(Material researched & presented by Barbara Armstrong)

INTRODUCTION
We will never know the name of the first person to bring homœopathic medicines to Victoria. It was probably an immigrant who packed a homœopathic medicine chest along with his or her other belongings, in order to provide medical treatment for their family in this distant and potentially dangerous country where medical practitioners were scarce.

We do know that one such person was the Anglican Bishop Perry. He and his wife arrived in Melbourne in 1848. In England in 1837, Bishop Perry had been treated by Dr Simpson, Australia's first homœopath. Perry and his wife became keen supporters of homœopathy in Melbourne – Bishop Perry as Patron of the Melbourne Homœopathic Dispensary, and Mrs Perry as Patron of the Melbourne Homœopathic Hospital.

However, Bishop Perry was not a homœopathic practitioner; that is, a person, whether a registered medical practitioner or not, who provided consultations and medicines to patients in a business capacity.

Frederick Cox ATKINSON
One possible contender for the title of first homœopathic practitioner in Victoria is a man called Frederick Cox Atkinson. There is a mystery surrounding his background, as there was also a person called Frederick C. Atkinson who first appeared in Hobart's newspapers in May 1848, advertising the opening of The Homœopathic Establishment at Macquarie Street, Hobart. ¹(At this stage I believe that Mr Atkinson established Australia's first pharmacy specialising in homœopathy.) Earlier that year, on 23 January 1848, a person called 'Dr Atkinson' arrived in Hobart from London aboard the Tasmanian.² It is possible that this was Frederick C. Atkinson, as he was sometimes given the title of 'Doctor'.

It appears that the pharmacy did not last very long, as there were no further advertisements for Mr Atkinson and his Homœopathic Establishment after September 1848. Thereafter Mr Atkinson disappeared from Tasmania's public records.

Frederick Cox Atkinson appeared in the Melbourne records from at least December 1852 when he married widow Isabella Caird. They did not have any children together, but he must have cared for his wife's child as his will left money to his stepson and his stepson's children.

His death certificate stated that he had arrived in Victoria a few years earlier, around 1849. There are no shipping records of him arriving from overseas around that time. However, there was a Mr Atkinson who travelled from Launceston to Melbourne aboard the Shamrock on 25 August 1849. ³ Could this have been Frederick Atkinson, and could Melbourne's Frederick C. Atkinson be the same person as Tasmania's Frederick C. Atkinson? So far I have been unable to definitively prove that this is the case, although the available information tends to point that way.

Frederick Cox Atkinson, son of William and Ellen Atkinson, was baptised on 29 April 1813 at Christ Church, Southwark, London. According to England's 1841 census he was a coal merchant living with his mother's sisters at Ripon, Yorkshire. From 1843 to 1848 he was listed in London's post office directories as being a coal merchant working for the firm of Weddell and Atkinson located at Cannon Wharf, Cannon Row, Westminster. According to the Commercial Gazette of August 1847 the partnership between Weddell and Atkinson was dissolved, and he does not appear in England's 1851 census. This would match the time period when Frederick C. Atkinson decided to depart on his journey to Tasmania, arriving there in January 1848.

In the Melbourne post office directory for 1854 Atkinson was initially listed as a surgeon at 161 Little Bourke Street East. The rate records state that it was a brick cottage with two rooms, and unlike many other cottages at the time, there was specific mention that the building also had a separate kitchen room. Today it is hard to imagine that a surgeon would live and work in such small premises, especially given the fact that he also had a wife and child living there. In subsequent years his directory listing was altered to 'chemist and druggist'. He moved to 187 Stephenson Street (now called Exhibition Street), near the corner of La Trobe Street. This location had a shop and a residence with three rooms.

If this was the same person as Tasmania's Frederick C. Atkinson, then it is probable that his pharmacy in Melbourne also stocked homœopathic medicines and he provided consultations and advice for their use. However, this cannot be proved. Very little is known about him during his Melbourne years as, very unusually for the time, he did not announce himself or advertise his services either as a chemist or as a practitioner. At this stage I have found no specific evidence to show that he was a homœopath, just circumstantial evidence about his possible background in Tasmania.

