A cure for all ills: medicine in Bendigo

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Hamel and Ferguson
Australia 19th century
Illuminated address
given to Lady Bowen
on the laying of the
Foundation Stone of the
Bowen Wing, Bendigo
Hospital
1873
paper, cotton,
embossed leather,
ink, acrylic paint
Collection Bendigo
Health
WH Robinson
Australia 19th century
James Lamsey
1900
gelatin silver print
Collection Dennis
O’Hoy
Bendigo Benevolent Asylum was
opened in 1860. Later called the
Bendigo Home and Hospital for the
Aged, the asylum filled an immediate
local need and took pressure off the
hospital.
The main issue during the early
decades of the hospital, and indeed
the asylum, was maintaining capital.
A reduction in government grants
resulted in a significant reliance on
the community to give generously, to
enable essential services to continue
to be provided. Despite an initial
lack of interest, the community
ultimately rose to this challenge with
most of the hospital’s funds coming
from community donations, friendly
societies, schools and annual hospital
subscriptions. In addition, money was
raised each year through charitable
events such as the annual Easter Fair,
established in 1871 to raise money for
both the hospital and the asylum. 12
Another fundraising measure was
the 1873 introduction of Hospital
Sunday by prominent Bendigonian
Mr JH Abbott. 13 Inspired by similar
successful events in Britain, Hospital
Sunday – like the Easter Fair –
proved to be an effective revenue
raiser. 14
Ancient traditions
While Bendigo was establishing
infrastructure for the practice of
Western medicine, among the
Chinese migrants who came to
the Bendigo goldfields in pursuit
of gold were those trained in
the ancient traditions of Chinese
medicine. These practitioners
administered traditional remedies
to their countrymen, then later to
European migrants who had become
disillusioned with mainstream
doctors and were seeking an
alternative cure. Savvy Chinese
herbalists advertised in Englishspeaking
newspapers to attract clients
who would pay good money for
their services.
In the quest to protect the
interests of the mainstream medical
establishment, it is no surprise
that these ‘foreign’ healers were
ostracised. It was considered
acceptable for a Chinese herbalist
to administer traditional remedies
to their own countrymen, however
not to treat European clients as
though they were trained doctors.
The Victorian Medical Society
discouraged its members from
treating patients who were also
Chinese medicine bottles
late 19th – early 20th
century
glass, paper, wax
Collection Dennis
O’Hoy
visiting a Chinese practitioner.
Unregistered, Chinese herbalists
could not issue death certificates
which could lead to later
implications with coroners and the
law.
The most notable and politically
active Chinese herbalist on the
Bendigo goldfields was James
Lamsey. Medically trained in China
and previously working in the
Canton Hospital, Lamsey arrived
in Australia in the early 1850s, and
travelled to Bendigo in the 1870s.
Throughout the late 1800s, there
were numerous attempts by the
Victorian Medical Society to curtail
the activities of Chinese herbalists.
Several times Lamsey was taken to
court and interrogated for operating
under the illustrious title of doctor. 15
According to local historian Carol
Holsworth, Lamsey and his fellow
herbalists tried regularly to gain
registration with the Society but
were denied every time, ‘… not
because of their race or religion, but
because of their lack of anatomical
knowledge and adequate years of
training.’ 16
Despite being unsuccessful in
his campaign to be recognised
as a doctor and to trade under
this title, Lamsey and his fellow
practitioners continued their
practices. In a final effort to gain
professional acknowledgement,
Lamsey tried to become registered
as a pharmacist but was also
unsuccessful. Nonetheless, Lamsey
amassed considerable wealth from
his business activities and gained
prominence in both Chinese and
European circles. 17
Long after Lamsey’s death, things
finally changed for Chinese herbalists
practicing in Victoria when an
amendment to the Pharmaceutical
Chemists Bill was instigated in 1925
to regulate the practice of quackery.
Under the title of ‘Herbalists’, it
stated: ‘The several persons named
in the schedule to this Act shall be
entitled to continue as heretofore
to practice as Herbalists or Herbal
Practitioners and to use the title of
Herbalist or Herbal Practitioner and
to mix prepare and supply medicinal
herbs and to give directions for
their use to persons under their
personal care or treatment ...’ 18 This
amendment was accompanied by a
list of practitioners, including several
herbalists from Bendigo. 19
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