1880_HYDE, John Galbraith (1)e was born in 1856 in Canada. His father was a surgeon/doctor at Stratford, Ontario, and had graduated from the Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow.
Hyde gained a Bachelor of Medicine at the University of Toronto in 1879 and Licentiateship of The Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh and The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, in 1880, via the Double Qualification. While in Edinburgh he served as dresser to Dr Joseph Bell, on whom the character Sherlock Holmes was based.
Hyde briefly practised as a doctor in Harley Street in London, but as a young man, was yearning for adventure. He sailed as surgeon on a ship bound for the coast of Africa, and later for New Zealand on a cargo and immigrant ship called the Nelson. Immigrant ships at that time always carried a surgeon/doctor, with one of their main responsibilities was to prevent the spread of infectious diseases which frequently broke out amongst the passengers in steerage, where conditions were poor. The surgeon also attended births and deaths, treated accident victims, and prescribed medicines and ‘medical comforts’. A ship’s surgeon might also be responsible for overseeing the stores and food rations, ensuring the ship was kept clean and orderly, organising education for the children – and even mediating in disagreements.
In New Zealand, Hyde gained a position as resident doctor/surgeon at a small Central Otago village called Blacks (later renamed Ophir) where he stayed for over 5 years. Most people in the district worked in agriculture and/or mining. Hyde attended a large number of accidents related to the use of horses for transport, including riding accidents, dray accidents and trampling accidents. There were cases of blood poisoning. There were injuries and deaths when mines collapsed, and outbreaks of diseases such as scarlet fever and diphtheria.
In 1886 Hyde married Wilhelmina (‘Mina’) Kissel and two months later they went to live in Clyde, another small town in Central Otago, where he was to be Superintendent of the Dunstan District Hospital – a role he would hold for 28 years. They lived in the surgeon’s residence and raised a family of five boys and one girl.
At that time there was a high incidence of typhoid fever in the district. Hyde educated the community about improving sanitation. He treated the disease with buttermilk, an approach he had learnt from his father’s medical practice in Canada.
Hyde adopted the ‘open treatment’ of wounds and many of his patients made very successful recoveries. He continued to treat people injured in accidents resulting from horse riding and horse-drawn transport. The use of fire in homes for heating, cooking and lighting (candles) meant that burns were also a common injury. Luckily, skin grafts were known to the medical profession and Hyde performed these when necessary. There was a high incidence of frostbite, which often resulted in amputation. Chinese miners, often living in caves or basic huts, were particularly vulnerable to frostbite and also malnutrition. In a time of widespread racism, Hyde was respected by the Chinese community and treated many Chinese at the hospital.
In 1914, Hyde resigned from the Dunstan Hospital in order to spend more time at a high-country station he had procured with his sons. He continued to do medical work as a locum tenens (temporary reliever) for doctors in the region when they were away or ill. During the influenza epidemic of November 1918, Hyde offered his services to Dunstan Hospital when the resident surgeon came down with the virus. He also covered the nearby district of Cromwell, where there were some severe cases.
Between 1919 and 1920 Hyde worked as a ship’s doctor on the Moana, a mail and passenger steamer which sailed between Wellington and San Fransisco. On one occasion, during rough seas off Rarotonga, Hyde – now in his 60s – was knocked down by a huge wave, rendered unconscious, washed part-way through the rails and smashed against a stanchion (post), severing the top of his right ear.
During his time on the Moana, Hyde made his first visit in 41 years to Stratford, Ontario – the town where he had grown up.
In May 1920 Hyde set off on a trip to the North Island to visit two of his sons, boarding the overnight ferry Wahine at Lyttelton on 13 May. However, he went missing during the crossing, which was unusually rough, and is believed to have been washed overboard and drowned. He had a great love of the sea, and is likely to have taken an early morning walk on the deck, despite the waves breaking across it. He was 64.
Throughout his life, John Galbraith Hyde had been known as a doctor of great ability. He was highly respected and recognised for his intelligence, forward-looking attitude and geniality. He was described by his patients as kind and attentive. A man of extraordinary energy, alongside his medical career Hyde found time to be involved in entrepreneurial activities and played a prominent role in initiatives to improve the prosperity of the region.
[RCSEd thanks Ms Anne Hyde Nelson, great-great-granddaughter of John Galbraith Hyde, for much of the above information]
