George Mayo was a medical practitioner in the colony of South Australia. Dr. Mayo was born in England the fourth son of Rev. Joseph Mayo, M.A., of Ozleworth Church, Gloucestershire. He studied medicine at Middlesex Hospital under Dr. Herbert Mayo, and became a member of the Royal College of Surgeons in London in January 1829. For some years he practised at Devizes, Wiltshire, then emigrated to South Australia, arriving in the Lady Emma in December 1837. Soon afterwards he returned to England, but came back to the colony on the Asia in July 1839. He returned again to England 1851–1852, when he was admitted as a Fellow of the R.C.S. He was appointed hon. medical officer at the Adelaide Hospital on 13 October 1853, and upon the death of Dr. R. W. Moore he became President of the Medical Board. He was appointed to the Central Vaccine Board in October 1857 and in January 1868 was appointed to the Adelaide Hospital board of management. On 24 November 1876, he was made Hon. Consulting Surgeon to the Hospital. He was an enthusiastic member of the South Australia's Voluntary Defence Force: in 1859 he was captain of the West Adelaide Rifles, and by August 1863 was lieutenant-colonel. He was one of the original trustees of Trinity Church, and laid the foundation stone of the schoolroom on 7 May 1887. He was somewhat eccentric and extremely averse to publicity; his only photograph was as one in a group taken many years before his death. He was an enthusiast for physical exercise and a keen cyclist; in later life converting to a three-wheeler, in which he would regularly ride to Glenelg or North Adelaide. He was for some years a Vice-President of several cycling clubs.
Family
Mayo was a nephew of George Smith Gibbes, M.D., of Bath, Somerset. He married Maria Gandy on 7 July 1840. Maria had been William Light's housekeeper and common-law wife from the days of the brig Rapid or earlier, nursed him in his final days, and was the sole beneficiary of his will. The Mayos lived for a time at Light's "Thebarton Cottage". On the 200th anniversary of Maria Gandy's birth on 23 November 2011, a rectangular memorial was unveiled on the corner of Albert and Maria Streets in the inner western suburb of Thebarton near the site of their cottage, to honour Maria. On each of four sides is an inscription celebrating her roles as pioneer, settler, carer and mother. George and Maria's family included:
Mary Jane Mayo married Rev. Richardson Reid on 4 January 1871. He was incumbent of Trinity Church, Adelaide
Kate Mayo married Dr. Alexander Stewart Paterson on 14 April 1868. Paterson was Colonial Surgeon, associated with W. L. Cleland.
George Gibbes Mayo was a member of John McKinlay's 1865 expedition to the Northern Territory, lived at Hill Street, North Adelaide. Among the possessions he inherited from his father was a priceless self-portrait in oils by Col. Light. This was gifted to the Art Gallery of South Australia in 1905 on condition that the State Government contribute ₤1,000 towards the replacement monument to the Colonel in Light Square.
Their residence was on the north-eastern corner of Franklin and Morphett streets in the city. He married again in London, to Ellen Anne Russell on 19 February 1852.
