Byron Bay

The first block of land was sold by the Crown in Byron Bay in 1881, so the population then grew in earnest.

Augustus W McDonogh

The first doctor’s name recorded in Byron Bay was that of Augustus William McDonogh, LSA (Eng. 1875). His CV reported that he had formerly been Medical Officer at Clapham General Hospital in London.

He was practising in Byron Bay in 1892 and still there in 1896, the length of his stay being uncertain but he was elsewhere in NSW in 1900.

Charles W Pardey

In December 1899, the Geelong-born Charles William Pardey, MB (Melbourne 1883), BS (Melbourne 1884), then senior Resident Medical Officer at Sydney Hospital in 1885–86, was practising in Byron Bay from a house on the corner of Shirley and Butler Streets. He had come from Sunny Corner in NSW and Toowoomba in Queensland and was associated with the lodges. He was also a member of the Mechanics’ Institute.

Even in those days, medical life could be hectic, the local paper reporting Dr Pardey attending three accident cases in the one week. Dr Pardey had brought his wife and family to the Bay and moved into a more suitable house for them on the corner of Shirley and Fletcher Street, with an expressed intention to settle for some time, if not permanently. In 1900 he was appointed Medical Health Officer of the region, but in December 1900 he left abruptly and returned to Sydney. The unfortunate doctor had contracted tuberculosis years before and died there in December 1902 at the age of forty-five, after a lengthy period of failing health. It was a sad case of what might have been for a potential long-term highly esteemed doctor in Byron Bay.

Roderick A McLeod

Roderick Alexander McLeod, MB, ChM (Glasgow 1887), Resident Medical Officer in Invercargill Hospital, NZ, was reported in the local press in 1903 to be practising from his home. He stayed for one year in Byron Bay. By the early 1900s, all neighbouring towns had a reasonable hospital, but Byron Bay had only one or two cottage, or ‘lying in’ hospitals, so the combination of small population and unsatisfactory surgical facilities made permanent medical practice unattractive and nonviable. The town leaders were well aware of this and were exploring every avenue to get a hospital for many years, including having gala ‘hospital’ balls, but had no government support until much later after two world wars.

William Buchanan

Other doctors’ names are mentioned over the next few years, one of these being in 1904, William Buchanan, MB, BS (Edin. 1896), previously in Walgett, NSW. He was available for consultations in Byron Bay, with visits weekly to Mullumbimby, before going to Narromine, NSW.

Frederick G Dalton

There were not many longer terms of residence until 1907, when Frederick George Dalton, M&L Mid RCS (Eng. 1856), LSA (Eng. 1860), Resident Medical Officer at St Thomas’ Hospital, London, came from practising in Gunning, Merriwa and Picton. He advertised the start of practice from his home in Shirley Street, in 1910 moving to a house in Middleton Street. He was very involved in the community, in particular being an active member of the citizens’ association and the lodge until he returned in 1911 to his previous home in Picton.

Josiah & Margaret Corlis

Canadian-born Josiah Corlis, MD, MS (McGill Uni. 1869), the GP in Bangalow, had opened rooms also in Shirley Street at the beginning of 1908 and continued to consult in Byron Bay for some years. His amazing wife, Margaret Amelia Corlis, MD (Queen’s Uni. Ontario), 1885, MD (Can Coll Physicians), helped run the satellite practice. The Doctors Corlis were often consulted about public health matters in Byron Bay, their previous experience in the Coolgardie goldfield closed community proving invaluable.

Charles A Crothers

From 1911, there was no resident doctor but it appears that Charles Alexander Crothers, MB, BS (Sydney 1909), stayed a matter of months from March 1913 before going to Dee Why, Sydney.

James H Chauncy

James Hornidge Chauncy, LRCP, LM (Eng. 1856), a graduate of St Thomas’ Hospital, and formerly of Casino, worked from Bangalow in 1912, tending to patients in Byron Bay.

He was described as very genial and straight-forward, but he had been concerned about the unsatisfactory health of his wife and children for some time and had hoped that living near the sea would be of benefit. However, he left for the medically safer area of Brisbane.

