That well known citizen Dr Endletsberger with the duelling scar on his face.
Theodor ENDLETSBERGER was Matamata’s first Doctor. He qualified at the University of Vienna in 1895, and arrived in New Zealand in January 1906. He lost no time in applying to have his name placed on the medical register for the colony.
By December 1906 he had arrived in Matamata and purchased four acres on the eastern corner of Burwood Road and Tawa Street, from where (according to one obituary) his millitary bearing as he rode around the district made him a distinctive figure.
The following year one of the first telephones was installed to his home which doubled as his surgery. According to Joan Stanley in ‘Growth of a Town’ this was the first telephone installed in Matamata. It certainly was deemed worth reporting. Apparently the posts holding the line proved a source of danger to vehicles at night because some of the poles stood in the middle of the road.
He proposed an early medical insurance scheme. Offering half price medical care if the Matamata settlers could guarantee him £120 a year. He had 80 subscribers at 30s each. After the first year not all paid on time or at all, with the result he was declared bankrupt in 1908.
Among the debtors was the Taupo Totara Timber company £94 16s 5d. It seems likely this was for timber he used to build his home on the four acres.
It can be seen from the advertisement above it was a reasonably substantial residence.
Matamata lost a highly skilled doctor, and there was none in the town or district until 1912 when Dr James Frederick Carolan arrived.
Dr Endletsberger continued to work as a doctor, in Rotorua and in Auckland, and was interned in the Hauraki Gulf during World War 1.
More details of his career and life can be read by downloading the PDF from the link below.
