Page:History of Adelaide and vicinity.djvu/489

 ADELAIDE AND VICINITY 463 The late Dr. Richard Gardiner Jay, M.R.C.S. AUSTRALIA may well boast of its pioneers in very department of industry. They were a race of ardent, dauntless men, who divested themselves of the ties of home, kindred, and luxurious associations to enter the wilds of the untrodden bush. While we pay high tribute to the brawny, bearded, loose-limbed, courageous bushmen, who have entered the interior and braved the terrors of hardship and thirst, we must not pass unnoticed those refined, skilled, and accomplished men who, settling where population gathered, laid the foundation of civilised societv in a hitherto unhabited region. Of the latter class, the late Dr. Jay, a pioneer surgeon in this Province, deserves especial notice as having pursued an honored career, dating froni the earliest period of South Australian history. The late Dr. Richard Gardiner Jay was born at Ipswich, the capital town of Suffolk, a county wherein his ancestors had lived for many successive generations. After gaining the preliminary education customary to youths of his station and period, Richard Jay commenced the study of medicine, passing through the aj^prenticeship stage usual in those days. He then entered Guy's Hospital, which at that time also comprised the hospital of St. Thomas, and went through the course there stipulated, at the conclusion ot which he qualified as a member ot the Royal College of Surgeons, England. In his young days, Australia was a country ])ossessecl of unique attractions to the adventurous and enterprising, and as one of these. Dr. Jay, who had considerable independent means, came to South Australia in the early "forties." On landing in the Province he remained for some time in the city, and afterwards settled at Willunga, where he practised successfully for over 30 years. At that time there were few members of the medical profession in the Province, and the scattered .settlements south of Adelaide f(jrmed a wide field for his operations. Almost all the business south of the city came into his hands, and he soon worked up an extensive and lucrative practice. In later years competition came into the field ; but the skill, energy, and popularity of the late physician constituted qualities which maintained a large connection. Added to the results of many years' ince.ssant. surgical work in a thriving community were the independent means already mentioned, and Dr. Jay attained to a position of opulence. In later years, however, mining speculations seriou.sly diminished the wealth so honorably acquired. His prominence in the district which formed the scene of his labors drew upon him the notice of the authorities who, at an early stage in colonial history, invested Dr. Jay with the Commission of the Peace, which he exercised justly and fearlessly for a great many years. One of his sons, Mr. William Eugene Jay, who followed his father's profession, was practising at Wallaroo, when he died suddenly at that centre. Dr. Jay, sen., then took u]) the practice which his son had established in the mining town, and remained there until he was taken ill in 1878, and was removed to the city, where his death occurred .shordy after. During his long career in this Province, Dr. Jay earned a high reputation as a medical man, besides wide po^jularity and much esteem for his many social and personal qualities.