David Kerr

In the second half of 1913, Dr David Kerr started to practise in Byron Bay for about a year. He was reported to have been born in Nantwich, England in 1876 and had been House Surgeon at Newcastle Hospital, before coming to Australia and practising in various rural areas. He went from Forbes in NSW and lived initially in a large house in Bangalow. Dr Kerr advertised as the resident doctor in the Bay and offered vaccination with lymph.

He was a member of the Chamber of Commerce and involved in meetings regarding the future hospital. His practice was taken over by Dr Ashley and Dr Kerr went to Young in NSW. He died after only twenty years in his adopted country.

Thomas E Ashley

Thomas Ewart Ashley, LRCP (Eng. 1911), MRCS (Eng. 1911), House Surgeon at Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading, left Brisbane in May 1914 and ran the practice in Byron Bay from his house named ‘Thalassa’ (Greek word for sea), in ‘Johnston’ Street, opposite the Great Northern Hotel. This venture appears to have lasted less than one year.

Edward J Savage

In September 1914, Edward Joseph Savage, MB (Sydney 1900), ChM (Sydney 1901), had left Mareeba in Queensland after thirteen years, to go south, ‘for the good of his family’. He practised in Byron Bay, but left in February 1916 to go to Laidley in Queensland, causing the local paper to complain that Byron Bay was again in the unenviable position of being without a resident medico.

He did actually serve in WWI before going to Queensland. (Perhaps as an indication of his hard work over the years, Dr Savage died at forty-nine.) When nearby areas were affected by pneumonic flu in 1919, Byron Bay was without a resident doctor. The outbreak in the town, which in July required treatment of twenty patients in a temporary hospital, was managed by local nurses and visiting doctors from Bangalow, Dr CC Corlis and also Dr JG Lentaigne (who conducted first aid classes in Byron Bay).

J M Ryan

In April, 1920, Dr JM Ryan advertised commencement of practice from his rooms in the Pier Hotel, but it seems that he was not in the Bay for a year.

Andrew S Cassidy

Andrew Sarsfield Cassidy, BA, MD (Oregon 1893), started medical practice at the age of fifty-six towards the end of 1922, initially from the Pier Hotel, then in Shirley Street. He had been a doctor in Adaminaby and then in Sydney, where the previous year he had been widely reported in the press for a serious court charge of which he was acquitted, so he was probably looking for some respite and was certainly very welcome in Byron Bay. He was favourably mentioned in the news in 1923 for trying to revive a toddler sadly drowned in a Belongil drain, and in 1924 attending an injured sailor washed ashore on Tallows Beach from a wrecked yacht. Dr Cassidy was involved in the local fight against Bunchy Top banana disease.

He practised in Byron Bay for about five years before he left in August 1927 to go on an overseas trip. His place was taken by Henry George Douglas Cookson, MB (Sydney 1920), MS (1924), from Balmain in Sydney, but the replacement himself was in Inverell by eight months later.

Thomas G Hewitt

From September 1925, Lismore-born Thomas George Hewitt, MB, ChM (Sydney 1924), Resident Medical Officer at Sydney Hospital, The Coast Hospital at Little Bay and Crown Street Women’s Hospital in 1924–25, worked in Byron Bay in Marvell Street. He also covered for Dr CC Corlis in Bangalow for some months.

Dr Hewitt was Honorary Medical Officer to the surf club, vice-president of the cricket and football clubs, but the idyll stopped at the end of March 1927, when he went to Cairns for about eighteen years before setting up in his home town in August 1944.

James V Garner

James Verner Garner, MB (Sydney 1926), formerly of Glebe in Sydney, succeeded Dr Hewitt in April 1927 and lived in ‘Whare’ in Marvell Street.

Dr Garner had been a first-grade and interstate cricketer and keen tennis player and golfer. He played all of these sports in Byron Bay, but left for places unknown after less than a year, leaving his patients in the care of the admirable Dr J and Mrs Dr Barnes in January 1928.

John Maddox

On 17 July 1927, Dr John Maddox deservedly made the national press for performing an urgent operation for appendicitis on a very ill male passenger on board a liner off Cape Byron—with the ship’s nurse assisting him and the chief purser giving the anaesthetic. The ship’s name was, appropriately, Hobson’s Bay.

