Dr. Douglas McEwen

Douglas McEwen was born on 18 March 1870 in Brisbane, Queensland, the son of John McEwen and Kezia McEwen. He married Annie Heagney on 14 August 1894 in Sydney, and together they had seven children over an eleven year period.

McEwen was a chemist and dentist, practising for many years in Cobar, where he was well known and widely respected. He initially operated a chemist’s business in Marshall Street before selling it and continuing solely as a dentist.

By the mid 1920s, McEwen had moved to the opal fields, which had long fascinated him. He left Cobar and spent several months at Lightning Ridge, living at the Grawin shortly before his death.

On the night of Sunday, 3 July 1927, McEwen was killed in a car vehicle accident while returning from Angledool to Lightning Ridge. He had attended a football match at Angledool and was travelling with Roy Joseph Nicholls. The car left the road after reaching the top of the hill and hit a tree. McEwen was killed instantly, most likely from a blow to the head. Nicholls ran several miles to obtain assistance and was later charged with manslaughter.

The Dentist’s Hill opal field, off the Castlereagh Highway towards Angledool, is named for McEwen, as the field is quite close to where the accident occurred.

Dr. Douglas McEwen died aged 57. He was buried in the Presbyterian section of the Lightning Ridge Cemetery, with the Rev. Innes of the Bush Brotherhood officiating.

• Dr. Douglas McEwen @ Find a Grave.

Article: Research by Russell Gawthorpe and Leisa Carney, edited by Russell Gawthorpe. LRHS research compiled by Len Cram and Barbara Moritz. Sources: ‘A Clergyman’s Charge' - Alleged False Pretenses’, The North Western Courier, 7 February 1916, p. 2; ‘The Drought’, Western Age, 11 November 1919, p. 2; ‘Death of Mr. Douglas McEwen - Young Man Arrested for Manslaugher’, The Dubbo Liberal and Macquarie Advocate, 8 July 1927, p. 6; ‘Mr. Douglas McEwen’, Western Age, 15 July 1927, p. 3.