Dr Allan Campbell, c. 1880

Reproduction courtesy of State Library                  of South Australia.  SLSA: B 22103/93

(Material researched & presented by Barbara Armstrong)

[1836 – 1898]

Dr Campbell was born in Glasgow, Scotland. He originally studied architecture, but because of poor health, he changed direction and studied medicine instead. Campbell gained his medical qualifications in Edinburgh and Glasgow in 1864 (LRCP and LFPS) and in the 1866 edition of the London and Provincial Homœopathic Medical Directory he was recorded as holding the position of Resident Medical Officer at the London Homœopathic Hospital.

He arrived in Adelaide in January 1867, where he joined the practice of Dr Wheeler. Immediately upon his arrival he became involved with the establishment of the Adelaide Homœopathic Dispensary, and became its first Honorary Medical Officer, along with Dr Henry Wheeler. He devotedly provided his services for 27 years until the closure of the dispensary, just five years before his death. He married the sister of Sir Samuel Way, who was also a keen supporter of homœopathy.

In 1870 Dr Campbell was in partnership with Dr Andrew Miller.

He was responsible for several publications:

“How to manage a baby” – a lecture delivered at the City Mission Hall, Adelaide, 1878.

“The sanitary aspects of the deep-drainage system of Adelaide” – reprinted from the South Australian Register.

“The people’s health. Interesting notes and suggestions.” 1898.

“S.A. Institute of Hygiene and Bacteriology. Inaugural address on tuberculosis.” 1898.

Because of his report on sanitation, in 1876 he was appointed as a district health officer, and as a result, Adelaide became the first Australian capital to undertake a deep-drainage sewer system. When an epidemic struck the city, he and his brother (Dr WM Campbell, also a homœopath) rented a shop in Currie Street, which they called the Children’s Outpatients Dispensary. They often treated the children free of charge.

The South Australian Directory for 1878 listed Drs William and Allan Campbell as homœopathic physicians at premises on the corner of Hindley and King William Streets. Allan Campbell also had an entry at North Terrace East, on the south side, corner of Stephens Place.

The Allan Campbell Building                  Adelaide Children's Hospital in North Adelaide

Photo courtesy of Alison Hicks

Dr Campbell was also a leading figure in the establishment of the Adelaide Children’s Hospital, which opened on 6 August 1879. Three of the

The Allan Campbell Building                        Adelaide Children's Hospital in North Adelaide

Photo courtesy of Alison Hicks

hospital’s six doctors were homœopaths (Allan Campbell and his brother W.M. Campbell, and S.J. Magarey, son of Thomas Magarey). He was also responsible for establishing a training school for nurses. In 1893 he established a home-nursing scheme for Bowden, which was one of Adelaide’s poorest suburbs. 1894 he was one of the founders of the District Trained Nursing Society, an extension of the Bowden project.

Dr Campbell was involved with numerous philanthropic works. He was outspoken against the sweated labour conditions of female shirt-makers.

Dr Campbell became a Member of the Legislative Council, and was very much pro-federation.

Despite his life-long work for the Adelaide Homœopathic Dispensary, there was no mention of this, or his background as a homœopath, in his obituaries or other summaries of his life.

[For more details also see the document on Homœopathic Pharmacies, Dispensaries & Manufacturers on this website. Also see the article by Barbara Armstrong on “The Adelaide Homœopathic Dispensary” in Similia June 2007, Vol 19:1, the journal of the Australian Homœopathic Association.]

Dr Campbell was buried in Adelaide's North Road Church of England Cemetery.

See also the reference to Allan Campbell in the Australian Dictionary of Biography.

©   Barbara Armstrong      

       www.historyofhomeopathy.au

Commemorative stained glass window                                                   Adelaide Children's Hospital Chapel		Plaque associated with the stained glass window                                            Hospital Chapel
Photo courtesy of Alison Hicks		Photo courtesy of Alison Hicks
Allan  Campbell's gravestone                                          North Road Church of England Cemetery (Adelaide)
Photo courtesy of Alison Hicks