William Prichard Bassett is descended from #439B Thomas Prichard Bassett of Wales as follows:
Thomas Prichard Bassett (b. 1783) and wife Martha Lee
William Frederick Bassett (b. 1824) and wife Maria Theresa (Shinnor) Sutherland
William Prichard Bassett
William Frederick Bassett (1824-1910)
Born: 26 Oct 1824 in London, England
Died: 25 Mar 1910 in New South Wales, Australia
William Frederick Bassett (1824-1910), medical practitioner and educationist, was born on 26 October 1824 in London, son of Thomas Prichard Bassett and his wife Martha, nee Lee. He was brought up on the Continent, where he attended schools in Brussels and Germany. He returned to England for his professional training and studied medicine in London (M.R.C.S, 1849; L.S.A., 1850), and won the Snow medal. He is said to have studied under Michael Faraday who later corresponded with him. Bassett arrived at Sydney on 30 May 1851 as surgeon in the Windsor. In July he was appointed assistant surgeon at the Lunatic Asylum, Parramatta, at a salary of £150 which was increased to £216 13s. 4d.in 1853.
From 1834 to 1865 virtually no formal class ‘continuation’ education was available in New South Wales, although at various Schools of Arts significant numbers of adults attended ‘popular science’ lectures. Bassett took part in giving such lectures at Parramatta in the 1850s, his particular topic being ‘The Chemical Relations of the Metals’. About 1858 he entered private practice in Parramatta. In 1860 he was joined by George Hogarth Pringle (M.D., Edinburgh, 1852), who had trained in England with Joseph Lister and was admitted by the Medical Board in Sydney in October 1859; at the end of 1860 he took over Bassett’s remaining part-time government posts. In 1854 at Parramatta bassett had married the widow Maria Theresa Sutherland, nee Shinnor, of Flower Hill, County Cork. Abbot Henry Gregory’s appointment of Bassett to the board of the Catholic Orphanage at Parramatta in 1859 created difficult problems for the Archbishop John Bede Polding.
In 1864 Bassett and his wife accompanied Robert Towns to Queensland; soon after their return they moved to Bathurst where Bassett was appointed public vaccinator on 14 June 1865. On 10 February 1870 Bassett was appointed visiting surgeon to Bathurst Gaol and on 4 October government medical officer at Bathurst. Although he did not relinquish his duties at the gaol until 1909, he retired from most other work in 1903 and was presented with an illuminated address. The local press reported that ‘he spoke feelingly in reply, and thanked them for their remarks, but said that he was quite at a loss to account for their kindness as he was not aware that he had done anything but his duty’. In Bathurst Bassett continued his interest in adult education and began classes in chemistry; thus he is credited with starting the first classes in technical education in New South Wales outside the County of Cumberland; a full-time resident master was appointed teacher of chemistry in Barhurst in 1882. Bassett also was a vice-president of the Bathurst School of Arts for many years. His lectures no doubt reflected the district’s gold mining fever; he appears to have been a partner in several unsuccessful small mining companies and in 1874 applied for a mining patent. In 1886 he published a pamphlet, Energy; or, Thoughts on Inductive Reasoning in its Bearing on Natural Religion.
His interest in education resulted in his membership of the inaugural council of All Saints College, Bathurst, which opened in 1873; he also became a much respected medical officer at the Convents of Mercy. His civic interests included negotiations, after the gaol was moved, to use the site for the formation of Machattie Park, named after another medico; Bassett was one of the first trustees. In 1871 he was sworn in as a magistrate and sat on the local licensing bench for some years. In 1868 he helped to form a volunteer corps at Barhurst and was an honorary member at £1 a year; earlier he had been a member of the Parramatta Corps. Much respected throughout the Bathurst district for his yeoman service in humanitarian and educational spheres, he died on 25 March 1910 and was privately buried in the Anglican section of the Bathurst general cemetery.
Predeceased by his wife, a Catholic, who had died in 1891, he was survived by three sons, three daughters and a stepson. The two oldest sons were educated at Launceston Grammar School, their father obviously desiring the best education for them. The eldest, William Frederick Prichard, studied medicine at Edinburgh (M.R.C.S.; M.D., 1880). After practising in Lithgrow and at Bathurst Hospital, he joined his father in practice; he took a great interest in municipal affairs and during one of his terms as mayor, his two brothers were mayors of Carcoar and Wellington.