Victoria's Medical Act of 1862 required medical practitioners to become registered and it was illegal for those who were not registered to use the title 'doctor'. While Atkinson did not have a recognised medical qualification, the Act included a clause which allowed the registration of people who did not have a diploma or licence, provided they had practised regularly in Victoria since January 1853 and had passed a regular course of medical or surgical instruction.

From 1862 Dr Atkinson was listed by the Medical Board as a registered medical practitioner under a separate category for those without a formal medical qualification, his being the first such certificate which was issued. So far I have not discovered how and where he had been able to pass a 'regular course of medical or surgical instruction'. He continued to be listed in the Trade Directory as a chemist as well as a medical practitioner until 1865. After that, he was listed solely as a medical practitioner. From 1869 to 1871 he was at Barkly Street, Carlton. He resided in Pelham Street, Carlton during 1872 and 1873, then 176 Madeline Street, Carlton during 1874.

Dr Atkinson died on October, 1875 at Pelham Street, Carlton. His death certificate, signed by the famous Dr Brownless of Melbourne University fame, stated that he had suffered from paralysis for two months. According to his will, he had been blind for several years. This is probably the reason why, although he remained on the Medical Board's list of registered medical practitioners, he did not appear in the post office directory's list of physicians from 1872 onwards. His will stated that he wanted to be 'decently and respectfully buried but without any show or extravagance in any way whatever'. His wishes were honoured. He is buried in the Baptist section of the Melbourne General Cemetery in an unmarked plot.

OTHER CONTENDERS
Even if Melbourne's Frederick Cox Atkinson was the same person as Tasmania's Frederick C. Atkinson, to-date no documentary evidence has been found to prove that he continued to practise homœopathy. Therefore at this stage it has been impossible to categorically prove whether or not Frederick Cox Atkinson was Victoria's first homœopathic practitioner, commencing on or about 1849. If not Atkinson, who might be the other contenders?

According to records found to-date, the main other contender for this title is Thomas Hill Goodwin who advertised his services in 1852. He therefore pre-dated Geelong veterinary surgeon Richard Thomas Wallis (1853), John Bell Hickson and Robert Palk (1854), and Thiennette de Bérigny (1855). Also, Homéopathe International incorrectly gives credit to Dr Johannes Werner Günst for introducing homœopathy to Melbourne (and Australia), although he did not arrive in Melbourne until the mid-1860s. ⁴

Thomas Hill GOODWIN
Thomas Hill Goodwin was born 1 December 1824 at Holt Mill, Worcestershire. He was one of seven children born to John Goodwin, a miller, and Sarah Wagstaff. John senior became a Justice of the Peace and Alderman of the City of Worcester.

In October 1848 Thomas married Marian Elizabeth Baker [1825 - 1853]. According to the English census of 1851, Thomas was a book seller and stationer and they were living at Worcester, Worcestershire.

Thomas and Marian, and Thomas' brother Frederick, age 17, arrived in Melbourne on 15 September 1852 aboard the Deborah. ⁵ Thomas and Marian had one son, born on 22 July 1853. ⁶ Very sadly, Marian died a few days later, on 27 July 1853, the death notice stating 'Her end was perfect peace'. ⁷ Their son, Napier Clark Hamilton Goodwin, died the following year on 1 March, age 7 months. ⁸

At this stage it appears that Thomas Hill Goodwin was the first person in Victoria to advertise himself as a provider of homœopathic services. His first advertisement appeared in The Argus soon after his arrival, on 14 October 1852. ⁹

A gentleman lately arrived from England, has for disposal cases of Homœopathic Medicines, with books of instructions for their use, by Drs Currie, Laurie, Epps, Chepmell, and others.

The advertiser, having experienced the beneficial effects of the homœopathic treatment and witnessed it in numerous other cases, can with confidence recommend it. To heads of families, whether in town or in the bush, it is invaluable.

"Not only have all the slighter diseases, whether acute or chronic, been cured by homœopathic treatment, but even all the severe and more dangerous diseases which require the employment of prompt and strong measures to prevent a fatal issue, have been overcome." - Dr Forbes, physician in ordinary to the Queen.
Apply between the hours of 2 and 6 at 132 La Trobe-street West

His next advertisement appeared on 27 January 1853. ¹⁰

GENUINE HOMŒOPATHIC MEDICINES
may be had of T.H. Goodwin, Lonsdale-street East,
corner of Spring-street

He provided more descriptive advertisements from 12 April 1853. ¹¹

HOMŒOPATHIC MEDICINES

The advertiser having experienced the beneficial effects of these preparations,
strongly recommends them to the notice of all who suffer from the debilitating
influence of this climate, as the most certain and effectual remedy for dysentery, low fever and all other diseases the flesh is heir to. Sold in cases, or separately, with full directions,
by T.H. Goodwin, 189 Lonsdale-street East.

