Chapter:

Dr. James Murdoch M.D. of Craigow 1785-1848
Early Pioneer of Medicine in Van Diemens Land

14.

The Gazette of April 26, 1848 said:

"Dr Murdoch. It is our painful duty to announce the sudden demise of this gentleman on Saturday last in Macquarie Street. The deceased gentleman was engaged in conversation and being taken suddenly ill got off his horse. His lips were observed to quiver and he fell to the ground. The unfortunate man was immediately picked up, but all attempts to restore him were unavailing - he was dead".

The Guardian of April 26, 1848 said:

"Dr Murdoch. We deeply regret to have to record the sudden death of this highly respected colonist. On Saturday last he was walking in Macquarie Street conversing with Dr Bedford when he complained of a peculiar sensation about the head, and in a few minutes he fell senseless on the road; he was immediately conveyed to his house, and every means taken to restore him, but all proved in vain, the vital spark had fled.

The deceased was, we understand, 67 years of age, he was a member of the College of Physicians and formerly professor of Obstetric Medicine in Edinburgh and was one of the oldest physicians of that College."

No doubt the reader will perceive the inaccuracies in these two reports.

Dr. James died intestate and, after due process, before the Supreme Court, the administration of the estate was granted to Antonia.

In the administration Antonia's name is coupled with John Murdoch, the eldest son and James Beveridge Murdoch the second son. No mention is made of the other children, so presumably they did not figure in the estate. In any case the value of the estate surprisingly enough is stated as "not exceeding £90.

The esteem and daring with which the Scottish Pioneer inspired those about him is well illustrated by the fact that a farm helper to whom he granted the use of a hut and four acres of ground, at an annual rental of £2.10s., took advantage of his security to rear a family of twenty-four children, the descendants of some of whom are still at work upon the estate (1922). Typical of the spirit and requirement of the man in his written declaration, placed amidst a column of well ordered book entries, "What I esteemed most pitiful next to lying was to live upon trust or by borrowing. Such a kind of life seemed to me idle, ignominious, servile, and the more despicable as it tends to make people liars."