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Wellington Times, New South Wales, Australia, Thursday, January 28, 1932
Obituary
William Prichard Bassett
The whole town was shocked on Wednesday morning when it was reported that Mr. William Prichard Bassett, the well-known solicitor; had died suddenly at his mother’s residence in Wurne Street about 8 a.m. People were dumb-founded. Here was a young man, a perfect specimen of Australian manhood, apparently in the best of health, moving about amongst his friends the previous day and night, and yet in a moment he was cut off from all those whom he held so dear, and from his hosts of friends in the town and district. It is just another case which shows how uncertain are our lives. The weak and sickly may linger on for years, whilst the apparently strong and healthy are called away at a minute’s notice. The deceased was about as usual during Tuesday, and in the evening, with Rev. Keith Norman and Mr. Maurice Pearce, paid a visit to an old fellow-in-arms, Mr. D. H. Barton, returning home before midnight in the very best of spirits. He awoke next morning as usual, and before breakfast went to the garage to get his car out, but shortly afterwards, as he had not come in to breakfast, he was found in a collapsed condition, and though Dr. Black was in attendance in the space of a few moments, he was beyond all human aid. It was a tragic ending to a young life so full of promise, and to a man who appeared to have such a long life in front of him. It was no wonder, then, that his friends could not realize that his end had come so suddenly. However, he is but another victim of the late war, for, while doing his duty as a soldier in defense of the world, he was wounded and also became a victim of malaria, which was so prevalent in Palestine during his long term at the front. The bad time which our soldiers went through had left their mark on him, though he did not show it, and outwardly he appeared a big strong man.
The late Mr. Bassett was the only son of Mrs. and the late Mr. John Thomas Prichard Bassett and was a native of Bathurst. He attended the Wellington Public School from there going to the Sydney Church of England Grammar School. After leaving school he decided to take up law, thus following in the footsteps of his father, whose office he entered, and he was also for several years in the office of the well-known firm of solicitors, Messrs Beckett and Holdshin, of Sydney.
When the Mother Country called for assistance he was amongst the first to offer his services, and though he was turned down on 18 occasions, owing to his eyesight, he was eventually passed, and went away with the fifth Light Horse and saw a great deal of fighting in Palestine. He was wounded on a couple of occasions, and was awarded the Military Medal for bravery on the battlefield, although he was very modest in regard to his work on the other side.
When he came back he again took up his studies and when he passed his final examination he was, in 1923, admitted, as a solicitor, and entered into partnership with his late father under the name of J. T. P. Bassett and Son, and after the death of his father, he continued the practice under the same name.
In his early days he was keen on swimming, and was a prominent member of the first Wellington Swimming Club formed in this town. He was also a fine Rugby Union player, and in the days of the old Wellington team, his great weight and ability as a scrummager was a feature of the game. He was also a keen tennis enthusiast, and also was, at the time of his death, President of the Wellington Public Tennis Club. He was a keen follower of racing, and was a member of the Wellington Picnic and Turf Clubs. He took a keen interest in the welfare of the town in which he was born, and was for some years a prominent member of the School of Arts.
He was a dutiful son, and deeply attached to his mother, who, we are sorry to state, is not in good health, and his death will be a great blow to her, as well as to his two surviving sisters, Mrs. H. M. Lowe, of “Yooroga” Obley, and Mrs. Norman Rutherford, of Bathampton, Bathurst.
The body was encased in a polished silky oak casket, and, after a short service at the home, which was conducted by the Rev. Keith Norman, the funeral cortege left shortly after 9 a.m. this morning for the cemetery, where the remains were laid to rest in the family enclosure in the Church of England portion, the funeral service again being conducted by Rev. Keith Norman. There was a big attendance of returned men, and the “Last Post” was sounded by Mr. J. Whitehouse. The funeral was a very large and representative one, which was a token of the esteem in which the deceased was held by all classes of the community.
The funeral arrangements were carried out by Messrs Murray Bros.