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| Thomas Parmeter |
| Family
Name: |
Parmeter |
Variant
Spellings: |
|
| Given
Names: |
Thomas |
|
| DOB |
1787 approx.
|
DOD |
14 July 1836 |
| Place
of Birth: |
Gosport, Hampshire, England
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Place
of Death: |
Patrick's Plains, NSW |
| Age
at Death: |
48
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| School:
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University:
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| Qualifications:
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Speciality:
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| Other
Occupations: |
Convict
Writer
Editor
Farmer |
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| Spouse:
|
Maree de Storemberg m.1811 approx.
Rachel Elizabeth Woods m.1812
Jane Meredith (de facto) 1817 approx. |
| Children: |
No children by his first wife, two by his second, four by the third |
|
| Voyages:
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"Fanny" arr. Sydney 18th January 1816
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| Came
out as: |
Convict |
| Date
Settled Aus: |
1816
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Date
of Departure: |
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| First
Registered: |
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Off
Register: |
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| Addresses:
|
Gosport, Hampshire, England
London and France, 1809-1815 approx.
Sydney, NSW 1816 (shipping record)
Castle Hill, NSW 1817
Windsor and Sydney, NSW 1818-1825 approx.
Patrick's Plains (now Singleton), NSW 1826 onwards |
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| Positions
Held: |
Dresser at St. Thomas' Hospital 1809
Assistant Surgeon, Hereford Regiment 1810-11
Surgeon to the household of the Duke of Brunswick
English Physician to the French queen (wife of Louis XVIII)
Assistant Surgeon, Lunatic Asylum Castle Hill 1817-19 |
| Publications:
|
The Cow Doctor [a play] 1809
Letter to My Uncle Toby, or a History of NSW (advertised 1825, unpublished)
Much ado about nothing. Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser 28 November 1835 (an autobiographical ramble, reflecting on the failure of his ambitions and his current way of life)
He mostly wrote poems and essays for periodicals. They have recently been collected and published by H. Trevor Clifford |
| Notes:
|
Convicted of bigamy in England and transported to NSW 1815, pardon 1818
Granted land for farming 1825 approx.
Jane Meredith left him and married another man in 1827 (Farley)
Crippled for about 10 years before he died (Sydney Gazette 1829)
Some sources give the year of his birth/christening as 1790 (Farley, Lambert)
According to Clifford he was a child of the Enlightenment, quoting frequently from classical and modern writers, but not Scripture
Probably unqualified, although in an advertisement of 1825 he styles himself "MD" |
| Acknowledgments:
|
|
| References: |
Convict Records [native of Gosport, sentenced to 7 years in 1815, physician, aged 27]
General Muster 1822 [ex "Fanny", at Windsor]
Census of NSW 1828 [aged 42, free of servitude, arr. "Fanny" 1816, Protestant, surgeon at Patrick Plains]
NSW Calendar and GPO Directory 1832, 1835 [Quirosville, Maitland]
Lambert D. The Parmeter story. Mini-Publishing, 2002 [baptised 26 March 1790, Sydney 1816, Castle Hill appt, Jane Meredith de facto 1817 approx.
Farley MM. Thomas Parmeter, convict doctor (c1790-1836). IN: Covacevich J et al. History heritage and health. Brisbane, 1996:327-30
Ford E. Medical practice in early Sydney. Medical Journal of Australia 1955;ii:41-54
Best RC. Descent 1979;9:70-75 [Dresser at St. Thomas', Assistant Surgeon Hereford Regiment, resigned 1811, first marriage etc etc]
McGee, John. Two and a half convicts. Wamberal, NSW,1987
Clifford HT. Thomas Parmeter poetaster and ryhmist. St Lucia, 1997
Clifford HT. Thomas Parmeter MD...as portrayed in contemporary Australian newspapers. 3 vols. Brisbane : De Quiros Press, 2001
Card. Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser 16 March 1816 [Dr. Parmeter moving to new address in Sydney]
Government and general orders. Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser 22 November 1817 [salary paid to Thomas Parmeter Acting Assistant Surgeon at the Lunatic Asylum April-September]
To parents [advertisement. Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser 17 July 1819 [apprentice wanted by Dr. Parmeter of 2 King Street, George Street]
To parents [advertisement]. Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser 22 April 1824 [apprentice wanted by Dr. Parmeter of Windsor]
Letters to my uncle Toby [advertisement]. Australian (Sydney) 1 September 1825 [a history of NSW by T. Parmeter MD formerly Assistant Surgeon, Hereford Regiment and late of the Lunatic Asylum, Castle Hill]
Dr. Parmeter [advertisement]. Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser 12 November 1829 [resuming practice in the Hawkesbury district, travelling by caravan as unable to ride horse]
Deaths. Sydney Monitor 27 July 1836 [at Hunter's River, Dr Parmeter aged 48 years, forgiving to the utmost bounds of Christianity] |
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to Pictures: |
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Links: |
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last updated 18-04-2012
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