Doctor BENSON or Quack?

[majm]

 

Hi Judith,  I can tell you lots about Maj. Bowler (there's the odd street or two named in his honor) and I can tell you that Beaudesert was a locality within the Mudgee Police District at that time,  and even lots about the Coombing Estate 

I have found that advert several times, so far I have NOT found any indication of that Dr's given names ....  But there were so many people with the surname BENSON in NSW at that time ....


Hi Everyone, especially the Benson descendants (I am not a descendant),

May I ask a direct question or two or three ... please of the BENSON rellies who are following this thread ... 

Q1 Who has transcripts of the various NSW BDM certs  for this BENSON line ...,

Q2 what is the information on each of those transcripts (including the NSW BDM Ref nos) and apart from NSW BDM certs,

Q3 who has photocopies of the NSW State Records Office files that are part of this family, what can be gleaned from these .... 

I feel sure that the answers are contained within those NSW records, but NOT in the online indexes for those records... 

Just for the record  I have mentioned previously that NSW Probate Packets are often very good.  I mention now that one of my NSW forebears ... well the probate packet took up four packets and nearly 200 A4 pages of photocopying and around 20 A3 pages of photocopying ...

Yes, within that one packet "THERE WERE FOUR PACKAGES ..I was fortunate to be able to get copies of NSW bdm certs for various family members, the will itself, the legal processes, (it was appealed ) the various family members and their addresses etc when they gave witness (including clear signatures) newspaper cuttings of the various notices in the newspaper, the legal title references for the various properties .... including the original grantee's names (a treasure in itself) ... 

So instead of worrying about whether Dr BENSON was or was not legally qualified (in the sight of the NSW Medical Board at some stage during his life in NSW) or not, I can see so VERY many more things of interest  that family members looking for their own family history can FIND.
 
For example on an index at the NSW State Records
*   Barker Joseph Benson Date of death 25 December 1871, Probate Granted on 13 February 1872
*  Hannah Benson Date of death 23 March 1884, Probate Granted on 30 April 1885
*  Thomas Barker Joseph Benson - Date of Death 22/02/1936, Probate Granted on 05/08/1936 

Cheers,  hoping I am not overstepping the mark in being so direct,

JM
 

[carna]

Hi All,
Thank you all so very much for the information that you have all posted.
Each of you has added to the picture and I am extremely grateful.

Carna

[majm]

Hi there,

For further research:
http://www.records.nsw.gov.au/state-archives/guides-and-finding-aids/archives-in-brief/archives-in-brief-72

NSW Medical Board

NRS 9871, Minutes of proceedings and registers, 1838-1972 *ARK [Fiche only]
Reel 2668, Fiche 840-843, Reels 2656, 2658
The first volume, which covers the years December 1838-February 1901, was used as both a minute book and register for the period December 1838 to February 1854. From February 1854 it was used only as a register of medical practitioners enrolled by the Board. An index to names of medical practitioners, giving page and number, is on Fiche 843.

Remembering of course that in the second year of the Reign of Queen Victoria the NSW Legislative Council was also a very new form of partial self government.   The Act is : Act 2nd Victoria, cap. 22 and was clearly established to ensure that Coroners and Medical Witnesses at Coronial Inquiries were legally and lawfully qualified. 

EDIT TO ADD that Act of Parliament commenced 31 Dec 1838 ...  link  http://investigator.records.nsw.gov.au/Entity.aspx?Path=%5CActivity%5C127

Carna, thank you for your Thank you, 

When you have a moment, please do consider responding to my somewhat direct questions.

Cheers, JM

[Barkrelsatthepoint]

Hi all,
Went to a meeting that wasn't on till tomorrow night - brain must be getting fuzzy.

Thought I'd surf the net for info on Alfred Robson Benson MRCSL who is Barker's first cousin born same year by his Uncle William. There's been some new posts on the net and this little bit of info may shed some info on the British side of things.

Alfred Robson is listed as a passenger on the Harpooner as surgeon and clerk.
When he witnesses the signing of the treaty with the Indians he uses the initials MRCSL after his name.

He was however not admitted to the Royal College of Surgeons until 1848.
see http://www.bmj.com/content/s1-12/10/local/admin.pdf which is a British Medical Association document, - could explain Barker's registration delay (if it even happened).

Also found an ad in 'The Lancet' 1841, from the Dean of the Royal college of Surgeons asking people with Diplomas to register their names for listing in the next year - Barker may have missed all this info as he was on his way here.

