Person
Hill, Patrick (1794 - 1852)
- Born
- 13 January 1794
Perth, Scotland - Died
- 13 March 1852
Camden, New South Wales, Australia - Occupation
- Medical practitioner
Summary
Patrick Hill was a highly respected medical practitioner in New South Wales who ultimately became Chief Medical Officer for the colony. He joined the Royal Navy at the age of 18 as Assistant Surgeon. He served on several ships, including transportation vessels to Sydney, before remaining in the colony from 1821. Accepting a position as assistant surgeon at the Liverpool hospital, he was promoted in 1829 to Head Surgeon with responsibility for the hospital, local children's homes and associated health services. He had, in 1826, assumed oversight of Australia's second lunatic asylum, which operated within the parsonage of St Luke's church, Liverpool until 1839. His approach to treatment was to promote re-socialisation and instil discipline without the use of punitive measures. When Australia's first purpose-built lunatic asylum at Tarban Creek opened 1837, Hill was appointed as head surgeon at the asylum and magistrate for the Parramatta area. As Chief Medical Officer for New South Wales from 1848, his roles included advising the government on medical matters , and Inspector and Consulting Physician to the Lunatic Asylum. Hill's interest in natural history led him to join the colony's earliest scientific organisation, the Philosophical Society of Australasia, in November 1821. His observations on the platypus were published in 1823.
Details
Chronology
- 1812
- Career event - Joined the Royal Navy
- 1816
- Career event - Visited Sydney as Surgeon in Atlas
- 1821
- Career event - Appointed Assistant Surgeon, Liverpool Hospital
- November 1821 - 1822
- Career position - Member, Philosophical Society of Australasia
- 1826
- Career event - Assumed responsibility for lunatic asylum in the parsonage of St Luke's church, Liverpool
- 1829
- Career event - Appointed Head Surgeon, Liverpool Hospital
- 1837
- Career event - Appointed Head surgeon, Tarban Creek lunatic asylum, New South Wales
- 1848 - 1852
- Career position - Chief Medical Officer for New South Wales
Related entries
Published resources
Journal Articles
- Hill, P., 'On the Ornithorhynchus paradoxus or Mullingong, its venomous spur, and general structure', Philosophical Magazine and Journal, 61 (1823), 8-10. Details
- Raeburn, Toby, Liston, Carol, Hickmott, Jarrad and Cleary, Michelle, 'Colonial surgeon Patrick Hill (1794 - 1852): unacknowledged pioneer of Australian mental healthcare', History of psychiatry, 30 (1) (2019), 90-103, https://doi.org/10.1177/0957154X18809925. Details
See also
- Cummins, C. J., The administration of lunacy and idiocy in New South Wales, 1788 - 1855 (Sydney: School of Hospital Administration, University of New South Wales, 1968), 51 pp. Details
- Raeburn, Toby, Liston, Carol, Hickmott, Jarrad and Cleary, Cheryl, 'Liverpool "lunatic asylum": a forgotten chapter in the history of Australian health care', Collegian, 25 (3) (2017), 347-53. Details
- Tyler, Peter J., 'Science for Gentlemen: the Royal Society of New South Wales in the Nineteenth Century', Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales, 143 (1/2) (2010), 29-43. Details
Helen Cohn
Created: 25 March 2025