Today's Stories from our Past
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Today's Stories from our Past
E10 –Bound for South Australia – The Watts Family
What if the legacy of a kind-hearted village doctor could inspire generations and spark dreams of adventure across continents?
Join us as we explore the captivating story of the Watts family, where Thomas Watts defied the Dickensian stereotype of a struggling doctor and rose as a prosperous figure within England's burgeoning middle class. Discover how his remarkable choice to divide his estate equally among his children, regardless of gender, set the stage for his son John’s daring journey to the colonies.
In a vibrant ceremony back in 1839, Thomas Watts was celebrated by his community in Frampton-on-Severn, leaving a lasting footprint of gratitude and respect. The heartfelt event, marked by music and banners, saw the esteemed doctor honoured with a beautifully engraved silver tea kettle, symbolizing the profound impact of his dedicated service. This legacy extended beyond his lifetime, contributing to the education of young medical minds through the Watts Science Prize, all while shaping the future of medicine in England.
As we conclude, we reflect on John's aspirations and the potential influence of his family's standing in the village on his dreams of adventure in South Australia. With minimal class barriers and the supportive backdrop of his family's legacy, John embarks on a journey that we are eager to unfold in future episodes. Stay tuned as we continue to uncover these fascinating stories from our past, including the intriguing involvement of the Hack family and Dr. George Mayo, which will further illuminate John's decision to move to South Australia.
Contact us at todaysstories101@gmail.com.
he was a man distinguished not only for his superior professional talent but in everything he undertook. He was one of the greatest benefactors in the neighbourhood in which he lived and beloved by all. It may be truly said of him that he went about doing good, healing the sick. No man studied interest, welfare and comfort of his fellow creature more than he did.
Speaker 2:G'day, I'm Peter.
Speaker 3:And g'day, I'm Greg.
Speaker 2:Welcome to Today's Stories from Our Past, a podcast about a history of Australia from about 1800 onwards. The story is told through the experiences of those who lived it.
Speaker 3:We'll tell you stories about Australia that you probably haven't heard before.
Speaker 2:This is the 10th episode in a season that we've called Bound for South Australia. If you haven't listened to this season from episode 1, we'd suggest you stop listening now and go back to the beginning. So in the last episode we talked about the Hack family and how they ended up in South Australia. They would play a vital role in John Watt's life, but the question remains why did John Watt go to South Australia? They would play a vital role in John Watts' life, but the question remains why did John Watts go to South Australia?
Speaker 3:Okay, so what's John's?
Speaker 2:story. Well, as with William, Henry Neal and Charles Nanties, I wanted to understand why John goes out to Oz To do this. We need to go back to his family life in England.
Speaker 3:Fair enough. What do we know? Fair bit.
Speaker 2:When John was 80 years old, he sat down and wrote his personal reminiscences. Somehow, an original copy of this 100-page-long type document has survived in our family since 1901. In his remembrances, John tells the story of his life, with most of the detail on his experiences in Australia.
Speaker 3:It's a fantastic resource. What does John say about his early life?
Speaker 2:He doesn't say much at all. Here's the first sentence of the reminiscences of the reminiscences.
Speaker 4:I was born on February 27th 1821. My father was Thomas Watts, surgeon of Frampton on Severn in Gloucestershire, and when I had finished my education I was to follow in that profession.
Speaker 2:That's all he says about his early life. When I first read that short paragraph in my mind's eye, I had this Dickensian vision of John's father, an old village doctor, struggling through the deep snow, going from cottage to cottage with a knobbly old walking stick and dispensing fairly useless potions to the poor villagers.
Speaker 3:Okay, I guess I can see that, but is that correct?
Speaker 2:There's plenty of evidence to see how correct or otherwise this view was. The first piece of evidence is the village where they lived, frampton-on-seven. Frampton-on-seven is a small and ancient village. It was already in existence by the time of the Doomsday Survey in 1086. Its claim to fame is that it has the longest village green in England. The church St Mary the Virgin was consecrated in 1315. The main street of the village is, rather imaginatively called the Street.
