Following Dr Endletsberger’s departure from Matamata about 1908, the town of approximately 1,000 residents went without a doctor until 1912, when James Frederick CAROLAN arrived to establish his penultimate practice.
Arriving in New Zealand about 1883, he had quite a peripatetic life. Moving from Helensville, to Waipu, Warkworth, & Waiuku. Pukekohe, Papakura, the Bay of Islands, Rotorua, and Matakohe. Then Birkenhead and Avondale. Until in 1912 he moved to Matamata. Wherever he lived the newspapers report of his musical & singing accomplishments. Always he was involved in various military concerns such as the Waiuku volunteer cavalry and the NZ Volunteer Medical Staff. In 1910 he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel of the NZ Medical Corps.
His extensive New Zealand military record can be seen here.
Matamata
In 1912 the Carolans moved to Matamata, where within a couple of years they purchased land and established both a home and a private nursing home, Kapai Whare. This proved to be Carolan’s longest residence —twelve years — and his penultimate practice. He was the sole doctor in Matamata during the 1918 influenza epidemic, during which both he and his wife fell ill.
Above : Dr Carolan's House, Tainui Street, in 1989, shortly before it's demolition.
His work-load would have been relieved by the arrival in 1919 of Doctor Douglas Leonard MUIR followed by Dr Muir's university class mate James Tait LAURENSON the following year.
The End of an Era
Dr & Mrs Carolan moved away from Matamata in 1924. They only went to Hamilton yet sold the "whole of her valuable furnishings" . By this time James Carolan was 73 years old. He practiced briefly in Hamilton before dying in 1930.
You may read more about his life here and elsewhere by downloading the long read below.
