scholastic career, then proceeded to

Glasgow University , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

, where he studied

hydatids Echinococcosis is a parasitic disease of tapeworms of the ''Echinococcus'' type. The two main types of the disease are ''cystic echinococcosis'' and ''alveolar echinococcosis''. Less common forms include ''polycystic echinococcosis'' and ''unic ...

for his thesis, which won for him a gold medal as well as his MD.

Career

Gardner 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 Honorary 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 William Anstey Giles (29 June 1860 – 7 May 1944), generally known as Anstey Giles, was a surgeon and medical administrator in Adelaide, South Australia. Early life and education Giles was born in Adelaide on 29 June 1860, the eldest son of Thom ...

. Both Giles and Gardner were associated with the

Private Hospital, Wakefield Street The Calvary Wakefield Hospital, formerly Private Hospital, Wakefield Street (PHWS) and variants, Wakefield Street Private Hospital, Wakefield Memorial Hospital and Wakefield Hospital, referred to informally as "the Wakefield", was a private ho ...

, the first training hospital for nurses in the state. 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. In 1892 Gardner accepted an appointment in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

Professional appointments

Gardner was President of the South Australian Branch of the British Medical Association from 1883 to 1884, Honorary Surgeon at Adelaide Hospital, 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.

Later life and death

In 1896 he left for England and

the Continent Continental Europe or mainland Europe is the contiguous continent of Europe, excluding its surrounding islands. It can also be referred to ambiguously as the European continent, – which can conversely mean the whole of Europe – and, by ...

, partly for his health and partly for continuation of his studies, and was returning to Melbourne, when he succumbed to a

paralytic stroke A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop function ...

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

, Italy, and died shortly afterwards, on 7 April 1897.

Family

Gardner married Louisa Moore (26 Feb 1859 – 10 May 1940) on 30 March 1880. She was the elder daughter of

Robert Waters Moore Robert Waters Moore M.R.C.S. (1819 – 6 December 1884) born in Cork, Ireland, was a prominent surgeon and medical practitioner in the early days of the colony of South Australia. He succeeded Dr. William Gosse as Colonial Surgeon. History Moo ...

, M.R.C.S. (1819 – 6 December 1884), former Colonial Surgeon. They had no children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gardner, William 1846 births 1897 deaths People educated at Adelaide Educational Institution Australian surgeons Medical doctors from Adelaide Australian people of English descent Australian people of Scottish descent Alumni of the University of Glasgow University of Melbourne alumni