Speaker 2:The village is about 10 miles south of Gloucester and, as the name suggests, it sits on the bank of the Severn River. Okay, well, that sounds quite. Yeah. I found a map of the village dated 1800. The layout of the village is exactly as it is today. On this map is marked a farm owned by George Watts. That's John Watts' great-grandfather. So the Watts family had been in the village for generations. The village has only one church, the Church of St Mary the Virgin, and behind the church is a graveyard. John Watts' grave is there, as well as many other of his family, including his parents. In fact, there's a heritage-listed monument to the Watts family in the graveyard.
Speaker 3:Okay, this all sounds very old and traditional.
Speaker 2:Yes, it does come across that way, but that changed somewhat when I found a copy of Thomas Watts's that's John's father's will. It took forever to decipher it, but it sheds a completely different light on John's father and thus on John's upbringing. How so Well, firstly, thomas is not a poor Dickensian character. In fact he's quite well off. Thomas died in 1855 and in his will he lists his assets. They include freehold property in the parishes of Frampton-on-Seven and Saul and Frathene and others, several other farms and houses and considerable cash on hand, houses, land and a ferry at Purton in the parish of Lindley, shares in the Gloucester and Berkeley Canal railway to Benches and a house at number 33 River Street in Bath in the parish of Lindley, shares in the Gloucester and Berkeley Canal railway debentures and a house at number 33 River Street in Bath.
Speaker 3:Wow, that doesn't match your poor Dickensian view of the good doctor.
Speaker 2:No, not at all. I now know that Thomas Watts was a member of that burgeoning middle class in England. Not born into old money, but they were able to make plenty of it. But there's more, and I find this section of the will much more interesting. He writes in his will All other.
Speaker 5:My monies in the funds, together with the monies in railway debentures or arising from my book debts or from any other source I shall stand possessed of at the time of my decease, I desire may be equally divided between my daughters Elizabeth Watts and Anne Watts, and my son Thomas Watts and my son John Watts.
Speaker 2:Now, John had a younger brother, Thomas, and two older sisters, Anne and Elizabeth. Neither sister ever marries. In the English tradition of primogeniture, it's the right of the firstborn legitimate child, usually a male, to inherit the parent's entire or main estate. In preference to shared inheritance amongst all the children, this means the eldest son gets the estate. The following sons must fend for themselves, either become priests or join the army, and the daughters have no choice but to marry. Well, Thomas Watts does not follow that tradition. All his children, male and female, get equal shares.
Speaker 3:Now, that is a bit different. John's father doesn't seem like a traditionalist.
Speaker 2:No, not at all. Now, all this wealth may come across as betraying Thomas to be a rampant capitalist, but there's another surprising aspect to the family. There is plenty of documentation describing their generous and charitable acts throughout their lives. They had a strong belief in community service.
Speaker 3:Okay, what sort of charitable activities did they support?
Speaker 2:Several John's father. Indeed the whole family had a strong desire to better the circumstances of the poor and uneducated working class of the village and surrounding parishes.
Speaker 6:A history of the village comments that the Watts were a charitable family doing much for the poor of the village. Comments that In that description there, Anne is John's mother.
Speaker 2:They also wanted to help the adults of the village to improve their situation. In November 1852, Thomas Watts set up the Literary and Mechanics Institute in the village to help working class people get an education. The following is part of a speech given in 1853 to thank Thomas Watts for his efforts in setting up the Mechanics Institute. Thomas Watts was president of the institute at the time.
