Arthur Edwardes Growse

GROWSE, Dr Arthur Edwardes (1831-1877)

Medical practitioner in Toodyay/Newcastle 1856-1872, and 1876-77

Dr Arthur Edwardes (also spelt Edwards) Growse was a well-loved and respected doctor who served the district of Toodyay from 1856 to 1872, then again for a year during 1876 to 1877. Dr Growse was the second Medical Officer to serve Toodyay. He replaced Dr Alfred Green who had acquired a dubious reputation for his fondness for the bottle. Dr Growse was born on 26 December 1831 into ‘an old Suffolk family’. He trained at St Guy’s Hospital in London before coming to Western Australia in the early 1850s. He worked as a doctor at Guildford around 1855-56 then in 1856 he was appointed to Toodyay where he took over from Dr Green. Green had been dismissed following the death of a patient. He was allegedly drunk at the time and had neglected the patient’s welfare. In 1858 Growse married Phoebe Henrietta Postlethwaite, a country Governess. Phoebe came to Australia on the Lady Grey in March 1843, and for a time had lived in Government House with Mrs Fitzgerald, the wife of the Governor. The Growse’s marriage was a fruitful one with nine children being born to the couple, seven in Tooodyay and two in Williams where Dr Growse worked for a time before returning to Toodyay. It is this large brood of children that has led to speculation about the building of the two-storey doctor’s residence, known as ‘The Ship’, when it became the property of the Sisters of Mercy. The wrap round verandah on the top floor level of the residence may well have served as a sleep-out for the children. Apart from the usual maladies suffered by his patients, Dr Growse had to contend with the 1861 measles epidemic that took such a large toll amongst the Aboriginals in the region. The arrival of a passenger ship in King George Sound in 1860 was believed to be source of the epidemic. It travelled northwards causing the deaths of settlers and Aboriginals alike. Sarah Wittenoom and her infant son James had died at the Wittenoom’s Gwambygine Homestead just south of York. Sarah had been tending sick Aboriginals. Twelve Aboriginals had been brought to the Newcastle Depot infirmary for treatment. A hut had been built for the patients, but when one died the others refused to stay thinking the doctor’s medicine was poison and the hut a death house. Dr Growse was an active member of the community. In 1868 he was a signatory to the petition for the resumption of work on the town’s reservoir. Drinkable water was a major issue during times of drought, especially when the main well at the depot was in danger of drying up. In 1871 Dr Growse served for a short time as Chairman of the first Toodyay Road Board. His chairmanship was short lived when he was transferred in 1872 to Guildford, then to Williams where he served as Resident Magistrate for a short time as well as being the District Medical Officer. He was replaced in Toodyay by Dr William Mayhew. In 1876 Dr Growse returned to Newcastle (Toodyay) following Dr Mayhew’s appointment to Pinjarrah, but Growse’s tenure would be short. It appears he was falling on hard times being declared a bankrupt in May 1877. He was a hard working doctor and in November of that year, after attending to two patients on a wet rainy night, he caught pneumonia and died. An obituary in the Eastern Districts Chronicle refers to his ‘kindliness of heart and the assiduous manner in which he performed his duties made him a general favourite. He latterly removed to the Williams, but subsequently returned to his old quarters. He was only 45 years of age, and leaves a widow and a number of young children.’ The family home was auctioned and Mrs Growse, no doubt needing to support her children, made use of her former training as a governess and according to her obituary, she ‘took charge of the Northam State school, where she remained for 14 years’. Both Dr and Mrs Growse are buried in Toodyay’s historic Nardie Cemetery.

References

 This article incorporates text by Robyn Taylor available under the CC BY SA 2.5 AU licence.

Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians, UWA Press, 2009 (c.1983) Erickson, Rica, Old Toodyay and Newcastle, Toodyay Shire Council, 1974. Toodyay Medical and Allied Services Chronology, compiled by Beth Frayne, Toodyay Historical Society.