Collection X8 - John Coverdale : obituary

Dr John Coverdale arrived at Hobart Town in July 1837 where he practiced for a time. During 1840 he was appointed district surgeon at Richmond and in 1844 he was transferred from the Medical Department to the Police Department. He was elected warden of Richmond in August 1861 and in 1863 he was appointed to the Board of Medical Examiners. In 1865 became superintendent of the Queen's Asylum for Orphans at New Town and in 1874 transferred to Port Arthur. He stayed here as civil commandant until the settlement was abandoned in 1877. The next year, 1878, he took charge of the Hospital for the Insane at the Cascades, near Hobart. In 1887, he was notified that he had to retire and was given an annuity of £150 for his exceptional service. In 1889 he left the Cascades and made his home at Ivadene, Moonah. At his death in 1896 Coverdale was the oldest medical practitioner in Tasmania, and the second oldest Justice of the Peace. For more information see: http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/coverdale-john-1928