J.K. Hitchcock:
Everyone who knew this kindly, and genial old soul must have wondered what possible crime he could have been guilty of to earn him a life sentence. He was not the type of man one would expect to see figuring in the annals of crime, but possibly he was the victim of circumstances, or was too weak to stand against some sudden temptation. His wife evidently did not lose faith in him, as she followed him into exile, and established a ladies seminary in a house which stood on the present site of the Hotel Fremantle. The doctor himself kept a little chemist's shop close by, and was well liked by everyone. He was reputed to be very skilful in his profession, and none appealed to him in vain for medicine or treatment; if they could not pay he never worried. Up to the year 1868, when the Medical Registration Act came into force, anyone who liked could practice medicine. The Act permitted the registration of all who had previously been practising, whether they held a diploma or not, consequently every chemist in the place registered, and among them Dr. Oliver. He, however, was a really qualified man, having taken the degree of M.B. in England, but on being transported to Western Australia he lost the privileges attaching to that qualification. He died in 1873, and his widow returned to England shortly afterwards.
Hitchcock, J.K. 1921d, 'Some notable convicts', Fremantle Times, Friday 18 February 1921: 2.
Garry Gillard | New: 23 October, 2020 | Now: 16 September, 2023