Madness and Marvels is the true story of two flawed but gifted men, both born in the north of Ireland. One, the engineer Charles Yelverton O’Connor, built a world-class harbour at Fremantle, defying the doubters who said it couldn’t be done. He then went on to design the even more remarkable Mundaring to Kalgoorlie pipeline.
The other, Dr Henry Calvert Barnett, began his career as an adventurous ship’s doctor. After settling in Western Australia in 1869, he became the Colonial Surgeon for Fremantle and Superintendent of the Fremantle Asylum. For years he battled to improve life for the inmates of the neglected and overcrowded asylum. He was a lover of music, literature and flowers, and he longed to share these pleasures with his patients.
The lives of C. Y. O’Connor and Dr Barnett intersected in Fremantle in 1891. For a time, O’Connor and his family rented Dr Barnett’s house, ‘Park Bungalow’. As respected public servants, the two men inevitably met at dinners and balls, sporting events and Sunday worship.
The isolated West Australian colony had only recently obtained self-government. Conservative and dull, it was inching its way forward under John Forrest’s leadership. Then gold was discovered in Coolgardie and Kalgoorlie.
As the population boomed, the colony’s obsession with progress and prosperity began to border on insanity. Both O’Connor and Dr Barnett struggled with their own professional, physical and emotional burdens. In the end, each would pay the ultimate price.
This non-fiction book is carefully researched and fully referenced. It will appeal to readers who enjoy historical biography, as well as those interested in the history of Fremantle and Western Australia.
Availability
Madness and Marvels is available as an ebook from a wide range of online stores, including Apple, Amazon and Kobo. You can also borrow it through Overdrive (via the Libby app) Hoopla and Borrow Box, though you may need to request it from your library first.
A paperback version is available through Amazon. You could also ask your local library or bookshop to get it in for you. The ISBN is 979-8224609703 and it’s distributed by Ingram.
Reviews
From Sally, one of my ‘advance readers’:
‘I greatly enjoyed your new book Madness and Marvels. While like most West Australians I am aware of the building of the water supply to the goldfields, I have not previously read about the construction of Fremantle harbour and was very interested to learn how it was done. Reading of the family life of C Y O’Connor, where they lived and their involvement in community really gave a fuller picture of life in the colony. To interleaf the story of Dr Henry Barnett and his management of the Fremantle asylum was a very successful way to give a fuller picture of Fremantle, as well as a very interesting person in his own right. Exhaustive research has resulted in a tale that can be completely relied on. So many details added interesting information about life in that era, such as what the government might pay someone in retirement (if you lived that long) and the insulting payment to the widow of C Y O’Connor. Vosper used to live at the end of my street and James Couston just around the corner so it all felt very close to home. A great read. Highly recommended.‘