Andrew Sexton Gray

Gray was born in 1826 in Limerick, Ireland. His father was George Blanchard Grey [sic], a captain in the British Army's 67th (South Hampshire) Regiment of Foot, who died whilst stationed in India with his regiment shortly before Andrew's birth. His mother was Mary Ann Sexton, who died during his childhood, with Gray being raised by his aunt.^[1]

Gray undertook medical training in Dublin—which at the time involved studying subjects taught at various hospitals around the city, based on the model of medical training in Edinburgh—completing it in around 1846. For a number of years after this, he was the assistant of William Wilde, a renowned eye and ear surgeon and father of the writer Oscar Wilde.^[1]

On 9 January 1852, Gray passed the examinations for admission to the Royal College of Surgeons of England.^[1]

Shortly after qualifying for RCS membership, Gray was appointed as a surgeon-superintendent for the Colonial Land and Emigration Commission, which involved accompanying migrants on assisted passage schemes as the ship's chief medical officer, as well as maintaining their welfare and discipline. Thus Gray would go on to make several voyages to colonial Australia around the time of the colonies' gold rushes.^[1]

On 3 November 1858, Gray married Elizabeth Ann McNalty (daughter of fellow surgeon George William McNalty) at St Peter's Church in Dublin.^[2]

In January 1859, Gray and his new wife embarked for the colony of Victoria, on board the emigrant ship Hornet.^[3] They spent over a month in Sydney, until they could obtain passage to Melbourne where they arrived on 2 May 1859. The colony of Victoria had no compulsory registration to practice medicine, although there was a voluntary register, to which Gray added his name on 2 May 1859.^[1]