Charles McCarthy

Charles McCarthy was born in Ireland in 1814 and educated at the Christian Brothers School in Dublin. In 1839 he left Ireland to travel to Scotland to study medicine in Glasgow. On November 6 1853 he arrived in Hobson’s Bay and set up practice in Lonsdale Street Melbourne. A long time advocate of services to alcoholics, McCarthy wrote many letters and articles on saving long term inebriates. He advocated the establishment of an inebriates retreat to treat alcoholics and as a result of his many labours the retreat was established in Northcote under McCarthy’s management. After battling to raise funds for twenty years the retreat closed in 1893.

Death index Victoria 1921-1985 : index to deaths in Victoria [CD-ROM]. (1998). Melbourne, Australia: Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages.

Lemon, Andrew (1983). The Northcote Side of the River. North Melbourne: Hargreen

McCarthy, Charles (1888). Inebriate retreats: their origin, utility, necessity and management.  Melbourne : Stillwell & Co.