Jack & Muriel A Barnes

Jack Barnes, MB (Sydney 1924), MS (Sydney 1926), and his Surrey (UK) born wife, Muriel Agnes Barnes, MB, MS (Sydney 1926), took over from Dr Garner in January 1928 and started to practise in Byron Bay in Marvell Street, later in Kingsley Street. At that time, records tell the town population was 1700 and the district 3000. They were married in December 1927 and left for a motoring honeymoon on the North Coast, so they must have dropped in, liked the place and decided that the future lay there (a common thread with doctors settling on the Richmond). His first reported public duty was the tricky one being judge of the town baby show soon after he arrived.

Dr Jack Barnes was very involved in the community, including being president of the Boy Scouts Movement from 1936–1940. Then he went to North Sydney and his wife followed soon after. No resident doctors were recorded from 1940–1945.

Leslie CG Colville

In 1948, Leslie Charles George Colville, MB, BS (Melbourne 1941), was in practice. He was a Medical Officer in the RAAF Reserve in WWII, but he went to Annerley, Brisbane.

Rudolph DG Vann

Rudolph Douglas Grahame Vann, MRCS (Eng. 1940), LRCP (Eng. 1940), took over from Dr Colville in 1948. He had served as a lieutenant in the South Staffordshire Regiment from 1932 to 1940, and was lieut-colonel in the Royal Army Medical Corps from 1940 to 1948, before coming to Australia. He had trained at Northampton General Hospital in 1940 and 1946. In the Bay he worked from a house in Jonson Street, opposite what was to become Woolworths. He preferred to be known as ‘Mister’ Vann and he did some surgery, but had to use Ballina Hospital operating theatre.

He dashed busily about town in his bright red MG sports car and stayed for four years, leaving not long after marrying an Australian RN who helped in his practice. Records show that he became a squadron leader in the RAAF in the Korean War from 1951 to 1953 and embarked on a new career as a psychiatrist in Victoria and Canberra. After he left Byron Bay, it seems that he retained a beach house with the stylish name of ‘Adoremus’.

James AS Brown

In the middle of 1951, James Alexander Spence Brown took over the Jonson Street practice from Dr Vann to become the town doctor. Dr Brown was born and trained in England, MRCS (Eng. 1925), LRCP (Eng. 1925), BCh (Cambridge 1926) before he decided to emigrate, facing the choice of going to Canada or Australia. He was at preliminary meetings for the building of the hospital and was one of the first honorary Medical Officers and the Medical Superintendent when the Byron District Hospital opened to patients in 1952.

Dr Brown was the first local doctor to live in a house beside the ocean. He was renowned for his kindly expertise and devotion to his patients who still recall urgent night calls from the tall, slim doctor in his gown and slippers.

His heavy workload seems to have left him little time for other pursuits, although he was a keen attender of the local balls. Dr Brown was prominent in assisting Dr Stitz at the tragic motor car accident at the lighthouse in 1952. He had little warning of his fatal illness in 1956, but Dr Archelaus James (‘Father’) Opie helped keep the practice going for about a year, before Dr Alan Bradshaw took over.

Alan J Stitz

Alan James Stitz, MB, BS (Sydney 1952, set up his practice in 1952 in a house on the corner of Carlyle and Jonson Street after residency at Hawkesbury District Hospital. He was an original Honorary Medical Officer at Byron District Hospital, and was very popular as a twenty-five year old about town.

Soon after he arrived he and Dr Brown were called to a horrific accident in which a car plunged down the lighthouse cliff in appalling weather, killing six and seriously injuring three children. Dr Stitz clambered down and up the cliff many times on ropes with the aid of hardy local fishermen to treat the injured and retrieve bodies from the bottom of the cliff. Dr Brown and his secretary treated the survivors at the top until well after dark.

Dr Stitz showed a flair for surgery during his four years in Byron Bay and was reluctantly given a farewell in mid-1956 before he went to Sydney.

