Person
Bland, William (1789 - 1868)
- Born
- 5 November 1789
London, England - Died
- 21 July 1868
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia - Occupation
- Member of Parliament, Philanthropist, Physician and Politician
Summary
William Bland, whose career as a physician in the Royal Navy was cut short by a conviction for murder, was transported to Van Diemen's Land in 1814. The following year he was moved to New South Wales and pardoned because of the lack of medical practitioners in the colony. Thereafter he had a distinguished medical career, in private practice from 1815 to 1868 and being regarded as a leading surgeon in Sydney. He was also associated with the Castle Hill Lunatic Asylum and the Sydney Infirmary and Dispensary. As a Member of the Legislative Council for New South Wales from 1843 to 1861 (both elected and appointed), Bland was pro-emancipist and advocated electoral and land reform. In 1849 he introduced a Bill for the establishment of the University of Sydney: this attempt failed. Bland was a noted philanthropist, having a long association with the Benevolent Society and other organisations. He was also an inventor, developing improved surgical equipment, holding a patent for a fire suppression device, and designing an experimental steam-powered air ship. Active in the scientific life of the colony, he was a member of the Australian Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Science, Commerce and Agriculture (and its successor) from 1850 and the inaugural President of the New South Wales Branch of the British Medical Association.
Details
Chronology
- 1809
- Career event - Qualified as surgeon's mate for Naval Medical Service at the Royal College of Surgeons, London
- 1812
- Career event - Promoted to Naval Surgeon
- 1813
- Life event - Found guilty of killing his opponent in a duel
- 1814
- Life event - Transported to New South Wales
- 1814 - 1815
- Career position - Medical practitioner, Castle Hill Lunatic Asylum, New South Wales
- 1815
- Life event - Pardonned
- 1815
- Career event - Established private practice in Sydney
- 1826 - 1827
- Career position - Medical practitioner, Sydney Infirmary and Dispensary
- 1830 - 1868
- Career position - Lifetime Member, Benevolent Society
- 1835 - 1844
- Career position - Treasurer, Sydney College
- 1843 - 1850
- Career position - Member (elected) for the City of Sydney, Legislative Council, New South Wales
- 1844 - ?
- Career position - Trustee, New South Wales Savings Bank
- 1844
- Career position - Founder, Medico-Chirurgical Association of Australia
- 1845
- Career position - President, Sydney College
- 1846
- Career position - President, Australian Medical Subscription Library
- 1850 - 1855
- Career position - Member, Australian Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Science, Commerce and Agriculture
- 1856 - 1866
- Career position - Member, Philosophical Society of New South Wales
- 1858 - 1861
- Career position - Member (appointed), Legislative Council, New South Wales
- 1859
- Career position - Inaugural President, New South Wales Branch, British Medical Association
Related entries
Published resources
Books
- Lehane, Robert, Duelling Surgeon, Colonial Patriot: the Remarkable life of William Bland (North Melbourne: Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2011), 253 pp. Details
Book Sections
- Cobley, John, 'Bland, William (1789-1868), medical practitioner and politician' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 1: 1788 - 1850 A-H, Douglas Pike, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1966), pp. 112-115. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A010107b.htm. Details
Conference Papers
- Proust, A. J., 'William Bland (1789-1868)', in New Countries and Old Medicine: Proceedings of an International Conference on the History of Medicine and Health, Auckland, New Zealand, 1994 edited by Linda Bryder and Derek Dow (Auckland: Pyramid Press, 1994), pp. 168-172.. Details
Journal Articles
- Lehane, R., 'Father Therry, Dr Bland and the problem of the transatlantic telegraph', Journal of the Australian Catholic Historical Society, 33 (2012), 2-9. Details
- McIntosh, A. M., 'The life and times of William Bland', Bulletin of the Post-Graduate Committee in Medicine, University of Sydney, 19 (6) (1954), 109-52. Details
- Russell, Penny, '"A silly quarrel about a sore knee"? Defending honour in a professional dispute, Sydney 1846', Health and History, 14 (2) (2012), 46-73. Details
Resources
- Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q7636853. Details
- VIAF - Virtual International Authority File, OCLC, https://viaf.org/viaf/75416711. Details
- 'Bland, William (1789-1868)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-551964. Details
Reviews
- Lehane, Robert, Duelling Surgeon, Colonial Patriot: the Remarkable life of William Bland (2011)
Fennelly, Kathleen, Health and History, 14 (2), (2012), 191-3. Details - Lehane, Robert, Duelling Surgeon, Colonial Patriot: the Remarkable life of William Bland (2011)
Hyslop, Anthea, Historical Records of Australian Science, 24 (1), (2013), 172-3, https://doi.org/10.1071/HR12024. Details - Lehane, Robert, Duelling Surgeon, Colonial Patriot: the Remarkable life of William Bland (2011)
Liston, Carol, Journal of the Royal Australian Historical Society, 99, (2013), 103-4. Details
See also
Rosanne Walker and Helen Cohn
Created: 30 June 1997, Last modified: 29 April 2025