The Imperial Yeomanry Hospital, Deelfontein near De Aar
The stories of several “visiting” doctors are also woven into the chronicles of the Karoo. Several of these great medical men served at the Imperial Yeomanry Hospital at Deelfontein, near Richmond, during the Anglo-Boer War. Perhaps the greatest of them was Dr John Hall-Edwards, who headed the X-ray unit. Known as the “father of British…
Read MoreIllness, sanitation and fashion in Colesberg in the mid-1850s
The immense heat of Karoo droughts brought problems for humans as well as animals. Thelma Gutsche writes, in The Microcosm, that the great heat of 1852 was accompanied by locusts and typhus fever. This affected the entire Colesberg district and absorbed all of the energies of the local medic, Dr Orpen. All races suffered and…
Read MoreMedical staff at Noupoort during the Anglo-Boer War
Many countries and Red Cross type organisations sent equipment and personnel to South Africa during the Anglo-Boer War. Among these was a group of Scots from Edinburgh who collected £12 000 to establish and staff a hospital, writes professor J C (Kay) de Villiers in Healers, Helpers and Hospitals. Personnel embarked on the SS Briton…
Read MoreDeelfontein Hospitaal, De Aar, treating the British wounded
During the Anglo-Boer War, Dr J Purvis-Stewart, called the Karoo a “place to see”. He was one of the doctors sent to South Africa in 1901with the Imperial Yeomanry Bearer Company – the first company of its kind raised ever established by private funding. In his biography, Sands of Time, he wrote: “After three weeks’ tedious…
Read MoreThe curative powers of sheep
The Karoo is widely hailed as excellent sheep country. Its mutton is world famous and many people know sleeping on sheep skin prevents bed sores. Few, however, realise that sheep are surrounded by a great deal of folklore. Way back, the great Roman orator Pliny observed: “while oxen help us cultivate our fields, it is…
Read MoreMilitary surgeon’s medals fetch a top price
In March, 2011, a rare group of 22 orders and medals came up for sale at Smiths Newent, a Gloucestershire-based auction house in England. Said to be the “pick of the lots”, they were valued at £15,000 and there was a healthy interest in these medals as they had belonged one of Britain’s top military…
Read MoreLionel Opie, heart specialist from Hanover
Another son of the Karoo, who hails from Hanover, also hit world medical headlines. Lionel Henry Opie, considered one of the world’s foremost scholars of heart disease, was inspired by three men – Lister, Leonard Flemming and Professor Chris Barnard. Lionel was only 12 when Fleming received the Nobel Prize, yet he vowed he would…
Read MoreDr Albert Hoffa, a son of Richmond
Richmond’s Dr Maurice Hoffa’s son, Albert, also played a pivotal role in medicine. He studied in Germany and followed Julius Wolff (known for Wolff’s Law) as a professor at the University of Berlin. He described a rare fracture of the knee, characterized by enlargement of the fat pad and aggravated by exercise. It was named…
Read MoreNathan Finkelstein and Eugene Weinberg: leading medical specialists
Yet another Beaufort Wester who has made a name for himself in medicine was Nathan Finkelstein, known throughout South Africa as Mr Pharmacy. Natie’s lifelong friend, Beaufort Wester Eugene Weinberg, went on to become one of South Africa’s leading paediatric allergists and head of the Department of Paediatrics at the Red Cross Children’s Hospital in…
Read MoreVictor Dubowitz, pioneer in pedriatic medicine
Another Beaufort West shopkeeper’s son, who distinguished himself in medicine, was Victor Dubowitz. He pioneered major developments in pediatric neurology and made meaningful clinical and research contributions in the fields of neonatal neurology and neuromuscular disorders in children. In 1965 he described a rare and difficult to diagnose, genetic disorder, which was named Dubowitz Syndrome…
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