Early doctors, dentists and chemists of Prospect

Herein lays the opportunity to meet, albeit briefly, some of those who in earlier times contributed to the health and wellbeing of residents of the District of Prospect. These include early doctors, one of who lived briefly in Graham's Castle, another whose death was attributed to the wettings he received crossing swollen creeks when making his rounds; and Joseph Ernest Good, whose home was later a hospital, and who can be said to have founded the district's longest established medical practice. Then there are 'Dr Nil;, the celebrated bush poet whose self-caricature appeared on the front cover, Nailsworth's GH Howard whom the News named 'champion pet lover', and the other general practitioners who consulted in the district and the specialists who lived here. Dentists featured include one of Adelaide's earliest, namely JR Gurner who built St Albans on Prospect Road, and two longstanding family practices. Chemist shops include the original 'National Pharmacy', built for them by the local shoemaker, and Freeman Chemist at the old Enfield Tram Terminus, where the chemist and barber would kick a football on Irish Harp (now Regency) Road while waiting for customers. Many members of all three professions served overseas in one of the two World Wars, with some serving in both. Sydney Krantz, a brilliant surgeon, was prisoner of war in the jungle camps, as was another surgeon and colleague Alan Frank Hobbs. Within these pages meet these and others who should be remembered.… (more)