Alan R Bradshaw

In 1957, Alan Robert Bradshaw, MB, BS (QLD 1951), who trained in Brisbane and then had worked in Babinda (Queensland), set up in Byron Bay in Jonson Street in Dr Brown’s old practice. Dr Bradshaw served in WWII from 1939 to 1946 in New Guinea and New Britain with the AAMC and was mentioned in despatches. He had a general practice with obstetrics for about two years and died suddenly in 1959.

John MJ Lynch

John Michael Joseph Lynch, MB, BS (Sydney 1957), who had trained at St Vincent’s Hospital and was very proficient in anaesthetics, answered a call in 1957 from an influential local and ‘squatted’ in practice for some months before Dr Bradshaw died. Dr Lynch then took over from Dr Bradshaw in 1959 and worked as a family doctor as well as giving anaesthetics at Byron District Hospital and around the area. As he was on his own for about a year, he called his friend Dr Bernard Carew from Sydney to help in the Bay from 1961 and they formed the first partnership there although working from different surgeries.

He was especially prominent darting around town in his bright blue Triumph TR3 sports car which fitted his large frame like a glove. Dr Lynch served on the shire council. He was remembered by his colleagues as having the most up to date medical knowledge and equipment even in his Byron Bay days. At the beginning of 1963 he went back to Sydney to specialise in clinical pathology, starting a busy practice on the Manly peninsula. His practice was taken over by Dr Peter Ryan.

Bernard J Carew

In 1961, Bernard John (‘Bernie’) Carew, MB, BS (Sydney 1956), FRCS (Edin. 1959), started in Byron Bay. After residency at St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney and surgical training in Scotland at Dunfermline and West Fife Hospitals he set up practice in a house in Jonson Street.

In 1962 he had a dreadful car accident when his Citroën crashed through the railing of the wooden bridge in the dark and ended upside down with only the wheels above the waters of the Belongil Creek. He and his wife managed to extricate themselves from the car and then pulled their two and a half-year-old daughter out from the rear seat through the window.

Dr Carew worked with Dr Lynch until 1963 and was respected as a skilled obstetrician and general surgeon. They were popular figures on the golf course and also enjoyed body surfing at The Pass. Dr George Denholm took over his practice in 1965 when he decided to further his career in obstetrics in Sydney.

Peter J Ryan

On his birthday in February 1963, Peter James Ryan, MB, BS (Sydney 1958), replaced Dr Lynch in his practice and at the hospital. He was a Lismore boy and trained in Brisbane and Ipswich Hospitals before entering general practice in Gatton (Queensland) in 1961–62.

In the Bay he became very busy in general practice and giving anaesthetics, thus having little time for his favourite recreations of boating, offshore fishing and golf. Dr Ryan was the son of Dr James Redmond Ryan of Lismore (1927) and thus became a second generation Richmond Valley doctor. He practised in Byron Bay until mid-1966 when he went to Brisbane to specialise in radiology and then settled on the Gold Coast.

George CA Denholm

In December 1965, a Scot, George Cooper Anderson Denholm, MB, BCh (St Andrew’s 1955), came from Cessnock, where he practised after emigrating from the UK. He started on his own in Dr Carew’s previous practice in Jonson Street before joining Dr G Ethell in 1969. He was a GP who gave anaesthetics and a Visiting Medical Officer at Byron Bay Hospital.

Dr Denholm was a very keen and proficient golfer and also enjoyed overseas travel. He left in 1977 for a complete change to run his own restaurant in Ballina for three to four years before resuming in medicine to practise in Coolah, NSW.

Giuseppe Pasquarelli

Giuseppe Pasquarelli, MB, BS (Melbourne 1935), Registrar at Brisbane Mater Hospital in 1937, later Medical Superintendent at the Mater in 1941, served in WWII as Medical Officer in the RAAMC from 1942–46 and then practised in Melbourne in the Commonwealth Health Department. He took over in 1966 in Jonson Street from Dr Ryan but did not stay long in Byron Bay, returning to Melbourne.

