Trove Tuesday: Esther Weatherstone's Untimely Demise

Esther Weatherstone, daughter of John James Weatherstone and Lucy Louise Dixon, was born in 1861 near Goulburn. Unfortunately, she succumbed to rheumatic fever at the age of 21, dying on 15 April 1882. She was buried in the Anglican section of the beautiful Queanbeyan Riverside Cemetery, in a now unknown and unmarked plot.

1882 'LOCAL NEWS.', Queanbeyan Age (NSW : 1867 - 1904), 18 April, p. 2, viewed 11 June, 2013, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article30678172

Sadly, a doctor with experience as Medical Officer of the Leeds Fever Hospital opened a practice in Queanbeyan in the months after Esther's death - I wonder if his expertise would have been sought for her, had he arrived before her illness. Even if it had, it was likely that she would have succumbed to the infection regardless.

1882 'Advertising.', Queanbeyan Age (NSW : 1867 - 1904), 12 September, p. 3, viewed 11 June, 2013, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article30679107

Dr William David Bowkett, born in London in 1847, had been admitted as a Member of the Royal College of Surgeon's on 23 October 1873. He arrived in Sydney aboard the Darling Downs on 16 January 1881, as the ship's surgeon. His sister, Miss Jessie Bowkett, travelled with him.

Unidentified 3916, Dr William D Bowkett, John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland


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