|
After arriving in
1835,
William Townley Pinhey was employed
by Maitland chemist William Lipscomb.
In March 1845 Pinhey announced that
he was opening his own business in High Street:
'Apothecaries' Hall, West
Maitland. William Townley
Pinhey, Chemist and Druggist, begs to apprise his
friends and the public, particularly the inhabitants
of the townships of E and W Maitland and the
surrounding districts that he has commenced business
in High ST. West Maitland in the above line and
trusts by strict attention and punctuality combined
with adequate experience in the several
branches of his profession and moderation in his
charges to merit a reasonable share of their
patronage and support. Families and others may
depend upon all medicines purchased at this
establishment being genuine. Physicians
prescriptions accurately prepared. Horse sheep and
cattle medicines
etc'
He vowed that the poor would receive
advice and medicines gratis, upon the recommendation
of any clergyman or magistrate, and pledged that no
chemical or pharmaceutical preparation would be
issued from his establishment without having been
subjected to the strictest examination. He hoped
that by continuing to exercise the 'greatest
carefulness in the dispensing department coupled
with unremitting personal attention, he would
receive the support which has been so largely
bestowed upon him previously'
Some of the stock
he held included:
Finest cold drawn
castor oil, purified Epsom salts, turkey rhubarb,
Balsam copibae, adhesive, plaster, venice
turpentine, best calcined magnesia, camphor, linseed
meal, calomel, essence bergamotte, poppy heads,
Kreosote, prepared charcoal, carbonate of soda,
essence of lemon, oxalic acid, scented soaps,
trusses, suspensory bandages, senna leaves, chamomile flowers etc as well as Pinhey's family antibilious pills, opodeidoc for
sprains, bruises etc and Pinheys' concentrated
essence of ginger for spasms, indigestion and
flatulence.
Occasionally
chemists were called on to testify at inquests
or trials when death or illness had occurred in
mysterious circumstances. This was the case soon
after Mr. Pinhey opened his business in High Street,
in May 1845 when he supplied laudanum for Mrs.
Sanders.
Mrs. Sanders' son Guildford later
died and it was thought he may have taken laudanum.
Mr. Pinhey testified that he supplied two drachms of
laudanum in a bottle he had filled for Mrs.
Sanders on previous occasions. Suspicions were
unfounded however as
Dr. Liddell found in the post mortem that Sanders had died from
a blood clot. Again later that year
William Pinhey testified in court when the four year old
daughter of tailor John Stewart became seriously ill
after opium was mistakenly placed in food she was
given by Thomas Ramplin. Ramplin had purchased the
opium from Mr. Pinhey to overcome sleeplessness. His expertise was called on in 1846
when George Turner was charged with throwing rubbish
into Wallis's Creek causing the water to be unfit
for use. William Pinhey provided a
certificate for Turner's defence stating that the
water had not been made unfit for consumption as he
had analysed a portion and found it contained no
'injurious matter'. The case against Turner was then
dismissed.
William Pinhey remained in his first
High Street store for only a few months before
announcing that he was moving to new and spacious
premises facing the Stores of Captain Russell where
he would prepare physicians prescriptions carefully
and compound horse and cattle medicines in
accordance with the formularies of the Royal
Veterinary Colleges. At his new
premises, which were situated on the corner of High
and Hunter Streets, surgeon
Montague Parnell
also kept
consultation rooms.
William Townley Pinhey was the son of Lieutenant
Pinhey, Royal marines, of New Shoreham Sussex. He married Mary
Bell, eldest daughter of John Thomas of the Col. Architect's department
Sydney on Saturday 18th March 1843. A
daughter Ann Hobbs was born to the couple in 1844. Ann died aged 5
on 16 September 1849 and is buried in the Glebe
cemetery. On 22nd December 1845 Mrs. Pinhey gave
birth to a son Charles and
William was born on 9th February 1848. A
daughter Mary was born in 1850.
Following the example of his former employer William
Lipscomb, William Pinhey worked on committees in the
township as well as subscribing to many fundraisers.
In 1846 as secretary he was making final
arrangements at a meeting at the
Waterloo Inn
for a select ball soon to be held in the
township. He was also a church warden
for St. Mary's Church
Apothecaries were highly regarded in
the town and were sometimes the first to be
consulted in a crisis. Badly injured Peter Coulton 'Old Peter' was taken to Mr. Pinhey for
treatment when he was struck by a gig driven by Mr.
Wade in High Street in 1848. Deaf and elderly,
Coulton had been standing in the middle of the road
with a few other people and failed to hear a warning
call. His injuries consisting of broken ribs and
punctured lung were too serious for Mr. Pinhey to
deal with and he sent Coulton on the the
Maitland Hospital to be dealt with by
Dr. McCartney. As
well as dispensing medicine at his shop, Pinhey also
sold other items such as
Trevallyn preserves
in winter, Abraham's Baking powder 'for the making
of bread without yeast' and Holloway's pills. He
also supplied the hospital with Chloroform
and supplied the public with 'Family
medicine chests fitted with really useful medicines,
with directions'.
William Pinhey later moved to Sydney. He was responsible for
the apprehension of murderer Patrick McNamara whom he
recognised from his Maitland days. 
|
