A is for ACCOUCHEUR and APOTHECARIST

Robert Havens was an ACCOUCHEUR, a person who is trained to help at a birth, more commonly known as an obstetrician. He was also an APOTHECARIST, making and dispensing medicines similar to a pharmacist.

This nameplate was photographed at his cottage in the 1980s but is now 

part of the collection at Braidwood Museum.

Robert Havens was born in 1809, the son of Robert Havens and Janet Crabbe. The family were a distinguished line from Colchester Essex who could trace their ancestry to the 14th century and beyond.

Robert was born in Edinburgh and as a boy in 1822, was apprenticed as an apothecary, to John Stanley of Whitehaven for seven years. Later he was admitted as a Licentiate of the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries and as a Member of the Royal College of Surgeons (MRCS) in 1831.

He stayed in Kendal and got a job at the Dispensary in 1834 and at some stage met Esther Lee. The couple married in Kendal in 1839 and shortly after their migrated to Australia onboard the Orizaba with other family members. In 1840 he was registered by the Medical Board of NSW to practise and in 1842 acquired land in Reidsdale on the outskirts of Braidwood. 

For many years he worked as a doctor and assisted women in childbirth and obstetrics, mostly from his property known as ‘Brookside’. In 1848 he was blinded as a result of a chemical explosion but according to correspondence from one of his daughters, he continued to practise with assistance. Dr Robert Havens died at Reidsdale, in 1885 aged 76 years.

This is my contribution to the Blogging from A to Z Challenge (#AtoZChallenge) 

Dr Robert Havens in Sydney ~ Trove Tuesday

Robert Havens is one of my most intriguing ancestors and although I know a fair bit about him, it astounds me the interesting snippets that can be discovered in Trove that expand and extend the knowledge about ancestors.

Born into an old and respected family with roots in Donylands in Colchester, Essex, Robert Havens was the only son of Robert Havens 1771-1818 and Janet Crabbe 1783-1855. Although the family resided in Whitehaven (Cumberland), Robert was born in 1809 in Edinburgh in 1809.

Robert was apprenticed for 7 years as an apothecary to John Stanley of Whitehaven for seven years from 1822. He then attended St Bartholomew's Hospital for practical training and admitted as Member of the Royal College of Surgeons (MRCS) in 1831 and later appointed as resident Apothecary to the Kendal Dispensary in 1834. He married Esther Lee in 1839 at Kendal and shortly after their wedding the couple migrated to Australia. His widowed mother, Janet plus his three sisters, travelled with the couple on the Orient which arrived in Sydney in December 1839.

He was registered as a qualified Medical Practitioner by the NSW Medical Board in 1840 and quickly established premises and was advertising in the newspapers for patients According to the Sydney Morning Herald in 1840 he specialised in Operative Surgery, Medicine, and Febrile Diseases especially Midwifery and the Diseases of Women and Children, especially in the latter during the period of Teething, bone setting and the Diseases of the teeth &c &c 

Advertising from the Sydney Herald 8 June 1840 p. 1.

Robert was also able to supply recommendations of his professional skill and moral Character but also gave advice gratis to the poor, at his residence, Kent-street north, first house on the hill, directly behind the Military Hospital, on Tuesday and Friday mornings from nine to ten o'clock.

He did not stay in Sydney for long and by 1841 having recently discontinued practice in Sydney and removed up the country to the [Braidwood] district advertised to inform the inhabitants he was ready and wishful to resume and follow his profession with assiduity among them on reasonable charges.

A middle-aged, Dr Robert Havens

Robert continued to practise in Reidsdale, a small village located on the outskirts of Braidwood whilst raising  a large family which included:

Ann Eliza b. 1841; Lucy Jessie 1845, Esther Robertha Janetta 1847, Mary Jane Lee 1850, Thomas James Daniel 1852, Philip Colchester Donyland 1854, Katianna Badgery M. 1856 Paulina Melita 1858, Victor Ard Bomble 1861 and Amniona Victoria Regina 1864

He was recorded in the newspapers of the day as giving evidence in the murder trial where stonemason Thomas Williams was charged with attempting to murder John Jones. Robert practised for many years to come but that is another story for another time.

Nameplate of Dr Robert Havens from Reidsdale NSW. Photo: M. Nichols, 1983.