Speaker 7:President, I have now a few observations to make to you individually, and were I to say all that I could and all that I wish, I should probably overwhelm you with compliments, but I will spare your feelings that I wish. I should probably overwhelm you with compliments, but I will spare your feelings all I can. The members of our committee have been very desirous to offer to you some manifestation of the esteem and regard in which you are held by them, not only in your professional capacity, in which you are constantly going about healing the sick and doing all the good you can, but also for your excellent private character and moral worth, and more particularly for the handsome and liberal manner in which you have come forward and founded this institution. Indeed, I may almost say endowed it, for your subscription and the other support you give amounts to nearly an endowment. It is but a short time since it was thought impracticable to form an institute of this kind here, for many attempts have been made and all failed. No sooner, however, did you appear in the field and unfurl your banner than a great portion of Frampton's population at once flocked around you and, without hesitation, enrolled themselves as members. And here we are, comfortably located in a convenient room properly fitted up and furnished. And here we are, comfortably located in a convenient room properly fitted up and furnished, supplied with a good library and all things necessary to carry out this important undertaking.
Speaker 7:Now I would ask to whom are we indebted for all this? Why? To you, sir. You are the great Iron Duke, and to you alone we owe victory and success. And as you have also done us the honour to become our President, it became necessary for you should to have a chair, and our Secretary, mr Burr, has, I believe, done his best in making one for you. There it stands, sir, and I am authorised by the Committee to present it to you as a small and very inadequate testimony in their regard, and the members thereof sincerely hope that you will live many years in good health and happiness to occupy it and to preside over them and this institution, and when it shall please God to call you from this world. We doubt not. But you will live long in the hearts of the inhabitants of this village and neighborhood and that they will long remember with gratitude the great good you have done amongst them remember with gratitude the great good you have done amongst them.
Speaker 6:The newspaper article then goes on to describe the chair that was presented to Thomas. Another part of the business of the evening was to present a handsome chair to their president, mr Watts, which was manufactured by Mr Burr of Frampton and in the making of which appears to have exercised his usual great ability and skill to the uttermost. The wood is from the yew tree. At the top of the back appears the crest and motto of Mr Watts, on other parts the words presented to Thomas Watts, escarades by the members of the Frampton Mechanics Institute, and also the Latin inscription and Mechanics Institute, and also the Latin inscription Premio Gratitudinis Largito Fruitur, the whole with other suitable ornaments being carved in the wood and altogether forms a splendid specimen of Mr Butt's superior workmanship.
Speaker 2:The Latin inscription on the chair translates as the giver enjoys the reward of gratitude. Thomas founded the Mechanics Institute in 1852, but it became defunct around 1890, long after Thomas' passing.
Speaker 3:Wow. The Mechanics Institute clearly appreciated the input of John's father.
Speaker 2:Yes, and there's more about the Watts family community service. Back in the early 1800s there was no health insurance or government benefits or any of the support systems we expect in a modern compassionate society. Some caring people in England recognised this lack of support for the poor in particular and proposed that this could be overcome by the formation of friendly societies. In these societies, members regularly put a small amount into a fund and this could be distributed to them or their family in times of need. The Watts family set up friendly societies in Frampton and many of the surrounding villages.
Speaker 2:In 1837, john's mother, anne, set up a female septennial benefit club for the purpose of rendering pecuniary and medical relief to its members in times of sickness.
Speaker 2:Anne successfully ran the club until the end of its first seven-year term, whereupon she relinquished her permission because of failing health. They called it a septennial club because the progress of the club was reviewed once every seven years. The immense success of a female club gave rise to the establishment of a male septennial benefit club in 1844, and the two organisations were then run by her daughter Anne and son Thomas, who acted as treasurers, were then run by her daughter, anne and son Thomas, who acted as treasurers. Thomas, like his father, had become the local surgeon. Thomas was a busy man and most of the work for the clubs was left to Anne Held. In high affection of the villagers, anne was presented with a gift on the 28th and 35th that's, in 1872, anniversaries of the two clubs. Mention was made of the way she had detected and punished impostors, genuinely applied relief where it was needed and managed the finances. Unlike many other friendly societies, those managed by the Watts family always made a profit and did not have to close due to bankruptcy.
Speaker 3:Wow again, and they were really interested in the well-being of the villagers around them. This family has an extraordinarily strong moral compass pointing in the right direction.
