William Bland

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Dr William Bland (1789-1868) was a transported convict, medical practitioner and surgeon, politician, farmer and inventor in colonial New South Wales, Australia.

Bland was born in London. He was convicted of murder for killing someone in a duel and transported to Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania) in 1814. He was pardoned in 1815.

In 1818 he wrote "pipes" (anonymous and variously insulting satires) criticising Governor Macquarie's treatment of farmers, and making fun of his desire to have his name on foundation stones. The Governor was not amused. Bland's handwriting was recognised and he was convicted of libel and sentenced to 12 months imprisonment.^[1]

He was the subject of the first photographic portrait taken in the colony and was the founder and first president of the Australian Medical Association. He died in Sydney.

An elected official in the first federal parliament, the Division of Bland, was named after him. This division was abolished in 1906.

[edit] References

^ Sydney Gazette, 26 September 1818, quoted in More Pig Bites Baby! Stories from Australia's First Newspaper, volume 2, ed. Micahel Connor, Duffy and Snellgrove, 2004, ISBN 1-876631-91-0