Francis John Douglas was born in Glenelg, South
Australia on 10 September, 1873, the son of
William Selby Douglas and
Mary Beviss, née Poole. Known as Frank, he qualified in medicine at
Adelaide University in 1897, after which he worked on the Great Northern
Railway for a short time. In 1900, he joined the 3rd Contingent of the
South Australian Bushmen’s Corps, and served in South Africa. On his
return from the Boer War, he heard that Dr O’Leary was selling his
practice in Victor Harbor and bought it for £250.
Soon
afterwards, on 19 February 1903, he married Margaret Clerk Robertson,
daughter of John Robertson, in her parents’ home at Golden Grove. Very
soon, the newlyweds travelled by train to Victor Harbor.
It has been
said that a large group of locals waited at the Railway Station for the
couple’s train to arrive. When it stopped at the station, instead of the
young couple alighting from the train, Dr Douglas’s coachman Fred Dormer
stepped down. Fred explained that he had met the Douglases in Pt Elliot
with a pony and trap. The doctor and his wife had then driven on to
Victor Harbor, while he caught the train!
Francis and Margaret
first resided at Stranmore before building their own home with an
attached surgery in Crozier Road (Woolworth’s car park now occupies the
site). The large practice stretched from Victor Harbor to Currency
Creek, across to Willunga, and down to Waitpinga. The doctor covered the
shorter distances by bicycle, and the places further afield by horse and
buggy. Later, he owned one of the first cars in Victor Harbor. As well
as running his practice, the doctor was the district’s Sanitary
Inspector (later Health Inspector). In 1917, he commenced his call for a
new sanitation scheme for the town.
Six children were born to
Francis and Margaret between 1904 and 1916: three daughters and three
sons. From the time of their arrival in the town, the Douglas family
became involved in the affairs of the district, in the church, and with
sporting bodies, thus playing an important part in the development of
Victor Harbor.
Dr Douglas, along with Paul Cudmore, founded the
Victor Harbor Golf Club in 1911, initially with nine holes, on land
rented for £8 per annum.
In 1908, a private hospital run by
Sisters Gill and Sweetapple opened in the town. It was mostly for women
giving birth: more serious cases were taken to Adelaide. By 1919, after
Dr Graham Shipway returned home from World War I, there were two
resident doctors in the town.
By the mid 1920s, with the
population growing, a public meeting was called to discuss the building
of a new hospital. Dr Douglas was on the Committee that moved quickly to
bring the idea to fruition. A site at Encounter Bay was purchased for
£350, and a fundraising drive of £6,000 commenced for the building. The
Government agreed to subsidise at 1½ to 1. The new hospital became known
as the Southern District Hospital. It consisted of nine wards, an
operating theatre and an x-ray department. The foundation stone was laid
on ?23 March 1929.
After practising for 52 years, Francis
Douglas, the beloved physician, retired to Adelaide in 1954. He died at
Gilberton on 30 January 1964, aged 90 years. His wife pre-deceased him
by two years, and died at Gilberton, aged 85 years, on 20 June 1962. A
memorial window to Dr and Mrs Douglas was installed in St Augustine’s
Church in Burke Street, Victor Harbor in May 1967.
Today, the
community of Victor Harbor is well provided for medically. It has two
hospitals: one public, which includes an extended X-Ray Department and
Dialysis Section, and one private (or community) hospital. Both are
serviced by a helipad for quick transfers to Flinders Medical Centre in
Adelaide when required. There are also two medical clinics with a large
number of doctors and visiting specialists, a health service, and
support groups. |
