A Wandering Pommy: the story of Dr Dale OBE
“Search Parties Unsuccessful”
The mysterious disappearance of Dr. Dale, who has been missing from Kookynie since Saturday last, has caused his friends in Kookynie great uneasiness. It appears that the doctor, who has been practicing at Mr. M. Schneider’s pharmacy during the past five months, went to Niagara on Saturday morning to attend a patient, and after having attended to his duties he proceeded to Jessop’s Well. He stopped at the Falls Hotel for some time, and after having had a drink, was observed to cross the railway line about 3pm in the afternoon.
Immediately the matter was reported to the police, Constable Sartori, accompanied by a black tracker, left for Jessop’s Well, when tracks, supposed to be those of the missing man, were picked up and followed along the railway line for six miles in the direction Menzies, but owing to the heavy rains they could not be followed further than the 19-mile, where there is a woodcutters’ camp. The men at the camp stated that they had not observed any strangers in the vicinity recently. The constable then made a detour to the right of the railway line and returned to Niagara at 7.30pm on Monday night, but without striking any fresh tracks. On Tuesday several search parties were organised, but they were unsuccessful. The search was continued yesterday but was again fruitless. Grave fears for his safety are held.
However Dr. Dale put in an appearance in Kalgoorlie yesterday evening after being missing for five days and was reported to be quite well.
Western Mail Saturday 1 October 1904, page 12
Dr John Dale by Colin Colahan for the Archibald Prize 1932
West Australian Perth Saturday 7 May 1927, page 11
‘A WANDERING POMMY.’
A valedictory presentation to Dr John Dale (Government Medical Officer of Health) who has accepted a post as Medical Officer to the Melbourne- City Council was made at the municipal offices yesterday by the Certificated Health Inspector Association of Western Australia. The president (Mr. -T. P. Dunne) complained that It was the same sad old tale – a good man had only to arise in Western Australia to be grabbed with both hands by the Eastern States. Nonetheless, he congratulated Dr. Dale on his appointment
In Melbourne, their guest would find ample scope, provided he was unhampered by red tape. Whenever matters of child welfare or hygiene arose, members of the association would remember Dr. Dale, whose lucid and compelling lectures would remain in their minds. Mr. Franklyn Higgs, Chief Health Inspector for the Perth City Council, supported the president. Dr. Dale was a capable, worthy, an able administrator, and had left his mark on the State.
Dr. Dale Describes Himself
Dr. Dale who was received with loud, applause, expressed gratitude for the presentation (a tennis racquet). and greater gratitude for their expressions of goodwill and appreciation. “The racquet is too good for me,” he said. but you and I are not good enough for our great job. No man is good enough for it. What I have done hasn’t scratched the surface of what needs doing for the health of the State. Child welfare, which has been mentioned, is a big field for the attack, and it is very near the heart of everyone engaged in preventive medicine. I owe you, and Western Australia, a very great deal. I came here several years ago, ‘a wandering Pommy’, and was received from the very beginning as a friend. I owe more to this State than it owes to me. Not everyone can make a hobby of his work, but you and I can. because it is a job that anyone can be proud of. After seven years — the seven happiest years of my life — I claim to be an Australian. Going to Melbourne won’t really be advancement, because there is infinite scope here. I am going largely for the sake of the knowledge I shall acquire. One thing I know: I shall never make better friends there than I have made here. ‘This was followed by loud applause.
From the Australian Dictionary of Biography by Lindsay Gardiner:
John Dale (1885-1952), medical practitioner, was born on 2 May 1885 at Coleshill, Warwickshire, England, son of James Francis Dale, grocer, and later chemist, and his wife Mary, née Grace. He was educated at Solihull Grammar School and the University of Birmingham, where he graduated M.B., Ch.B in 1908, also taking his M.R.C.S. and L.R.C.P. Next year he gained his B.Sc. (Public Health) in Birmingham wherein 1911, after a two-year travelling studentship to Germany, he became assistant medical officer of health; he worked mainly in the depressed area of Smethwick. On 9 July 1914 he married Wynifred Mary Evans, a trained Montessori kindergartener. There were four children of the marriage. Full story
The original newspaper article was sent to me by Eric Chamberlain.
Moya Sharp
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