It was a crisp winter’s morning in Ararat on the 10th August, 1861. The sun peeked through soft billows of silver grey clouds and a sheen of frost covered surfaces where Mother Nature had left her icy embrace. On a hillock overlooking the town, a group of men, mainly stonemasons and other tradesmen, began gathering to begin their day’s work with a mixture of boisterous greetings and gruffly given orders.
Old Ararat Gaol was under construction.
However, it was on this particular morning it became obvious that not everyone who experienced pain at Old Ararat Gaol were prisoners.
The building of the Gaol should have been a simple job. An institution for the criminal element of society comprising both Governor and staff residences, a kitchen and galley, prison cells, and a wall which surrounded the entire complex.
However, this day was not to be like any other day for one man, Mr. William Naylor.
Naylor began the day like any other, but by mid-morning, things took a horrible turn that would see the demise of this man’s life.
Abinezar Pearson, a stonemason living at Ararat Gaol, reported that on the 10th August he saw William setting the capping [sic] on the Gaol wall at about 10:30am. The wall was 2ft in breadth and about 15ft, 6 inches in height. Pearson was working on the ground when he witnessed Naylor fall, landing heavily on his side. He appeared to be jumping with his feet first then, when assisted in standing, he realised his leg was broken and cried, “take me to the hospital as quick as you can”. Four colleagues carried him to the Hospital and laid him on a bed while an attending wardsman thought it was his ankle he had injured.
Little is known about Naylor other than how he was described by a friend and on his gravestone. He was 43 years old, a stonemason who had come to Victoria from Pudney (Yorkshire) to seek his fortune. When arriving in Australia, William resided in Melbourne at Masons Place but had moved to Ararat in the pursuit of employment. Another colleague, Charles Lawson Wright, had known Naylor for some time and claimed that he was a stout man, stood at 5ft 7 inches, and was in good health.
Despite being described as being in good health, on 13th August 1861 Naylor lay on his deathbed and wrote his final Will in Ararat Hospital. Within it he named two Executioners – his brother, Richard, and good friend Wright. Naylor bequeathed all his property of whatever kind to his wife, Rebecca. William was adamant that he wanted the proceeds to be kept in the family and, more particularly, in teaching the boys a trade. It was later ascertained that Williams assets did not exceed 250 Pounds.
When Wright saw him in hospital on the afternoon of 14th August, Naylor was in distress and the wardsman advised Wright that Naylor was struggling and subsequently stayed by his side until he died. The next day, at the age of 43 years old, Naylor passed away. It appears Rebecca had returned to Yorkshire and it was some weeks before she learnt of her husband’s unexpected death.
Due to Naylor’s circumstances an immediate Inquest followed.
General Practitioner and Surgeon at the Ararat Hospital, Thomas Edward White, claimed on his oath that he was not in attendance when Naylor was brought there. However, when he examined him a short time later he found Naylor suffering from compound fractures, two bones broken below the knee near his ankle.
White ordered an immediate consultation with Surgeons, Mr. Galbraith and Mr. Girdlestone, and all decided on immediate amputation. However, this decision was delayed as Mr. Girdlestone submitted his letter resigning from his position as Honorary Surgeon to the Hospital. This caused confusion as Write claimed only “the Honorary Surgeons have the privilege of amputating capital cases”.
Fundamentally, neither Galbraith, Whitelaw or White were in a professional position to perform the amputation that was desperately needed to save Naylor’s life. Eventually, it was ascertained that Mr. White did carry out the operation in the presence of Mr. Galbraith and Hospital Secretary, Mr. Campbell. Those also present were Wardsman, Mr. Williams, who handled the sponges and Mr. Osborne, a man from the Gaol who monitored the chloroform.
Within Naylor’s subsequent 64 page Inquest Report, it is noted that he passed away ‘… after a surgical operation on the left leg of mortification of the skin of the flap covering the stump and the grangenous state of the skin on the thigh’. In 1861, death from amputations was not an uncommon thing. However, Williams’ Post Mortem examination also shows a significant level of medical incompetence to the point where it cost William Naylor his life.
The examination revealed:
- That haemorrhage set in at about 10:50am and continued until 1:40pm when the artery was tired.
- That had Mr. Galbraith been ready and willing to operate at about 11:45am as “urged” upon “for the sake of the patient” by Mr. Girdlestone who would then have helped him.
- That Mr Galbraith gave no reason at the consultation for proposing so great a delay as till 4pm nor even till 1pm except the vague desire to go home – a distance of 5 minutes walk.
- The tourniquet was forgotten. Mr. Galbraith preferred compression by the fingers; the tourniquet should have still been used.
- That upon being informed of Mr. Girdlestone’s resignation could have delayed the operation until he obtained sufficient medical assistance.
- That Mr. White stated in Court that he had that morning made a post mortem examination under my instructions as he had not done so.
- That a post mortem examination was not considered necessary by Mr. White or Mr. Galbraith, after a written order was produced to make one.
- Both Mr. White or Mr. Galbraith showed a great reluctance to make such an examination (though one of them ought to have done it).
- That Mr. Girdlestone, upon their refusal, was obliged to do so to satisfy the Enquiry; whether their reluctance arose from not wishing to see the internal condition of the body and the quantity of blood, or not to have the stump examined is a matter of doubt.
In the end, the verdict was given, “I am forced by these reasons to this conclusion that loss of blood previous too and during the operation is attributed to the deceased being so long in a hemorrhagic state owing either to the neglect or ignorance of Mr. Galbraith – and further I must add that this conclusion is not in the least shaken but strengthened by the verdict given by the Inquest held by the Coroner of Pleasant Creek (Dr. Bennett) as it was given on an ex parte statement and does not account for the cause of mortification or the loss of blood”.
In short, through all the pain Naylor would have survived if not for the shame of the doctors’ actions “owing either to the neglect or ignorance”.
Naylor was eventually buried a few feet away from where his accident occurred – in the garden area we can now see situated behind the Gaol complex. Due to Town Planning in 1923 his body was exhumed and interred to the Ararat Cemetery located on Nott Road.
Today, you can visit him in the early pioneer section.
William Naylor: Grant of probate
https://prov.vic.gov.au/archive/C1823498-F1D3-11E9-AE98-D77836928394
1861/532 Male William Naylor: Inquest
https://prov.vic.gov.au/archive/D418272C-F1C3-11E9-AE98-4B1FB39050B4
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