Barrett Family
This plaque is located at 33 Parrott St.
In 1924, Dr Alfred H Barrett (1892-1968) began a Cobden district practice that was to endure for more than 40 years. His son Bill added to the legacy with another 40 years of dedicated service.
Born in Ballarat in 1892, Dr A H Barrett’s first choice was to be an artist but he studied medicine, and joined the Army Medical Corps to serve in France where he met his wife-to-be, Claire Leroy.
Before Cobden, Dr Barrett practised at Ouyen and Walpeup. He chose our town because he could fish at Peterborough. He and Claire moved into ‘The Bungalow’, as it was known then, which was a combined residence and eleven bed hospital in Parrott St. The wards were staffed by a matron and two nurses with the support of a cook.
As the new Shire health officer, Dr Barrett kept tabs on birth and death numbers, infectious diseases and influenced the setting up of a baby health centre. Polio (infantile paralysis) became a real issue in the mid-1930s – at one stage, the pool and the picture theatre were closed to younger age-groups.
Dr Barrett was one of the first to own a motor car which also served as a patient transport. While roads were rough, often impassable, and cattle roamed, he sometimes played a mouth organ while driving. Understandably, in 1935, he was driving a Ford V8 around with no mudguards!
Sworn in as a JP in 1932, Dr Barrett was well-known as a skilled surgeon, obstetrician and physician. He used his own ‘knock-out drops’ for minor surgery.
A branch of the All For Australia League was formed in Cobden in 1931 with Dr Barrett as chairman – the movement was not a political party but a voice of the people. A keen angler and gardener, he also played golf and was a keen swimmer.
In 1936, he was vice-president of Cobden’s RSL sub-branch. During the 1939-45 war, Dr Barrett was a key figure in the shire’s emergency measures training. He lectured the community as well as Red Cross Emergency Service. He was also a member of the Heytesbury Repatriation Committee, reformed in 1944.
After a public hospital proposal was rejected in 1945, Dr Barrett strongly supported the Bush Nursing Hospital concept which ultimately
opened in 1958. In 1949, he closed the private hospital due to staffing difficulties. He did retain a nurse and a theatre for minor surgeries. In 1954, he suffered a stroke which weakened his left limbs.
Dr Barrett was the first-ever recipient of the Heytesbury Shire citizen of the year award in 1961. Three years later, he was decorated with an Order of the British Empire (OBE) for outstanding medical services to the community.
In 1968, circulatory issues led to the amputation of his right leg, an operation he didn’t recover from. About 1500 people attended his funeral at the Cobden Hall.
The “A H Barrett Reserve” was the name given to the Cobden Public Park and Swimming Reserve in 1968. He was also a turf club, RSL branch, football and angling club life member.
In 1960, Dr J W (Bill) Barrett, 40, returned to Cobden as a qualified physician/surgeon to partner with his father, Dr A H Barrett. After his father’s death in 1968, he worked 24/7 until Dr James Reid arrived. Over the forty years he served the Cobden community, ‘Dr Bill’ also made an enormous contribution.
On one occasion, he was interrupted five times for medical issues during a Christmas family dinner. On the golf course, he was often called by two-way radio to attend a delivery or emergency – but golf also provided a real highlight when he won a national Australian Medical Association Golf Championship.
A Cobden PS student before boarding at Geelong College and studying medicine at Melbourne University, ‘Dr Bill’ worked in Western Australia for 15 years where he did his internship in Perth for four years and practised at Margaret River for eleven years before returning home.
As an athlete, he won a bronze medal in the three-mile walk at the 1947 Australian Athletics Championships in Perth. ‘Dr Bill’ also represented the ambulance team that won seven state titles in WA and finished runners-up in the national titles at Adelaide. He also competed in football and rowing.
‘Dr Bill’ had three children with his first wife – Diane, Joanne and Newell – while his marriage to Marie Jones from Carpendeit in 1972 produced Tony (1973) and Anna (1975).
Marie began work at Cobden Bush Nursing Hospital in 1967. Forty- seven years later, including a three-year break to have children, the midwife and former director of nursing retired.
One of the Barretts’ major disappointments was the closure of the Bush Nursing Hospital in 1998. “It seemed the government of the day did not like private hospitals,” ‘Dr Bill’ said. “I really enjoyed the surgery and midwifery work.” He estimated he may have delivered more than 2000 babies during his time in Cobden, many of which were caesarean sections.
Apart from his commitment to the health and well-being of Cobden and district residents, ‘Dr Bill’ was also a charter director of Rotary when it formed in 1966. As well as serving as Rotary president, he was also a president of the primary school’s parents association.
Sources: ‘And We Who Followed’ (Jack S Fletcher), Cobden Times articles