Speaker 2:Yes, and that's in addition to the work John's father and then John's brother did as doctors in the locality. We need to discuss what was happening in their profession at the time. In the 1840s, doctors were in the front line of change. In the 1840s, doctors were in the front line of change. The population in the UK had almost doubled between 1800 and 1840. Towns had grown very quickly. Overcrowding led to disease. Conditions were generally very poor. In Manchester, for example, the average age at death in 1843 was just 24.2 years. In their daily rounds doctors were exposed to the worst of the conditions. And in the 1830s, to add to the industrial grime and deprivation, the dreaded cholera had appeared. There was no cure in sight for this lethal disease. Doctors were not trained as they are today.
Speaker 2:After some initial study, physicians qualified through a type of apprenticeships to other doctors and then they were examined by the Society of Apothecaries. John's father, thomas, took on young graduates as apprentices to improve their training. One young doctor who he took on was Dr George Mayo. He worked with Thomas from 1830 to 1832. We'll hear a lot more about Dr Mayo in later episodes.
Speaker 2:As licentiates of the Society of Apothecaries they were entitled to practice, but only those with academic scientific training could become a Doctor of Medicine, that's, an MD, after qualification. They would continue their study for membership of the Royal College of Physicians if they really wished. Surgeons had less training, learning mostly by experience, often on naval ships and often in battles. They would probably qualify by becoming members of the Royal College of Surgeons, but they didn't necessarily have to do so. The law did not restrict the practice of surgery and did not enforce a scientific education, a scientific education. Their dependence on fees, unless charities or local poor law boards employed them, added to the challenges of an increasing population and disease and a lack of scientific training. Thomas Watts was a dedicated doctor and was particularly interested in removing the witchcraft from the profession and improving its scientific basis. In 1839, when Thomas was 44 years old, the community held a ceremony to thank him for his medical and community service to Frampton-on-Seven and surrounding villages. The ceremony was reported in local newspapers. It is an exceedingly long report.
Speaker 1:Here are some selected parts of the report of that dayal from the bells of its venerable tower, and numerous were the parties seen from various quarters moving towards this attractive spot, and by about eleven o'clock the friendly societies of the neighbourhood had collected around their respective banners. About seven bands of music were engaged on this joyous and memorable occasion, and this period of congregating and proceeding in order to the ground was a most interesting prelude to the highly gratifying and animating scene about to follow. About twelve o'clock, the several societies attended with bands of music and many banners proceeded along the green to the residence of Mr Watts, and as they approached the house, the air of Auld Lang Syne appeared to harmonize with the deep sympathy which pervaded all hearts. On the appearance of Mr Watts, he was greeted with three long and loud cheers and, accompanied by his friends, he then joined the procession to a platform erected for the Ocassion opposite the Bell Inn and decorated very tastifully with evergreens.
Speaker 2:Then the newspaper report includes a speech made by a senior member of the village, the villager says.
Speaker 8:Fellow members, I will at once introduce the business of this day by reading you a resolution passed at a meeting of the deputations of the several societies under the professional care of Mr Watts, held at the Bell Inn on the 23rd of January last, resolved unanimously that a memorial embodying the high opinion that the several societies under the professional care of Mr Thomas Watts hold of him be presented to him on Monday, the 23rd day of January, to Mr Thomas Watts surgeon, fr Frampton-on-Seven. Sir, your memorial is deeply impressed with a sense of the many obligations they are under towards you as surgeon of the several societies under your professional care, for the philanthropic manner and ardent zeal in which you have discharged the duties of your profession and the unremitting toil used by you in their financial systems. Beg the favour of your acceptance, through this medium, of their financial systems. Beg the favor of your acceptance, through this medium of their heartfelt thanks, accompanying the same with their vote of approbation. And humbly begging the favor of your acceptance, at a future period, of a more tangible demonstration of the high esteem in which you are held by your memorialists, signed by the deputation and presented on Monday 23rd January 1839. Deputation and presented on Monday 23rd January 1839. The tangible token spoken of the memorial is now visible to all. The future period alluded to is now arrived and we are here assembled for the purpose of publicly requesting Mr Watts to accept the same, not as a gift or present of sterling or intrinsic value in itself, but to accept it as a pledge or token of the high opinion the several societies hold of him.
