DR. HENRY CALVERT BARNETT, J.P., M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.
IN all communities there are men whose strong individuality is felt by their neighbours. Their superior attainments and knowledge of the world dominate the community. In the colony of Western Australia there are many men who possess these qualities, and few so much as Dr. Henry Calvert Barnett, the Medical Superintendent of the Fremantle Lunatic Asylum. Dr. Barnett comes of an old Belfast family, the members of which seem to have had a predilection for the medical profession and for travel. His elder brothers distinguished themselves in the medical world and journeyed much in India, but it was left to Henry, the youngest, to earn for himself the title of "the much-travelled."
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Photo by DR. H.C. BARNETT, J.P. Greenham & Evans. |
Dr. Henry Calvert Barnett is the third son of the late Richard Barnett, of Belfast, Ireland, in which town he was born on 10th February, 1832. After studying under private tutors and at the school of Dr. Moloney, T.C.D., he would have gone to college, but was seized with such a resistless desire for a sailor's life that, in the year 1849, he left Liverpool in the merchant ship Salem for Canada. When he reached Quebec, cholera was raging. Hundreds of vessels were arriving from Ireland filled with peasantry, who were driven from their homes by the potato famine, and the deaths reached 400 a day, the bodies being interred in great pits. The Salem was detained in this plague-stricken port for months, waiting for a cargo of timber. Strange to say, none of the crew succumbed to the disease, although fourteen deaths occurred on board a neighbouring vessel. Misfortunes came in other guises, for, after obtaining a cargo of timber, the Salem ran ashore in the Gulf of St. Lawrence while on the voyage to Liverpool. Although she was got off the rocks, she leaked so badly that she was in a helpless condition, and soon became water-logged, the deck being level with the water. The ship was only prevented from sinking by the timber cargo. In this condition, she was brought to an anchor off as dangerous a piece of coast as can be found on American shores. Although the interior of the country was unknown to him, the captain landed and travelled by the south bank of the St. Lawrence to Quebec to obtain assistance, selecting as a companion on the journey. the subject of this sketch. After an extremely adventurous time Point Levy, opposite the city was reached, and two steamers were engaged to relieve the distressed vessel. She was found in a terrible plight, the seas making clean breaches over her hull and rendering her deck untentable; the crew had to seek shelter in the tops. When the weather moderated the steamers towed the Salem to Quebec, where she was taken into a floating dock for repairs. While these were proceeding, young Barnett visited places of historical interest. In a small birch-bark canoe which he purchased, he made several long excursions up the river, and, being of an observant disposition, gained much information concerning the nature of the country. The tardy shipwrights eventually finished their task, and the vessel once more spread her wings to a favouring breeze, homeward bound. All went well until she was off the dreaded Banks of Newfoundland, where a terrific hurricane was encountered. The ship was hove to, and for three days was exposed to the full force of the blow. Her boats and bulwarks were carried away, and were soon followed by water-casks which were on deck. Ships of all sizes and rigs round them were battling with the tempest, and one large ship, hailing from Liverpool, went down with all hands. Although the Salem was only a mile distant, she could do nothing to help the doomed crew. During those three terrible days and nights there was no rest for the Salem's crew, who fully expected the vessel to founder. The old ship rode out the storm, sadly damaged, it is true, but seaworthy. The topmasts and the topsail yards were sprung, but the gallant old salt who commanded her determined to press on the homeward voyage. The loss of the water-casks, and the damage done to the provisions by salt water, necessitated the crew being put on half-rations, and as the weather was bitterly cold, their privations were intense. The only fresh water available was that obtained by melting snow, and to add to their misfortunes, the vessel made so much water owing to the straining she had received, that the pumps had to be kept in constant use. In this plight, the west coast of Ireland was sighted, but sixteen days elapsed before the Salem was able to reach Liverpool. On two occasions she got up the Channel as far as Bristol, only to be driven back again by the fierce northerly gales, which in that year were unparalleled in their severity; the Channel was full of homeward-bound ships in distress. With damaged hulls and spars, while short of provisions, they sought in vain to reach a haven of refuge, until at last the Government was forced to send to their succour. Steamers
