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Overview
The setting is the city of Melbourne in the latter half of the 19th century, when it grew rapidly, due to the extensive amount of gold flowing from mid-Victoria. It concerns Dr James Beaney, a very colourful and controversial surgeon, who amassed a fortune from his practice, and displayed it in the jewellery he wore. He was, however, a generous benefactor to the Melbourne University and hospitals in Melbourne, as well as to his birthplace, the city of Canterbury in Kent. Beaney, not for the first time, after his re-appointment to the Melbourne Hospital was implicated in a court case following the death of a patient he had operated on for a large bladder stone. The inquest is outlined in considerable detail and the skill displayed by James Purves, the brilliant young barrister who defended him, will be evident to the reader.
“One of the most interesting and enjoyable books I have read for some time. Beaney was a colourful character in a booming time in Melbourne, and this has been brought splendidly to life by Brian Collopy.”
– Professor Sir Peter Morris, AC, FRS, FRCS, Nuffield Professor of Surgery Emeritus, University of Oxford
Product Details
ISBN-13: | 9781925231656 |
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Publisher: | Glass House Books |
Publication date: | 03/10/2018 |
Pages: | 250 |
Product dimensions: | 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.57(d) |
About the Author
Table of Contents
Introduction 5
1. Re-election 13
2. Settling back into the hospital 27
3. 1875 Melbourne: more and less marvellous 36
4. Indulgences: pleasure, politics and a little medicine 50
5. Two problem cases and the consequences 63
6. The inquest 92
7. The inquest continues 132
8. Webb weaving 162
9. The plot won’t succeed 178
10. The verdict and public reaction 217
Epilogue 227
Bibliography 241