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45
exp lained by the schoolmaster.
Even the smallest details of daily life
\·lere allowed for in the regulations:
three times a week the convicts '
bedding \vas taken to the yard rails to air, twice in the winter if weather
permitted ;
clean shirts '\'iere supp lied twice a week in the summer> once a
week in the winter; each prisoner was shaved twice a week , and , last but
by no means least, each prisoner washed his feet twice a week in the sumwer
and once a week in the winter. 14
Tak ing all these factors into account
the duties of the Medical Officer were not very pleasant.
However , as each station was regularly attended, greater
opportunity for emp loyment was given to Medical Officers.
In 1840 , at the
beginning of the Probation System, the Government Medical Service was not
ab le to ob tain sufficient doctors , a rather novel situation for those who
had previously found it so difficult to make a living. Thus , on June 6,
Clarke, now Principal Medical Officer , inserted a notice in the Gazette
advertising for them :
As there is a great want of Medical Aid on many occasions
which frequently I am called upon to supp ly.
For some people the Probation System brought greater financial security , at
least for a time.
Regulations to guide Medical Officers like Hall, who were in
: harge of convict hospitals , prob ation stations , road parties , and the like
lvere drawn up by Dr John Robertson , when he became Deputy Inspector General
of Hospitals and Principal Medical Officer, and published in 1845 . 15
These left little doubt as to what was expected.
Each Medical Officer, who was under the control and instructions
of the Principal Medical Officer at Hobart Town , was in sole charge of a11
professional arrangements , and was responsible for seeing that the
auhorized regulations were carried out and that the proper staff , both in
numbers
and capab il i ty , were employed and their duties correctly performed.
He was to visit the hospital regul arly twice a day :-
nine o' clock in the summer , and at ten in the winter;
in the morning at
and in the evening
between eight and nine throughout the year.
At these visits, newly
admitted patients , with their persons already cleaned,
their clothes
purified and changed , were to be examined, prescribed for and allotted to
their correct place in the hospital according to their complaint, and the
previous history of their illness entered in the Register Book at the
right place.
The utmost punctuality was required in the hours of
14 GO 39/3, p. 243.
GO 33/66 , pp. 478, 592.
15
Instructions for the Management of the Convict Hospitals , 1845
(Hobart Town Advertiser Office) Accession No. 4734 , Con . 74/l/4734 .