Speaker 8:It has been the custom from time immemorial to reward men of merit, likewise to record their meritorious actions. Hence we find one celebrated writer stating that men's good deeds are written in water. Another says in sand. We have followed the improvements of the age and caused a portion of Mr Watts' good deeds to be engraved upon silver, that it may be handed down to posterity as a memento of the high esteem he has gained, that generations yet unborn may look back with British pride at being the descendants of an ancestor whom the people so delighted to honour.
Speaker 8:Mr Smith of the Epney Society next advanced and presented Mr Watts with a most elegant silver tea kettle and stand with the following inscription, tastefully and beautifully engraved thereon V Z. Presented to Thomas Watts, surgeon of Frampton-upon-Seven, by the male and female friendly societies of Arlingham, cambridge, eastington, epney, frosister, framilode, frampton, hardwick and Wheatonhurst, as a token of the high regard in which he is held by them in the discharge of his professional duties. Ad 1839. Surmounted by hands united and on the other side, mr Watts's family crest, executed by cock savory of Cornhill in a most classical and correct taste to correspond with an elegant tea service which had, but a short time previously, been presented to the same individual by upwards of six hundred of his friends residing in the neighborhood. In a short and appropriate speech, he requested Mr Watts to accept it as a token of the high estimation in which he was held by the numerous members amounting nearly 1,300, of the societies now assembled to make this public demonstration of their attachment and respect for him.
Speaker 2:It's a pity that memento of the high esteem he has gained hasn't been passed down through the generations, but I can assure you that, to paraphrase the newspaper report, generations since born do look back with pride at being the descendants of an ancestor whom the people so delighted to honour. In response to all of this, thomas Watts then addressed his assembled friends.
Speaker 5:He said. My kind friends, I receive with great pleasure the handsome tribute which has just been placed in my hands by Mr Smith, the organ appointed by the societies now standing around me, as a testimony of the satisfaction I have given in the performance of my professional duties. This public expression of your kindness is particularly gratifying to a professional man who has resided amongst you and performed the duties allotted to him, to those around him, for more than twenty-three years. Let me now assure you that as long as I can continue to give general satisfaction, I shall be most happy to continue your medical officer, and when I can no longer perform those duties satisfactorily to myself and you, I will resign the trust into other and more competent hands. I say this because I have been told that as soon as I shall receive this expression of your regard, I should retire from the more arduous duties of my profession. I am not, my friend's, rich enough to do so, and if I were, I should greatly prefer being a useful member of society than a useless one.
Speaker 5:The gift which I have just now received is handsome and valuable. I might prize it for its intrinsic worth, but let me assure you, my kind friends, that such is not the case. I esteem the motives which are so kindly expressed in the engraving. I am also particularly grateful for the selection you have made in this particular article because it completes the tea service lately presented to me by six hundred of private patients and friends. It shows a kind feeling towards them and particularly so to myself. I am proud of this gift, and have a right to be so, because it is the first that has ever been given to one of my profession by so large assembly of his friends. I trust this pride will not make me less useful to you but will be an incentive to renewed exertions. Let me hope that it will be as a beacon of light to those who may follow me so to demean themselves in every action of their lives to gain a similar approbation and reward. It will be hailed by my professional brethren as the beginning of a new era in our profession. It has been aptly and happily likened by one's friends to roses in the desert or a green plot of ground in the midst of desert sands. This token of your regard is to me what the plot of ground is to the weary traveller in the dreary waste quite refreshing.
