Friday, 4 April 2008

Edgar William Fox Dolman, 1906, NSW, Australia

Any family claiming Edgar William Fox Dolman. If you have lost this family line then I could probably find out more for you. Penny

Snippet from "Pioneering in the Bellinger Valley" ( NSW Australia) - Produced from the Bellinger Valley Historical Society

"In 1906 an event occurred at the Hospital which must have split the community in two. Margaret Jane Slater had been appointed Matron in 1904 and entered on her duties in January 1905. The Hospital was managed by a Committee, the President was Edward James Robert Walker Raymond and the Hon Sec. Edward William Chidley, a Bellinger, solicitor. The local doctor was Edward William Fox Dolman who had practiced in Bellinger only since the previous November and on the resignation of Dr Humphrey was appointed as hospital doctor until March 1906 These were the principal actors in the drama which was enacted on February 6, 1906.

( I believe Dr Dolman graduated 1901 in U.K.- PF)

In 1905 things began to go wrong. Although in the middle of the year the President expressed satisfaction with the Matron and said he would recommend a bonus of 5 pound at Christmas , he began to find fault with her financial management, particularly with the cost of afternoon teas at which she entertained her friends. There was also a complaint that she had left a patient in pain and gone down the street, but some friction occurred between her and some of the members of the Committee. On January 17, 1905 the Annual Meeting of subscribers elected as Committeemen etc………… Dr Dolman applied for re-election as Medical Officer in March but was not accepted and early in the year it was decided to terminate the Matron's appointment and replace her with Nurse Tully. She refused to leave, saying that her appointment was till March. However on 13 January the President and two other Committeemen visited the Hospital with Nurse Tully. Gave her a chair and said they installed her as Matron. Matron Slater still refused to leave and they went away. The position was complicated by the fact that there were three patients in the Hospital at the time, including a Mr. Anderson, who was seriously ill and whose temperature went up dangerously when he heard of the trouble. He said that he would refuse to stay in the hospital if Matron Slater left. This was the position on Feb 6, when the President and about 6 members of the Committee came and asked her to leave and offered certain inducement including permission to remain and nurse, but under Matron Tully. She refused and they told her that they might have to use force to remove her. The stage was now set for a confrontation that afternoon. She summoned her friends, who were Dr and Mrs. Dolman and Surveyor Evans and his wife. Soon the President appeared with thirteen of the Committee and a policeman. He again appealed to Matron Slater to leave but she refused. George Wills then seized her right arm and with the help of the President she was forcibly ejected from the building and out through the gate of the Hospital grounds.

Matron Tully took over the Hospital but Mr. Anderson left against Dr Dolman's advice. The doctor took him to his ( the doctors home) where he died a little later".

The case went to court and Matron Slater was awarded compensation of 150 pounds,-particularly as she was able to prove bruises on her arms etc..

Thanks to Penny Dolman for this post.

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