DOCTOR William Begg's arrival in Wauchope changed the practice of medicine and the provision of hospital care in the village forever.

While other medical practitioners had established a medical practice in the town, he was the one through his efforts that left a remarkable record of dedication and service to his community that is still remembered today.

In establishing the first 'private' hospital dealing with medical emergencies and operating theatre in the village and in developing a large practice, this outstanding citizen is credited with, and is recognised as the founder and 'father' of the Wauchope District Memorial Hospital.

When the North Coast railway opened to Wauchope in 1915, Dr. William Begg, already operating a medical practice in Kendall and Laurieton found it was not big enough to support him and his family. He purchased the Wauchope practice of Dr Doudney.

Before his arrival in Wauchope he had purchased a share in a sheep property in the Riverina, and in 1916, his brother drowned. This meant that Dr. Begg now had the added problem of managing 'Dellapool' station in addition to running his medical practice.

In July 1917, their first child, as son, Gordon Bruce, was born to the Begg's.

Suddenly, the severe drought conditions in the Riverina district and those prevailing at "Dellapool" forced Dr Begg to leave Wauchope and move down to manage his property. To do this, he exchanged practices with a Dr Humphrey of Jerilderie. This allowed him to supervise "Dellapool" with a working manager and paid hands while continuing working at his medical practice.

The move away from Wauchope was to prove tragic in every aspect; the first being with an outbreak of the dreaded "Spanish flu" which caused eleven deaths in one week in the Jerilderie. While treating the victims, Dr Begg contracted the disease himself. Fortunately he recovered, and was able to carry on and care for the other victims being the only medico within miles, and in addition was also responsible to provide medical services to the local public hospital during this emergency.

Shortly after this, in another tragic event, his son, Gordon Bruce was poisoned when he drank water from a near-empty tank in which a plague of mice had drowned. Their decaying bodies lying six inches deep in the near-empty tank had contaminated the water. Unfortunately, this was not detected before the little boy had taken a drink; the water seemed quite wholesome and was perfectly clear.

All townsfolk in the rural village became ill, mostly from the bad water, fortunately due to the skilled medical knowledge of Dr. Begg, most of the adults in Jerilderie recovered fairly quickly, though all services in the village were disrupted with no delivery of bread, milk, groceries, etc... until good water was bought in from many miles away.

In February 1919, with the temperature reaching 117 degrees in the shade, Dr Begg finally gave in and sold his practice, then devoted himself totally to the care of his ailing son and to his property "Dellapool", situated 90 miles from Jerilderie. Tragically all efforts to save his ailing son came to nothing and sadly he passed away in December 1919.

Return to Wauchope

Disillusioned by the recent tragic events and experiences, the Begg family decided to sell the "Dellapool" property.

After receiving advice from Wauchope's first chemist, Chas. Sykes, and hearing that the residents of the town were urging Dr Begg to return to the practice; he purchased the Wauchope practice from Dr Humphrey.

Arriving back in Wauchope, they found that the Doudney cottage was occupied, so rented Hannah Browning's cottage in High Street.

Heavily pregnant, Mrs Begg gave birth to their first daughter, Erica, in this house.

Dr. Begg set about rebuilding his medical practice back to what it was before his move to 'Dellapool', which, given his reputation in the past, was not a hard task.

(Next week - Wauchope Memorial Hospital. In the beginning - Part 2: Braeside and Lying-in-place)