Guy S Ethell

Guy Seccombe Ethell, MB, BS (QLD 1952) replaced Dr Pasquarelli in 1967. He was Resident Medical Officer at Gympie Hospital (1952–1953) and Medical Superintendent at rural Mundubbera (Queensland) in 1954–67. He went into rooms in the lower end of Jonson Street and was a Visiting Medical Officer at Byron Bay Hospital. In 1969 Dr Denholm joined Dr Ethell in those rooms. Thus started a very busy and successful practice which offered expert care in virtually all fields of medicine and surgery. Dr Ethell was also a qualified optical refractionist able to prescribe spectacles. He was to be in the practice until 1986.

Dr Ethell was inexhaustible and over the years crammed into his daily schedule his medical duties, deep sea boating and fixed and rotary-winged flying. He attended the local Anglican church and the lodge.

He went one stage further than the early doctors, who drove patients about, by flying them on occasions to city medical appointments. The hospital became a two-way radio base controlling his movements, even on one occasion resulting in him landing his plane on the main road outside the hospital in response to an emergency call.

Dr Ethell made the hospital a centre of mammary augmentation surgery, leading to a senior health official publicly nicknaming the town ‘Titty City’. From 1971 to 1976, Drs Denholm and Ethell also had consulting rooms in nearby Bangalow twice a week to help with the care of the locals.

Peter J Roger

They were joined in 1973 by Peter John Roger, MB, BS (Sydney 1971), who trained at Royal Brisbane Hospital (1971–72). After six months, he worked in anaesthetics at the Mater Hospital in Brisbane (1973) and Redcliffe Hospital, where he got the DRCOG in 1974. He returned to be a partner in the practice in 1975 as a GP with additional expertise in obstetrics and anaesthetics, so he was also a Visiting Medical Officer at Byron Bay and neighbouring hospitals. The practice moved to a newly-built centre in Lawson Street.

His activities included tennis, surfing and cycling, and he developed a particular interest in sports medicine. He gave anaesthetics also in Ballina, Bangalow and Mullumbimby. Soon after Dr Roger became the senior member, the practice became involved in the Family Medicine Training Program. Like all full-time members of the group, he was a Visiting Medical Officer at the Byron District Hospital, but he often visited other nearby hospitals. He was still in the practice in 1987.

Ian Elder

Dr Ian Elder, MB, BS (Sydney 1967), a GP based in Bangalow, opened a solo branch surgery in Shirley Street in the mid-1970s opposite the hospital and consulted there for a couple of years.

Douglas WF Mouncey

In January 1977, Douglas William Francis Mouncey, MB, BS (NSW 1975), who trained at the St Vincent’s Hospital, Sydney in 1975–76, was attracted by both the surf and work prospects to the Bay. He succeeded Dr Denholm, becoming an assistant in the practice and Dr Ethell taught him to perform appropriate GP surgery and anaesthetics. In 1980 Dr Mouncey trained at Westmead Hospital to get the DipObst RACOG, adding obstetrics to his skills. He returned in July 1980 and his outside activities included being a founding member of the Malibu Club and a pioneer of windsurfing. He remained in the group and at Byron Bay Hospital until he took the post of Medical Officer at the Richmond Psychiatric Clinic in Lismore in 1983.

Dorothy Champion

Dorothy Champion, MB, BS (Melbourne 1937), arrived from Canberra in the late 1970s to work as assistant GP in the Lawson Street practice for about ten years, while living in the nearby developing town of Ocean Shores.

Alastair W Swanton

In 1976, Alastair William (‘Bill’) Swanton, MB, BS (Sydney 1956), FRCS (Edin. 1961), FRCS (Eng. 1962), FRACS (1965), was appointed Consultant in General Surgery to the Byron District and Mullumbimby District Hospitals. He consulted in Jonson Street in the Bay.

Leonard S Youngs

Texas-born Dr Leonard Spencer Youngs brought his Australian wife home in July 1978 and set up rooms on his own on the corner of Marvell and Fletcher Street. He had been a chiropractor in California and became registered as a GP, retaining his special interest in spinal conditions.

At his house by the beach he erected a very high radio mast for his hobby of long-range overseas broadcasting to keep in touch with America. Dr Youngs was a staunch supporter of Mullumbimby Seventh Day Adventist Church. He stayed for about ten years and returned to Sacramento, California.