Speaker 5:Your grateful feelings towards me at this time are particularly acceptable because attempts have been made to degrade our honest, useful and honourable profession. Let me hope if the spirit that profession should be broken, it will, like the fabulous bird of history, arise more resplendent than ever from its own ashes. I feel, my friends, that no language is sufficiently strong at this moment to convey to you my feelings and thanks. Be assured I deeply feel this expression of your kindness. Accept again and again my best wishes for your happiness. I wish you prosperity in every relation of your lives. I pray that your homes may be happy and that we may often meet at the anniversary of your societies and when we are permitted, meet no more when it shall please God to call us. Hence that our lives may have been so spent and our faith so sure in our Redeemer as to procure for us, through his merits, a happy meeting in heaven where there will be no distinction of persons, where the rich man and the poor man will be equal.
Speaker 3:Well, what can I say? A remarkable man, a remarkable family and clearly a strong force for good in their community. What a splendid example to their future generations.
Speaker 2:Yes, knowing all this now, I am immensely proud of them. Thomas died on 13 September 1855. He was 60 years old. He was buried in the graveyard of St Mary the Virgin's Church. On 19 September. Soon after tributes appeared in local newspapers, One group decided to start a Watts Memorial Fund. They formed a committee to collect the funds. Having collected a substantial amount of money, the committee then asked the family members to decide how the funds should be spent. The family decided that the funds should go to the new Medical Benevolent College situated at Epsom.
Speaker 3:So what is the Medical Benevolent College?
Speaker 2:The Medical Benevolent College, now known as Epsom College, was founded in 1854. The original aims of the college were, firstly, to provide accommodation for pensioned medical doctors or their widows and secondly, to provide a liberal education to 100 sons of duly qualified medical men by getting donations from wealthy doctors. It was hoped to provide a home for poor doctors families, including the widows, and a school for poor doctors' families, including the widows, and a school for the doctors' sons and local orphans. A national fundraising campaign followed and Queen Victoria gave the college royal approval. In 1855, prince Albert, with Queen Victoria as patron, opened the Royal Medical Benevolent College. The name changed to Epsom College in 1910, but benevolence has remained at the heart of the college to this day. It was a major step forward for medicine in gaining recognition as a profession. The founders were equally supportive of the campaign for the Medical Act of 1858, which changed medicine into a university-trained profession controlled by its own professional body, now the British Medical Association.
Speaker 3:Okay, well, it sounds like the college aimed to improve the training of doctors at that time.
Speaker 2:Yes, as I said earlier, it was a period of profound change for the profession and medical treatment as well. I should point out that also at this time was the Crimean War, when Florence Nightingale advocated greater improvements in the standard of nursing.
Speaker 3:Do you know how the funds raised in memory of Thomas were used?
Speaker 2:Yes, the college decided that a memorial fund would be used for an annual prize. The Watts Prize was set up early in the college's history. The annual prize started on 30 December 1856 and was known as the Watts Science Prize. It continued to be presented for many years. On 30 June 1965, the Watts Memorial Prize Fund became a registered charity. So the funds raised as a memorial to Thomas Watts were used for over 100 years in supporting medical education, particularly for young aspiring doctors coming from poor families.
Speaker 3:Yeah well, the family clearly wanted a legacy that showed Thomas Watts's devotion to the modern medical profession.
Speaker 2:Yes, and it certainly became a lasting legacy.
Speaker 3:And it does seem that a good but humble country doctor had a positive influence on the improvement of the medical profession in England. Do you have anything more about the good doctor?
Speaker 2:Yeah, After Thomas' passing. In addition to the Watts Memorial Fund, the following tribute was placed in several local newspapers by members of the Frampton-on-Seven Mechanics Institute.
Speaker 9:They wrote the late Thomas Watts, core surgeon of Frampton-on-Seven I wrote. Highly respected and lamented gentleman. He was a man distinguished not only for his superior professional talent but in everything he undertook, either for public or private good. He was one of the greatest benefactors in the neighbourhood in which he lived and beloved by all. It may be truly said of him that he went about doing good, not only in healing the sick gratuitously where the parties could not afford to pay him, but if affliction or suffering of any kind occurred he always hastened to render his assistance in any way in which it could be done.
