Dr Sheldon's Gin Pills were avalable all over the Commonwealth for many years and may have orginated in Canada ??

An advertisement in the *QUEANBEYAN AGE (NSW) Friday 4 Oct 1912:

... DR SHELDON's GIN PILLS. For all kidney Troubles, use Dr Sheldon's Gin Pills. One of these Pills contains, in a concentrated form, all the curative properties of a pint of the finest gin, together with other important ingredients recognised by the medical profession as being remedial agents of the highest value for the kidneys and allied organs. Price 1/6 and 2/6. Obtainable everywhere.

From the **EVENING POST (NZ) Thursday 19 Dec 1912:
... DIABETES. This highly dangerous disease will in its earlier stages be remedied by prompt treatment with Dr. SHELDON's Gin Pills. Take them in time. Price 1s 5d and 2s 6d.

The 'benefits' of these pills were probably due to the Juniper berry, the ingredient of gin


* the Queanbeyan Age was founded by John GALE (1831-1929) from Bodmin, Cornwall, UK who was apprenticed to the printing trade in 1846 and whilst learning this trade also completed his training to be a missionary. He arrived in Sydney, Australia, in 1854 as a Methodist probationary missionary. He was never ordained as a minister but chose instead to marry Loanna WHEATLEY in January 1897 at Waggalallah, NSW, which was located a few miles out of Gunning. Loanna was the daughter of an ordained Methodist cleric, the Reverend John Weatley, who was responsible for overseeing Gale's mission.

With the arrival of Annie Mercy, the first of Loanna and John Gale's 11 children, John Gale re-thought his future. He wrote to his elder brother, Peter Francis Gale, a photographer living in England, and asked if he would emigrate to Australia. He requested that he bring a printing press wth him to assist in the starting of a newspaper business in Queanbeyan, New South Wales


** the Evening Post was founded by Henry BLUNDELL (1814-1878), an Irish migrant from Dublin, Ireland who first migrated to Australia with his sons and daughters in 1860 and then to New Zealand in 1863. He operated the Evening Post with his three sons Henry, John, and Lewis Blundell.
By 1874 the newspaper was prospering and Henry Blundell retired, leaving his sons to carry on the business. He made a trip to Ireland and travelled freely for several years. On 15 June 1878 he died in Sydney, Australia, while on a visit there. His remains were brought to Wellington by steamer and he was buried in Bolton Street cemetery on 2 July, PLOT 5208 - SECTION C of E

A grandson of Henry's was Denis Blundell the 12th Governor-General of New Zealand from 1972 to 1977