Hugh Kelso, pharmacist, who died after the 1918 flu epidemic
Hugh Kelso built a home with a shop fronting onto Arawa Street in 1908. This section is the site of the two storied building currently (in 2026) housing the Red Cross charity shop.
You can see the gable at the back of the house in this photograph, which is the front of the shop facing Arawa street.
And the front of it in the photograph above. Next door but one, to the left of Milly Cummings, Clothier - He was probably the first port of call for any ailment because Doctor Endletsberger left Matamata in 1908 and Dr Carolan did not arrive until 1912. When Dr Carolan did arrive, people wanting to do so did it through Kelso's chemist shop.
His phone number in 1918 was '4'. Was it the fourth telephone connected in Matamata?
During the 1918 influenza epidemic Hugh Kelso was kept very busy. He died early in 1919. See more in the link below.