Speaker 9:And although he had it in his power in his latter days to have retired surrounded with every comfort and luxury which high intellect and an ample fortune could produce, his greatest pleasure consisted in laying himself out for the benefit of his poorer neighbours in the most elaborate and liberal manner.
Speaker 9:No man studied the interest, welfare and comfort of his fellow creature more than he did.
Speaker 9:But one of his greatest acts of public beneficence was his establishing and most liberally supporting the Frampton Mechanics Institute, and which institute has given evident proof its being of greatest benefit to the working classes. He felt the greatest pleasure in promoting every way its prosperity and usefulness. He was the willing and principal guide, director and best friend of the members and most sincerely do they all lament his loss and it is their particular desire, through their president, thus publicly to express their gratitude and their respect to his memory. Mr Watts, shortly before his death, expressed to Mr Horner his determination that the institution should never fail for want of support during his life and he hoped it would not after his death. And it is not doubted that some wealthy and influential gentleman in the neighbourhood will so far respect his memory as to come forward and take his position in the society. In making the above remarks, mr Horner is assured that he is expressing the feelings and sentiments of all classes of persons in Frampton and its neighbourhood.
Speaker 3:Well, it's certainly clear that the community held Dr Watson remarkably high regard.
Speaker 2:Yes, a remarkable man and a remarkable family. I do hope that a lot of his genes have been passed down through the family line. Well, I thought that we would include some of the advances in the medical profession that happened in the first half of the 19th century, when Thomas Watts was a local doctor in Frampton-on-Seven.
Speaker 3:Sounds good. What advances were made?
Speaker 2:We don't have time for a long history to listen here, so briefly. Number one René Lannayn invented the stethoscope and it helped save countless lives since its invention in 1816. Number two an extract of willow bark called salicin, after the Latin name for the white willow, salix albina, was isolated and named by German chemist Johann Andreas Buchner in 1828. A larger amount of the substance was isolated in 1829 by Henri Leroux, a French pharmacist. This was the beginning of aspirin. Number three In 1818, james Blundell performed the first successful human blood transfusion. But the world didn't know about blood types yet, so they weren't always successful. Number four NO2, or nitrous oxide was first discovered in 1772 by Joseph Priestley 1772, by Joseph Priestley. It would be a long time until an American dentist, horace Wells, first shows its usefulness as an anaesthetic in 1844. I must admit that I still like some nitrous when I have to visit the old dentist.
Speaker 3:Okay, it certainly looks like this is a period when the medical profession is evolving from witchcraft to science.
Speaker 2:Yes, and we will discuss this further in a later episode with the good doctor.
Speaker 3:OK, so you've convinced me that John Watts' father, thomas, is a remarkable man, and in fact his whole family was. They were members of the emerging middle class and they made a lot of money, but they dedicated their lives to public service an admirable attribute. But what's this got to do with John and his going to South Australia?
Speaker 2:As we'll see in later seasons, public service does seem to be in the genes of many Watts descendants. John's younger brother goes on to follow his father in the medical profession and in his public service.
Speaker 4:But John says in his personal reminiscences my brother was apprenticed to my father, but I disliked the profession so much that I went to a practical farmer to prepare myself for a colonial life. I went through all the usual course, learning to plough, shear milk cows and the general management of a farm. Our butcher let me go to his place and learn to slaughter both sheep, pigs and cattle. Our blacksmith was also glad to let me come to his shop and learn to turn a horseshoe and put it on.
Speaker 3:It's interesting how the son of an esteemed local doctor was keen to learn a workman's craft and how the local workers and farmers were happy to oblige. It seems that class barriers weren't that high there.
Speaker 2:Yeah, something to do with the way that the Watts family acted in the village. But John wanted a life of adventure in the colonies. And how could this come to fruition? It would take a series of events to come together, and the question remained Would John's father approve of him going to the colonies? The answer to that question will be revealed in later episodes covering the background of the Hack family and Dr George Mayo.
Speaker 3:Okay, well, thanks for listening. So it's goodbye from me, and it's goodbye from me, thank you.