Henry Walker Benson a Benson genealogist  in late 1800's who's Barker's uncle, when discussing Benson history speaks of the aversion his father (William) being a Quaker had to titles - wonder if this is a family trait??? 

May not be much help but is food for thought.

Death Certificate Regn No is 1871/001862 for Barker - is this what you want JM? Haven't got any other official doc's.

Just to clarify this is Carna's thread - I'm really only interested in presenting my grandchildren with an idea of those great Benson men and women who make up their past. Nevertheless I've got researching in the blood and degrees for it, so will happily follow what gets posted.   

Cheers barkrels

       

[majm]

..... Death Certificate Regn No is 1871/001862 for Barker - is this what you want JM? Haven't got any other official doc's. 

Hi, I am not a descendant, but I may be able to offer some suggestions if you would be able to transcribe that d.c. ... is it a transcript from an official transcriber or is it the certified copy from NSW BDM Reg Gen's office?

Back shortly with the usual headings on a typical NSW d.c. for that era

Full Name of the Deceased
Date of death
Place of death
Age
Occupation
Cause of death, length of illness, when last seen by the doctor, and the doctor's name and address
Father's name and occupation (and if deceased)
Mother's name (maiden surname) (and if deceased)
Date, and place of marriage/s (AND of course name of the Spouse including often a nee name) and if more than 1 marriage, then each is listed in chronological order, and the children of each marriage listed under their respective family)
Names of children of each marriage, (in chronological order, except any who preceded the deceased these are often just shown as the number of males and the number of females)
Deceased's birthplace
Length of time in the Colonies (so this will often show each of the Colonies and the length in each)
Burial details, including the date of burial, the funeral director, the two official witnesses to the burial and the address of the funeral director
The name and address of the Informant
The Date the death (and burial) were registered, and the NSW BDM Reg General's district that received the lodgement documents.


THERE they are (much more info on NSW certs than UK ones, alas we don't have Census records though)


Cheers,  JM

[carna]

Thanks again jm,

As yet, unfortunately my answer to all 3 of your questions is no for me.
I have none of the transcripts mentioned, but from the list that you have given, that will be the first job tomorrow morning.

I still haven't processed all of todays information. I didn't expect there to be so much.
But I am so excited at the prospect of now being able to put the story together.
I am especially greatful for the reminders of the times they lived in (the bullocks etc and the starting of the medical registers)

Thanks for helping paint the picture,
Carna

[majm]

By 1848, still on the Central Coast, he performed a post mortem for the coroner.

The newspaper cutting re that post mortem .. starts at page 2, continues on page 3.
Wednesday 4 October 1848  SMH
http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/28648143

.....Barker Joseph Benson, M.D., having been called in and duly sworn, deposed-that at the request of the coroner he had made a post mortem examination of the body ....

I note that this is ten years after the NSW Act of Parliament commenced re qualifying persons.  I note that the Coroner requested Dr Benson to conduct the PM.  I note that Coroner was a salaried position in the NSW Civil service.  I note that the Coroner would thus NOT be seeking a quack to conduct a PM, for that would jepodize the employment of the Coroner.

BUT more than that I note the expert medical evidence that Dr Benson provided to the Coroner's Inquest ...

Cheers,  JM

[majm]

Re Storekeeper in 1842 as per

was a storekeeper on the Central Coast in 1842.

I think he was also DOCTORING in 1842

19 December 1842 SMH
http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/12427150   Dr BENSON, late of Brisbane Waters, and  recently had stayed at the Royal Oak ...

Trove is a great resource !

Cheers,  JM

[carna]

Hi, JM,

I mustn't have hit the POST button when I thanked you personally yesterday. Sorry.

I want to thank you for all the effort you are putting into this thread.
I really appreciate it as I am only new to family history (just over 3 months) and alot of my information so far has come from kind people on RootsChat ,like yourself.

Your post including the questions, was not seen as overstepping the mark, but instead it was extremely helpful to me. I am still learning where to go to find the info, and didn't know about state records. THANK YOU.

Trove is one resource  I did know about, but hadn't seen the article Dec 1842.

Thanks again,
Carna

P.S. Thanks heaps to all replies. From all the info provided I can only assume that he was qualified, probably in England before he came here and that is possibly why he wasn't registered.

All help was useful and greatly appreciated,
Carna