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Dr Thomas George Beckett (1859-1937)
Image: "DR THOMAS GEORGE BECKETT"
Source: Museum Victoria
Thomas George Beckett was born in London in 1859 and was one of seven children; his father was a pharmacist. He studied medicine in Edinburgh and qualified in 1880. After his graduation Beckett spent several years as a ship's surgeon before arriving in Victoria, Australia, in 1885 with wife Kate Beckett (nee Lawrence) and one son, George. Thomas and Kate had married in London in 1883; they would have four children surviving to adulthood: George (b 1884), Helen (Nellie) (b1885), Lawrence (b 1890) and Kathleen (b 1892); Maud died in infancy.
Beckett commenced practice in the north central Victorian town of Charlton in 1885, moving his practice and family in 1892 to Northcote, a northern Melbourne suburb. In 1905 they moved house and practice to 340 St Kilda Road, South Yarra and around 1913 to 132 Nicholson Street, Fitzroy, opposite the Exhibition Building.
Beckett was one of a small number of medical practitioners in Melbourne to make radiology an important and successful part of their private practices in the early 20th century. Beckett was a friend of Frederick John Clendinnen (1960-1913), another pioneer radiologist in Melbourne, whose collection of x-ray tubes is held in the Museum Victoria collection. Beckett worked as head of the X-Ray Department and electrician in charge of equipment at the Alfred Hospital from 1901 to 1908. He was a pioneer in the building and use of x-rays for cancer treatment and delivered many papers and public lectures on the subject.
A skilled electrician and woodworker, Beckett built his first x-ray apparatus, even constructing his own batteries, and building the cabinets and tables for the apparatus. Beckett took a photo of the x-ray apparatus he built at his Northcote surgery, around 1900-1902.
Beckett was also a keen photographer, and documented the history of his family and community. He was a keen cyclist and a Captain in the Militia, retiring with the rank of Major.
Beckett was to suffer from his work, spending the last 15 years of his life in constant pain and losing his arm, fingers and the tops of his ears to amputation because of exposure to radiation.
References:
Biographical notes held by Australian Institute of Radiography.
Mitchell, Ann M. (1977). The Hospital South of the Yarra: A History of Alfred Hospital Melbourne from Foundation to the Nineteen-Forties, Alfred Hospital, Melbourne.
J. P. Trainor (1946). Salute to the X-Ray Pioneers of Australia, W. Watson & Sons, Sydney.
Items per page: 10 50 (showing 1 - 10) 290 items
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Glass Negative - Alexandra Fountain, Pall Mall, Bendigo, Victoria, Apr 1898
View of Alexandra Fountain and shops in Pall Mall, Bendigo, Victoria, 12 April 1898. Photograph by Thomas Beckett. Part of a collection of glass plate negatives taken by Dr Thomas Geor ...
From: Bendigo, Australia Images: 1 -
Glass Negative - Armstrong Street, Charlton, Victoria, Apr 1898
View of Armstrong Street, Charlton, Victoria, 14 April 1898. Double exposed negative. Photograph by Thomas Beckett. Part of a collection of glass plate negatives taken by Dr Thomas Geo ...
From: Charlton, Australia Images: 1 -
Glass Negative - Australian Natives Association Bicycle Sports, Exhibition Oval, Carlton G ...
Australian Natives Association bicycle sports at the Exhibition Oval, Melbourne, Australia Day, 26 January 1899. Photograph by Thomas Beckett. Part of a collection of glass plate negat ...
From: Carlton, Australia Images: 1 -
Glass Negative - Kathleen Beckett with Barrie, Northcote, Victoria, Jan 1899
Kathleen Beckett with the family dog Barrie, at the Beckett family residence in High Street, Northcote, Melbourne, 29 January 1899. Photograph by Thomas Beckett. Part of a collection o ...
From: Northcote, Australia Images: 1 -
Negative - Lawrence & Kathleen Beckett Playing in the Garden, Northcote, Victoria, circa 1 ...
Lawrence & Kathleen Beckett playing in the backyard of the family home at 180 High Street, Northcote, Victoria, circa 1896. Photograph by their father Thomas Beckett. Part of a collect ...
From: Northcote, Australia Images: 1 -
Glass Negative - Lawrence Beckett on Bicycle, Northcote, Victoria, Feb 1898
Lawrence Beckett posed on his brother George's bicycle, at the family home in High Street, Northcote, 6 February 1898. Photograph taken by his father, Thomas Beckett. Part of a collect ...
From: Northcote, Australia Images: 1 -
Glass Negative - Nellie Beckett & Queenie Brown, Northcote, Victoria, Sep 1898
Nellie Beckett (aged 13) & Queenie Brown, in the backyward of the Beckett residence, 'Alma', High Street, Northcote, Melbourne, 13 July 1898. Photograph by Thomas Beckett. Part of a co ...
From: Northcote, Australia Images: 1 -
Glass Negative - Kathleen Beckett's Tea Party, Northcote, Victoria, Oct 1898
Kathleen Beckett's tea party, in the backyward of the Beckett residence, 'Alma', High Street, Northcote, Melbourne, October 1898. Photograph by Thomas Beckett. Part of a collection of ...
From: Northcote, Australia Images: 1 -
Negative - Kathleen Beckett's Tea Party, Northcote, Victoria, Oct 1898
Kathleen Beckett's tea party, in the backyward of the Beckett residence, 'Alma', High Street, Northcote, Melbourne, October 1898. Photograph by Thomas Beckett. Part of a collection of ...
From: Northcote, Australia Images: 1 -
Negative -Town Hall & Post Office, Northcote, Victoria, 1901
Northcote Town Hall, Post Office and Telegraph Office, 1901. Ted Harrison and another man are standing on the pavement. Photograph taken by Thomas Beckett. Part of a collection of glas ...
From: Northcote, Australia Images: 1
