Duncan Richardson: 'Dangerous to know'

Bookings required. To reserve your place, visit Eventbrite or call the library. Join Duncan Richardson as he shares his book, Dangerous to know : Queensland's early colonial doctors and mental illness.

Medicine in the mid 19th century was on the threshold of life-saving discoveries and developments so a doctor might use leeches to suck blood one day and an anesthetic the next. But in the zone of mental illness, real treatment was still very distant. Most doctors believed that cold water immersion, straight jackets and brandy would cure a disturbed person. In Queensland's early years as a colony, the government hurriedly ordered a mental asylum to be built at Woogaroo. Another asylum for the poor and chronically ill was set up on Stradbroke Island. To assess people's state of mind, a Reception House was opened in the old barracks on Spring Hill. The medical men, with no training, would oversee these places, and employ staff based on their physical strength. Lack of skill and effective drugs were not the only reasons why patients received little care. The doctors had other priorities. Often described in biographies as medical heroes, many of these men were actually dangerous to know. Books will be available for purchase, or bring your copy from home to be signed. Presented as part of the Lord Mayor’s Writers in Residence series.

Complicated feelings arise, but before Veronica can resolve them, one of these three men is murdered. Veronica is quickly drawn into a sphere of spies and a world on the edge of nuclear war, one where nothing and nobody is quite as they seem. Books will be available for purchase on the day from Harry Hartog Carindale, or bring your copy from home to be signed. Presented as part of the Lord Mayor’s Writers in Residence series.

Bookings

Bookings required via Eventbrite.

Venue address

Carindale Library, Westfield Carindale, 1151 Creek Road (near Millennium Boulevard), Carindale