D'Arcy Wentworth

D'Arcy Wentworth (14 February 1762 – 7 July 1827) was an Irish surgeon, the first paying passenger to arrive in the new colony of New South Wales. He served under the first seven governors of the Colony, and from 1810 to 1821, he was great assistant to Governor Lachlan Macquarie. Wentworth led a campaign for the rights and recognition of emancipists and for trial by jury. Early life D'Arcy Wentworth was born in Portadown, County Armagh, Ireland, the sixth child and fourth son of Martha and D'Arcy Wentworth. His family had left Yorkshire for safe haven in Ireland after the execution of Thomas Wentworth, Earl of Strafford, in 1641. In 1778, aged sixteen, D'Arcy was apprenticed to Alexander Patton, a surgeon-apothecary, in nearby Tandragee. In 1782, he joined the Irish Volunteers (18th Century), one of the local regiments formed during the American War of Independence, to defend Ireland against invasion from France; his commission as a junior officer was signed by George III. In May 1785, having completed a seven-year apprenticeship, D'Arcy left Ireland. He was seeking an appointment with the East India Company, and as the training of Irish surgeons was not recognised in England, it was necessary to go to London to gain accreditation. Life in England Wentworth sailed on the mailboat from Donaghadee to Portpatrick in Scotland. First he went to South Yorkshire, as the guest of his cousin, William Wentworth-Fitzwilliam, 4th Earl Fitzwilliam, at Wentworth Woodhouse. It was the beginning of a lifelong friendship. Fitzwilliam gave D'Arcy encouragement and advice. He attended Whig party gatherings and race meetings at York, Doncaster and Wakefield with Fitzwilliam, who introduced him to the societies of York and London, their up and coming lawyers, young politicians and aspiring bureaucrats. On 1 December 1785, Wentworth went before the Court of Examiners of the Company of Surgeons in London. He qualified as a Mate to Indiamen, eligible to work with the East India Company, once he had twelve months practical experience walking the wards in one of London's large charity hospitals. Wentworth accepted the invitation of Percivall Pott, one of his examiners, to walk the wards of St Bartholomew's, Smithfield under his direction. He attended lectures by other prominent physicians including John Hunter, and dissections held in the Company of Surgeons' anatomy theatre at the Old Bailey.