Evans Head

This was the lowest area in the Richmond Valley region and was on the coast and river, access from inland being very arduous, so the new settlers used mainly water transport after they started arriving in the 1840s.

Anthony I Graham

The first recorded doctor seeing patients in Evans Head was Anthony Ismay Graham, MB, BS (Eng. 1954), a resident in medicine, surgery and obstetrics in English hospitals before he came to Australia. He seemed to be based in Woodburn, but consulted also in Coraki and Evans Head from early 1957 until February 1964.

Douglas Ryan

In February 1959, Douglas Ryan, LRCP (Eng.), MRCS (Eng. 1944) became the first doctor resident and practising in Evans Head, from his surgery in Woodburn Street. After his resident years, he was in the RAF from 1947–50, followed by the position of Orthopaedic Registrar at Derby Infirmary in 1950.

Dr Ryan was a bachelor, dedicated to his patients and a staunch follower of his Catholic faith. He was renowned for his Irish brogue, entertaining company and love of a social gathering, following which he was always back in Evans Head on Sunday morning. He was a keen duck hunter and fisherman.

He was such a highly-regarded family doctor that the community was devastated by his death in a car accident while on a visit to Sydney in 1979. His civic esteem was expressed by the construction of the Douglas Ryan Lookout over the Pacific Ocean on the cliff at Evans Head.

Paul T Carne

Paul Thomas Carne, MB, BS (Queensland 1976), restarted Dr Ryan’s general practice in mid-1979, in Woodburn Street and served as a Visiting Medical Officer at the Campbell Hospital at Coraki.

Joseph R Leer

In 1980, Joseph Ralph Leer, BSc, MB, BS (Queensland 1973), joined Dr Carne’s practice. Before medical school, he had been a scientist in the laboratory at Cape Kennedy, Florida and after graduating in medicine he was Resident Medical Officer at Princess Alexandra Hospital, Brisbane.

Dr Leer had recreational interests of gardening, music, reading and general fitness. They moved on in the latter half of 1983, Dr Carne opting for practice in even more remote rural areas and Dr Leer for general practice on the Gold Coast, with an academic attachment to Bond University Medical School.

Ernest G Finberg

Ernest Graham Finberg, a South African graduate MB, ChB (Witwatersrand Uni 1961), took over the general practice of Drs Leer and Carne in 1983. After his residency years Dr Finberg had been in general practice in 1963– 77, at Stratford Hospital in 1977–79 and a GP at seaside Bondi in 1979–82. He was joined later by Dr P Walsh, but left in 1984 to work in Gove, NT and Vanuatu.

Paul R Walsh

In 1983, Paul Robin Walsh, MB, BS (NSW 1981), joined Dr Finberg in his practice in School Lane to start off a long time in general practice in the town. He had been Resident Medical Officer at Wollongong Hospital in 1981, Resident Medical Officer and Registrar at RNSH, Sydney in 1982–83 and then senior Resident Medical Officer at Lismore Base Hospital. He was a Visiting Medical Officer at Coraki Hospital for a time despite the distance for emergency.

Known affectionately as ‘Walshie’, he enjoyed the seaside location with spare time interests of scuba diving, surfing and underwater photography.

Gregory B Spark

Gregory Ben Spark, MB, BS (Sydney 1980), had joined Dr Walsh in Evans Head by 1984, having been a Resident at RGHC, Concord 1980–81 and Senior Resident Medical Officer at Lismore Base Hospital in 1982.

After a year in England in general and hospital practice, Dr Spark linked with his former co-resident and they ran a very popular general practice. He was a regular serious squash player in his spare time.