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Twenty seven year old George Brooks
had been assistant surgeon in Newcastle convict settlement for three years
when on Christmas Day in
1825, a riot took place in the streets
of Newcastle.
George Brooks was
Magistrate in the town and was called to the Guard House by
Chief Constable Muir who reported that two soldiers were running through the streets intoxicated
and with bayonets at the ready. The military had already left the Guard House
and in the fracas that followed, William Finnigan was stabbed by one of the
soldiers Patrick Lavery. Finnigan died the following day as the bayonet had
pierced a major artery and Lavery was later found guilty of manslaughter.
In
1828 George Brooks married Mary, the
daughter of the Reverend William Cowper in Sydney. Mary brought to the
marriage a land grant of 1280 acres to be named 'Maryland'.
The couple were no
doubt pleased to welcome
Sir Edward Parry and his young wife Isabella to the
district in 1830. Parry had been appointed Commissioner for the
Australian
Agricultural Company
and often visited Newcastle from Port Stephens to inspect
the Company's holdings. In January 1831 Dr. Brooks and Mary accompanied
Sir Edward to Maitland. They called on
Captain Aubyn, Mr. Bloomfield and Mr. and
Mrs. Wood with whom they dined in their new log hut. They stayed overnight at
Mr. Bloomfield's. Maitland was in flood at the time and Sir Edward recorded in
his notes 'that broad sheets of water
covered the land'.
As Magistrate as well as Doctor in the
town, Brooks duties probably often overlapped. In
1830, acting as Magistrate he
sentenced convict John Mason to 100 lashes for threatening the life of his
overseer. One of Brook's duties as surgeon was to witness the flogging of
prisoners and he had left instructions that Mason was not to be flogged without
his presence. While awaiting punishment at the gaol, Mason died with a noose
around his neck and his hands tied. Brooks arrived in time to pronounce
him dead and later testified in the Court case that ensued .
He was one of the citizens of Newcastle
who campaigned to make Newcastle a free warehousing port in the 1840's. Other
Newcastle citizens who attended meetings with him were
James Henry Crummer,
James Reid,
Simon Kemp,
William Wilton and Mr. Wallace. Around the same time charters of
incorporation were issued for Newcastle and Brooks became a member of the
district council along with Alexander Walker Scott,
William Croasdill, William
Brooks,
Lancelot Threlkeld, Simon Kemp and
Henry Boyce
In 1841 George Brooks' residence was
nearby the Hospital - Newcomen Street Newcastle - possibly on the
site that Newcomen House was later to be built. He resigned from his position of
Colonial Surgeon due to ill health in April 1847.
Find out more about George Brooks and Mary Cowper at Cowper Family in Australia
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