William Redfern | |
|---|---|
 Dr William Redfern | |
| Born | c. 1775 Canada |
| Died | 17 July 1833 Edinburgh, United Kingdom |
| Nationality | Irish |
| Occupation(s) | Surgeon, bank director, farmer, magistrate |
| Known for | Surgeon on Norfolk Island and in Sydney hospitals Australia’s first medical graduate pioneer in public health medicine |
| Spouse | Sarah Wills (1796–1875) |
| Children | William Lachlan Macquarie Redfern (1819-1904) Robert Joseph Foveaux Redfern (1823-1830) |
William Redfern (1775 – 17 July 1833) was the Surgeon’s First Mate aboard HMS Standard during the May 1797 Nore mutiny, and at a court martial in August 1797 he was sentenced to death for his involvement. His sentence was later commuted and in 1801 he was transported to New South Wales and assigned as an assistant to the Norfolk Island hospital. In this post he demonstrated the medical skills that enabled him to become one of the colony’s most revered physicians and a pioneer in public health. Redfern advocated major reforms to sanitary conditions aboard convict ships and this significantly reduced the morbidity rates of convicts arriving in NSW. Later in life he became a highly successful farmer, bank director and an emancipist rights activist.