The Dictionary of Australasian Biography/Manning, Frederic Norton
Manning, Frederic Norton, M.D., was born at Rothersthorp, Northamptonshire, in 1839, and studied at St. George's Hospital, London, for the medical profession, becoming an M.R.C.S. England and L.S.A London, in 1860, and M.D. of St. Andrews University in 1862. He became a surgeon in the Royal Navy, and saw considerable service with the Naval Brigade, first arriving in Australia in 1864. In 1867 he became Medical Superintendent of the Hospital for the Insane at Gladesville, N.S.W., and in the next year visited and reported upon the lunatic asylums of Europe and America for the New South Wales Government, furnishing a very valuable report, which obtained a high repute in England. In 1879 he became Inspector-General of the Insane in New South Wales—a position which he still holds. The first asylum for idiots in Australia was established on the suggestion of Dr. Manning, and organised under his superintendence at Newcastle. Dr. Manning, who revisited England in 1888, is President of the Board of Health of New South Wales, and Medical Adviser to the Government and Immigration Officer, and is Health Officer at Port Jackson and a member of the Board of Pharmacy.