Ian R Curley

In 1978, Ian Ralph Curley, MB, BS (Sydney 1966), FRCS (Eng. 1973), FRACS (1975) joined Dr Ethell’s group. He did his residency at Royal North Shore Hospital, Sydney (1967–1969), assisted Dr Alderman in his general practice in Mullumbimby in 1969 before working as Registrar in Surgery in Birmingham (UK) in 1970–73, vascular surgery in Royal Perth Hospital in 1974–75 and colo-rectal surgery at RGH Concord in 1975–77. In 1978 he joined Dr Ethell and his group in Lawson Street to provide an even wider range of surgical expertise.

Dr Curley was very popular in Byron Bay, both for his friendly personality and excellent surgical ability. He moved on in 1983 to work in Cardiff (Wales) before starting up in specialist surgical practice in Gympie (Queensland).

James F Hounslow

James Francis Hounslow, MB, BS (QLD 1967), DObst RCOG and RACOG came to Byron Bay in 1980. He had worked as a Medical Officer in the Department of the Army (1972–74), including service in Vietnam and then was in general practice in Condobolin (NSW), where he had developed an interest in thoroughbred horses, before joining the Lawson Street practice. His other recreations included tennis, golf and careful riding of a high-powered red motorcycle to get around town.

Peter G Scott

In 1980, Peter Gordon Scott, MB, BS (NSW) 1977, Resident Medical Officer at Royal North Shore Hospital, Sydney (1977–78) and a Senior Resident Medical Officer at Lismore Base Hospital (1979–80) joined Dr Youngs in general practice, thus setting up a second group practice in town. He was a GP and did anaesthetics at Byron Bay and Mullumbimby Hospitals. He also developed an interest in accident and emergency work in his duties at the hospital. Dr Scott enjoyed surfing and sailing in his spare time.

Albert Salmona

Albert Salmona, MB, BS (Sydney 1975), became Byron Bay’s first Egypt-born doctor in 1981. He had trained at Sydney Hospital in 1975 and Ryde Hospital in 1977, before doing locum GP work and then settling into solo general practice in Fletcher Street. He was a Visiting Medical Officer at Byron Bay Hospital and had a particular interest in traditional and integrated medicine, obtaining a Graduate Diploma in Acupuncture (Brisbane 1984). His recreations were surfing, swimming and horse riding.

David DR Reid

In May 1982, David Douglas Ross Reid, MB, BS (Hons, UNSW 1974), DRCOG (1979), DA (Eng. 1981), joined the Lawson Street practice of Dr Ethell. He had done his residency at Hornsby Hospital (1974–75), worked in general practice in North Sydney (1977–78), as Senior Resident Medical Officer in obstetrics at Newcastle Western Suburbs Hospital (1979) and as Rural Training Registrar at Wagga Wagga Base Hospital (1979–80). Dr Reid had done a six-month locum with the group in 1980 before working as Anaesthetic Senior House Officer at Odstock Hospital, Salisbury, England in 1981 and became very busy as a GP and doing anaesthetics and obstetrics.

In October 1984, he left the practice and went to the Marvell Street group, linking up with Dr Youngs, Dr Scott and then Dr Flambas. His recreations included fitness walking and going on skiing trips.

Philip P Flambas

Philip Photios Flambas, MB, BS (NSW 1978), arrived in 1983 from practising in Kingsford, Sydney to join Drs Youngs and Scott as a general practitioner.

Annette C Pantle

In October 1984, Annette Cleo Pantle, MB BS (Sydney 1981), (DRCOG 1985), who did her residency at Royal Newcastle Hospital (1981–82), with terms in paediatrics and obstetrics and gynaecology there in 1983, joined the Lawson Street Medical Centre, doing family medicine and obstetrics. She played netball and softball, and later started the Byron Bay Softball Club.

Alan O Basson

Alan Owen Basson, MB, BS (Pretoria 1961), FRCS (Edin. 1968), answered the call in 1986 when Dr Ethell retired from the practice he founded. Dr Basson was born in South Africa and had practised in Melbourne before taking on the role of general surgeon for the practice.