Wuth, Ernst Magnus   (1833 - 1885)

Born in 1833 in Hannover, Germany; died in December 1885, in a Philadelphia hospital, USA.

He graduated from the University of Giessen in Hessen, and responded to an advertisement in the Weser-Zeitung offering free passage for a working ship's doctor on an imminent voyage to the fifth continent.

Wuth joined the 37.6m (123ft) barque Solon in Bremen, sailed from there on 15 December 1858, and worked an eventful passage, electing to disembark at Moreton Bay, Queensland.

Realising that staying in Brisbane would be too costly, and besides, there were already too many doctors there, Dr Wuth ventured onto the Darling Downs to a little town of Dalby on a borrowed horse and with nothing in his pockets. After six months he had paid his credit, which was very high because of the rent he had to pay. He lived very poorly, never wasting money for brandy or other things, but using every penny earned during this time to pay off his debts.

He bought 80 acres farmland partly in the city, partly outside. He also bought 1/2 acre land for £6, and sold the same three months later to one of his handymen for £18. Also, if he had nothing to do in his practice Dr Wuth would ride to the auctions and buy wild horses, which he rode himself till they were good riding horses and then he'd sell them for double the amount.

Some of his observations at that time reveal an independent, at times feisty, personality and a quick-thinker.

Dr Wuth married Eliza Watson (of Greek birth) in November 1861 at Dalby. They had seven children.

Dr. Wuth's medical practice was interrupted when the new Medical Board of Queensland declined to recognise his qualification, which had not been endorsed by local registration. After a two-year hiatus, formal recognition of his German degree by the University of Melbourne confirmed his practice in Queensland, and he worked in Springsure, Tambo and Townsville.

The Wuths selected land at Springsure in 1868 where he worked at Springsure Hospital.

Eliza collected MEL specimens at Springsure Mountains. Her husband also collected MEL specimens, including the type of Tetracera wuthiana F.Muell. (1876), named for him. (now Tetracera nordtiana var. wuthiana)

Eliza and her husband seem to have become estranged, and he disappears from records after resigning as resident surgeon of the Townsville Hospital in 1882.

While overseas in December 1885, Dr Wuth died in a Philadelphia hospital, apparently after a very big night out. His death certificate from Philadelphia indicates opium poisoning. Opium addiction was not uncommon for Doctors of that era.

Source: Extracted from:
https://peterlud.wordpress.com/2021/06/26/queenslands-german-connections-dr-ernst-wuth/
Portrait Photo: none known (seeking).

Collecting localities for 'Wuth, E.' or 'Wuth, E.M.' (Eliza or Ernst) from AVH (2025)

Data from 414 specimens