Beaney, James George (1828 - 1891)

Summary

James Beaney was a surgeon and pioneer in paediatric medicine in Australia. In addition to having his own practice, he was Honorary Surgeon at the Melbourne Hospital from 1860 to 1865 with a second appointment from 1875 to 1891. His relations with Melbourne's medical establishment was somewhat contentious, in part because of the perceived daring and unorthodox nature of his surgical procedures and his tendency to self-promotion. He resigned from the Medical Society of Victoria after ten years' membership. Beaney published numerous books and papers in local medical journals, covering a wide rang of topics including contraception, family planning, sexuality, paediatric anaesthesia, vaccination, the importance of breastfeeding, and the diagnosis and management of paediatric diseases. His Original contributions to the practice of conservative surgery (1859) was among the first medical texts published in Australia. Other works included Australia's first paediatric text Children: their treatment in health and disease (1873). As a member of the Victorian Legislative Council he chaired, in 1886, a committee of inquiry into the sanitary conditions at the Melbourne Hospital and its possible relocation.

Details

Chronology

1855

Education - Member, Royal College of Surgeons, Edinburgh

1855 - 1857

Military service - Served with the British army

1857

Life event - Migrated to Victoria

1858 - 1859

Career position - Member, Philosophical Institute of Victoria

1860

Education - Fellow, Royal College of Surgeons, Edinburgh

1860

Career position - Member, Royal Society of Victoria

1860 - 1865

Career position - Honorary Surgeon, Melbourne Hospital

1869 - 1879

Career position - Member, Medical Society of Victoria

1875 - 1891

Career position - Honorary Surgeon, Melbourne Hospital

1879

Education - Licentiate, Kings and Queen's College of Physicians, Ireland

1879

Education - MD, St Andrew's University, Scotland

1879

Education - MD (ad eund), University of Melbourne

1883 - 1891

Career position - Member for North Yarra Province, Legislative Council, Victorian Parliament

Related entries

Published resources

Books

• Beaney, J, G., Vaccination and its dangers: with advice and instruction to parents as to how and when to vaccinate (Melbourne: R. N. Hennington, 1870), 14 pp. Details
• Beaney, J. G., Original contributions to the practice of conservation surgery; being a selection from the surgical cases occurring in the practice of James G. Beaney, M.R.C.S.E. (Melbourne: George Robertson, 1859), 168 pp. Details
• Ford, Edward, A bibliography of James George Beaney, M.D., F.R.C.S.E. (Sydney: School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, University of Sydney, 1953), [25] pp. Details

Book Sections

• Gandevia, Bryn, 'Beaney, James George (1828 - 1891), surgeon, politician and philanthropist' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 3: 1851 - 1890 A-C, Douglas Pike, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1969), pp. 124-6, https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/beaney-james-george-2959. Details

Journal Articles

• Craig, C., 'The egregious Dr. Beaney of the Beaney scholarships', Medical journal of Australia (1950), 593-8. Details
• Gandevia, B., 'Some aspects of the life and work of James George Beaney', Medical journal of Australia, 1 (2 May) (1953), 614-9. Details
• Gandevia, B., 'Medico-legal crimes in nineteenth century Melbourne', Proceedings of the Medico-Legal Society, 9 (1963), 145-67. Details
• Gandevia, B. and Clausen, U., 'James George Beaney: his authorship', Medical journal of Australia, 2 (3) (1981), 160. Details
• Murphy, L., 'On Mr. Beaney and his urological writings and experiences', Medical journal of Australia (1960), 313-22. Details
• Pearn, J., 'Dr James George Beaney (1828 - 1891): a pioneer Australian paediatrician and paediatric surgeon', Journal of paediatric and child health, 40 (2004), 702-6. Details
• Russell, K. F., 'The first book on surgery to be published in Victoria', Australian and New Zealand journal of surgery, 8 (1) (1938), 17-8. Details