By September 1853 Mr Goodwin had moved to 217 Swanston Street, opposite the Supreme Court. Advertised under the title 'Homœopathic Dispensary', he stated that he was in attendance from 10 till 4 daily, Sundays excepted. He had a great variety of homœopathic medicine chests on sale, which were accompanied with full directions for use. '... to families residing in the bush, or at the diggings, they are invaluable'. For invalids he sold 'genuine homœopathic or dietetic cocoa'. ¹²

His advertisement of October 1853 stated:

To Invalids - The only genuine and really good homœopathic cocoa is to be obtained at the Homœopathic Dispensary, 217 Swanston Street (opposite the Supreme Court).

Drug Diseases - Persons suffering from the ill effects of large doses of medicine administered under the Allopathic System, will do well to consult Mr Goodwin at the Homœopathic Dispensary. ¹³

In January 1854 Mr Goodwin moved to 17 Stephen Street, near the Yarra, where he provided medical advice daily, and where he had medicine chests and books about homœopathy for sale. (Stephen Street is now called Exhibition Street.) ¹⁴

On 18 July 1854 Mr Goodwin announced that the Homœopathic Dispensary would close on the following Wednesday, because he was leaving Melbourne. He advised that persons desirous of obtaining homœopathic medicines 'should apply without delay'. ¹⁵

While Mr Goodwin had his premises at 17 Stephen Street, two doors away at 21 Stephen Street lived Rev. Septimus Lloyd Chase. Rev. Chase was a key figure in the founding the Church of England missions to the aborigines in 1853. It was not until 1854 that a missionary could be found who was willing to devote himself to the task. That person who had offered his services was his nearby neighbour, T.H. Goodwin.

Goodwin was given a licence as a lay reader from the Bishop of Melbourne, and then left Melbourne in

Rev Goodwin's grave (Melbourne General Cemetery) Photo courtesy of Peter Torokfalvy

September to establish a missionary station at the junction of the Darling and Murray rivers. The aboriginal name for the station was Yelta, north of Wentworth. The district over which Goodwin travelled extended from Swan Hill to the South Australian border, and upwards of 300 miles up the River Darling. (By coincidence, during my research I discovered that one of my relatives, also a Church of England minister, had visited Rev Goodwin at Yelta during the 1800s and knew him well.)

The intention of the Committee was to engage the services of an ordained missionary. They also wanted to engage the services of another assistant, if possible a married man, who could help the missionaries in their work, 'and whose wife would attend to household affairs'. ¹⁶

Goodwin must have continued to treat patients during his time on the station as, at the third annual meeting of the Missions, it was reported that 'Mr Goodwin's knowledge of medicine has proved very beneficial'. ¹⁷

Goodwin was ordained Deacon by the Bishop at St James' Church, Melbourne on 22 December 1861.

On 18 August 1864 he married Letitia E. Going née Pennefather [1832 - 1907]. They had 6 children.

Rev. Goodwin worked at Yelta for 14 years. By 1870 Rev. Goodwin and his family had moved from Yelta and he became minister of the parishes of Bacchus Marsh, Mansfield, Gisborne (twice) and Heathcote.

From 1880 to 1892 he was Church of England Chaplain at the Melbourne Cemetery. At age 91 he was living at 'Ballynira', Balmoral Avenue, East Kew. From around 1900 he became engaged in the transcription of books for the use of the blind, on behalf of the Braille Association. By 1916 he had transcribed nearly 190 books. He was given a life membership because of his work. ¹⁸

Rev. Goodwin died on 7 October, 1917, aged 93 and was buried at the Melbourne General Cemetery.

Richard Thomas WALLIS
The second person in Victoria to advertise his use of homœopathic treatment for his patients was a veterinary surgeon, Richard Thomas Wallis.

