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Adelaide. His wife applied in April 1874 as a Matron, indicating that she had been used to a hot climate as she had
nursed in India between 1862 and 1871.
Alice McGuire commenced nursing after arrival at the hospital that was in a location somewhat remote from
the rest of the married community in the area near the first ‘camp’. Her husband arrived on transfer from Adelaide
later in 1874 and was on local patrol in Darwin. In May 1875, he decided to resign from the police and took
on the task of an attendant at the Hospital, thus supplementing his wife’s work as Matron there. Similarly in
1878 Jane Manson, who was to relieve her was supported by her husband, James Manson, when the McGuires
departed. The Matron worked in turn under Dr F Guy, Dr Sturt and Dr Morice as Colonial Surgeon and Protector
of Aboriginals. The original structure of the Hospital was of wood and iron, built by Robertson and Stewart.
A philanthropic Adelaide lady, Louisa Da Costa, sister of Benjamin Da Costa, a merchant of Grenfell Street,
made the first donations of 500 Pounds toward the cost of the original ward that included an Asiatic Ward. In the
first four years of settlement, there had been no hospital and women and children of the first settlers were at some
risk, as were those at the goldfields because scurvy and fever were rife.
During Matron McGuire’s period at the hospital, Dr Guy died and was relieved by Dr T J Sturt MD as
Colonial Surgeon in late November 1875 whilst some additional wards were being added with the Da Costa gift
funds. Dr Sturt came from London and was at Kapunda, South Australia, when appointed. His casual approach
to those in authority caused some friction with successive Government Residents Scott and Price and caused
Matron McGuire to resign her post in June 1877. However, she withdrew her resignation after the departure of
Dr Sturt later in 1877.
Alice McGuire had an accident in 1878 when she was seeing Mrs Gilbert McMinn off on a ship. She was
carrying a child in a vehicle that rolled over on a large ironstone boulder. In the resultant accident, she was
seriously injured in the face and head. She recovered and, in July 1878, left Palmerston on the SS Aijeh via
Batavia, Hong Kong and England with her two children.
Her contribution as first Matron during the hospital’s first four years was a significant one. Jane Manson
relieved her.
SAA (NT) 33/74, 130/74, 371/74, 361/65, 330/77, 356/77, 441/78 & 537/78; SAA McGuire Police Career Summary 1874NN77; BDM,
Adelaide, 1873; Northern Territory Times and Gazette, 1874–78.
JACQUELINE M O’BRIEN, Vol 1.
McINNIS, RONALD ALLISON (1890–1982), surveyor, soldier and town planner, was born at Te Kowai
near Mackay, Queensland, on 20 November 1890, the son of Duncan McInnis, an accountant, and his wife
Amelia Sophia Elizabeth, nee Cunningham. Although both parents were born in England, McInnis was particularly
proud of the Scottish background of the clan McInnis. He early found the truth in the McInnis family motto
‘E Labore Sulcedo’—pleasantness comes from industry—when as a boy he carved a table from Queensland beech.
It was the start of a life long love of wood and a commitment to preserving trees. McInnis’s long career in town
planning reflects the 20th century growth of the garden city and national fitness movements in Australia, in which
the incorporation of green belts and recreation areas came to be regarded as of equal importance as the construction
of buildings in town planning.
McInnis’s career began at the age of 14 in a Brisbane survey camp. During the First World War, he served with
the Australian Imperial Force at Gallipoli and in Egypt and France. On his return to Australia after the war, he was
appointed surveyor to the Mackay area and subsequently prepared a town plan for Mackay.
In 1935, McInnis was appointed City Planner of Brisbane. He moved to Brisbane with his wife Gwen and
daughter Alison. Gwen was a member of the well-known Hardy family, timber merchants of Wagga Wagga
in New South Wales. Under McInnis’s direction, Brisbane was the first Australian city to adopt a large-scale
town-planning scheme, with zoning for specific living, industrial and recreational areas. One of his monuments in
Brisbane is Coronation Drive, which today is one of the city’s most scenic roads.
When C L A Abbott took up the position of Administrator of the Northern Territory in 1937, one of his first
recommendations was that a qualified town planner be appointed to address the urgent questions of housing, roads
and basic services for the town of Darwin. A town plan, prepared by a committee and the government architect
W T Haslam, was produced in 1937. This plan created intense friction between Abbott’s administration and the
armed forces. It was oriented towards the development of Darwin as primarily a military base, with much of the
town centre, including the Administrator’s residence, being allocated to the Navy. Abbott rejected the suggestion
in the plan that Darwin should be divided into three sectors, each sector being administered separately by a branch
of the armed services. In October 1939, he wrote to the federal government asking that McInnis be appointed to
formulate a proper long-term town plan for Darwin.
McInnis arrived in Darwin in September 1940. He immediately noted the neglected appearance of the town
but felt that much of the reason for the absence of ‘civic pride’ was due to the lack of involvement by citizens in
town matters. The Darwin Town Council, faced with increasing financial pressures, had handed over responsibility
for town administration to the Northern Territory Administration in 1937. In studying the history of Darwin and
the Northern Territory, McInnis noted the tendency of southern bureaucrats to treat the north of Australia as a
colony rather than as a part of Australia, with little notice being taken of the wishes of ordinary citizens in decision
making. He determined that an important aspect of his town plan for Darwin would be consultation with residents
and the formation of a town management board.
McInnis was quite satisfied with the existing lay out of Darwin, which had been initiated by G W Goyder in
- Although the grid pattern of the streets was no longer popular in town planning, he felt that it was ideally