Richard was born around 1820 at Halstead, Essex, son of veterinary surgeon William Wallis and his wife Esther. England's 1841 Census shows that Richard was already working in his father's profession. According to his advertisements, he became a Member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons. In 1848 Richard married Catherine Burton. England's 1851 Census shows that they had a one year old son, Frank Burton Wallis. They were living at Brentwood, Essex.

Richard, his wife, and their two infant children arrived in Victoria aboard the Bangalore. They arrived on 4 September, 1852, just 11 days before Thomas Goodwin. Unlike Goodwin who settled in Melbourne, the Wallis family decided to live in Geelong, where Richard immediately advertised that he had commenced in his profession as a veterinary surgeon. ¹⁹ At this stage there was no mention of his use of homœopathy as part of his treatment, although he later (in 1867) claimed that he had used this therapeutic practice since 1852. To-date there is no documentary proof of this claim.

Interestingly, Richard's initial point of contact for people wanting to engage his services in Geelong was Mr Benjamin Poulton, Chemist. (By 1866 Mr Poulton had moved to Melbourne where for the first time he commenced advertising his business as a homœopathic pharmacy.)

Richard's first residence was at Halstead Place, Villamanta Street, New Town, Geelong.

It was not until July 1853 that his advertisements started to mention homœopathy. ²⁰

MR R. T. WALLIS, FELLOW
of the VETERINARY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION,
LONDON, begs to inform Horse and Stable Proprietors
in Geelong and its Suburbs, that he continues his
VETERINARY PRACTICE, at charges in a ratio to the
requisite skill and attention bestowed. Residence
       HOMŒOPATHIC DISPENSARY,
           Halstead Place,
                  Villamanta-street

In a letter to the Editor of the Geelong Advertiser he stated that inoculation was 'the most speedy means of cure for Scab in sheep, although alternate doses of Rhus Toxicodendron (poison-oak) and Arsenicum have been employed beneficially, divesting the malady well-nigh of its malignant and destructive nature'. ²¹

Later in the same year it appears that Mr Wallis had decided that he would expand his practice to include human patients. He advertised as follows. ²²

MEDICAL NOTICE TO GOLD DIGGERS
HOMŒOPATHY offers the most
speedy, safe, and effectual means of cure for all
diseases - Chronic or Acute. Gold diggers and others who
may be suffering from Catarhal affections, Epidemic dy-
sentery, and their sequel, will best consult their own bodily
and pecuniary interests by communicating with Mr
WALLIS, Homœopathic Practitioner, Halstead-place,
Villamanta-street, Geelong.
NOTE - Suitable medicines furnished gratis, on pay-
ment of half-guinea fee.
P.S. - The remedies can be transmitted per post twice
a week, on receipt of a letter describing symptoms of malady,
together with address accurately stated, and a
reference for payment in Geelong.

In late 1858 Mr Wallis told his landlord that he intended to leave Villamanta Street in mid-February the following year. However, because of the 'delicate state of health' of his wife, Richard arranged to stay on. Because of disagreements about the terms of the new lease, the owner then served Wallis with a notice for him to leave and the case went to court. ²³ The reasons for the illness in the household became clear when the newspaper reported the death of his infant daughter, Blanche Cooper, of congestive pneumonia. ²⁴ According to the family headstone where she was buried, she was not even one week old.

A few weeks later Mr Wallis announced that he had moved around the corner to Parkington Street. ²⁵

In the Geelong directories for 1854, 1856 and 1858 he was listed as a Veterinary Surgeon. By February 1860 he regularly used the title 'Doctor', although he had no recognised qualifications as a doctor of medicine.

In April 1860 Mr Wallis gave a lecture on homœopathy at the Mechanics' Institute, the meeting being chaired by the Mayor of Geelong. ²⁶ A few allopathic doctors were present. Mr Wallis had invited them to attend, as he said that at one time he had been a member of the guild of 'the allopathic brotherhood'.

After sketching the rise and progress of the science of homœopathy, the lecturer proceeded to recite numerous cases, wherein cures had been effected by homœopathic treatment after the patients had been given up by their allopathic advisers. The lecturer then went on to demonstrate the fallacy of attributing homœopathic cures merely to the effects of diet, or to a stricter system of medical discipline, or to imagination, or in short to the more self-repairing powers of nature when fair play is allowed her. As for diet, he contended that many of his patients whom he had treated homœopathically with the greatest success, were poor persons who had it not in their power to commit dietetic excess; and as for imagination, he refuted that fallacy by the argument that several other of his patients, whom he had almost miraculously cured, were children, - too young to perceive anything, and therefore especially unconscious of any fancied superiority of a homœopathic globule over an allopathic dose.

Dr Wallis' family grave (Geelong West Cemetery) Photo courtesy of Peter Torokfalvy

Showing his allegiance to homœopathy, when Richard's next son was born in early 1861, the parents named him Samuel Hahnemann Wallis. Sadly, Samuel died just 9 weeks later.

Wallis was twice listed in the 1861 Geelong directory, once as a Homœopathist, and separately under 'Medical Practitioners'. The Medical Act of 1862 made it illegal to use the title 'Doctor' unless registered as a legally qualified medical practitioner approved by the Medical Board. Therefore in the Directory for 1866 he was no longer eligible to be listed as a Medical Practitioner, instead being listed as a Homœopathist. By this time he was at Myers Street, Geelong.

At the beginning of May 1867 he auctioned off his household furniture and effects and moved to Ballarat, where he advertised as follows (illegally using the title of 'Doctor'). ^{27, 28}

DR WALLIS
HOMŒOPATHIC PRACTITIONER (recently
of Geelong), begs to inform the residents of
Ballarat and its vicinity he has become their profes-
sional ally, and trusts his initial introduction
of the above "therapeutic practice" anent [concerning] Victoria from the
year 1852 will ensure in its behalf a just meed [reward] of their
approbation and support.

He was living in Doveton Street, in a 6-roomed brick cottage with a detached kitchen. The owner of the property put it up for sale a few months later, in September. ²⁹

The final record of Richard Wallis, homœopathic physician, was his death notice in the Geelong Advertiser. ³⁰ He died at The Hospital, Ballarat West, on 5 April 1868. His headstone states that he was aged 48.

According to his death certificate he died of meningitis and apoplexy of 3 months' duration. Several days later he was buried at the Western Cemetery, Geelong in the same plot as Blanche Cooper and Samuel Hahnemann. He was survived by his wife, Catherine, and 5 of his 7 children. Catherine and two of their spinster daughters were also buried in the plot next to Richard.

CONCLUSION

Humans AND animals were the beneficiaries of the introduction of homœopathy. Therefore it is perhaps significant and appropriate that one of the first people in Victoria to treat patients with homœopathic medicines, Richard Wallis, started life as a veterinary surgeon, while Thomas Goodwin treated the ailments of people.

The profiles of these men were typical of the pioneering days in Victoria. They did not have formal qualifications to treat humans, yet appear to have been successful. Goodwin and Wallis suffered the loss of family members. As was common with 'men of the church', Thomas Goodwin used his medical knowledge and presumably his knowledge of homœopathic medicines in his role as a missionary tending to the needs of his flock.

There are several reasons why they were forgotten to history. Their careers as homœopaths were relatively short-lived; they did not produce publications or seek overt publicity; they did not try to publicly challenge allopathy and the status quo; in Goodwin's case his time as a homœopath came and went before the 'conventional' doctors gained strength and created a legal monopoly on the provision of medical treatment. By contrast, later homœopathic practitioners, who became more famous, had longer careers and higher public profiles. They wrote pamphlets and/or numerous letters to the editors of newspapers. As such, they were obvious targets for the unionised allopathic medical profession and gained greater publicity which resonated down to our century. As a result, it was these later practitioners who were given the credit for being 'first'.

Until my discovery of their stories, both 'homœopathists', Goodwin and Wallis, had disappeared from history. Neither person had been given the credit which they deserved as 'firsts' in the history of homœopathy in Australia. It is hoped that this article has redressed this situation.

As for Frederick Cox Atkinson, his contribution to our history has been forgotten because, for whatever reason, he decided not to advertise his services either as doctor or chemist in Melbourne's newspapers. His use of homœopathy can only be inferred if it can be proved that he was the same person as Tasmania's first homœopathic practitioner, Frederick C. Atkinson. Therefore, at this stage 'the jury is out' regarding Frederick Cox Atkinson and his potential status as 'Victoria's first homœopathic practitioner'.

©   Barbara Armstrong

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