Surgeon's home marked by more durable plaque

This plaque at a Hampden house, recognising the home of prominent Dunedin and Australasian...
This plaque at a Hampden house, recognising the home of prominent Dunedin and Australasian surgeon Sir Louis Barnett, is to be replaced after more than 35 years. Photo by NZHPT.
A celebration of the life of one of the most important figures in Australasian and Dunedin medicine will take place at his former home in Hampden tomorrow.

A commemorative plaque for Sir Louis Barnett (1865-1949) will be unveiled, celebrating the life of a man who founded the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, and was a pioneer in the research of hydatids and use of gloves and masks in operating theatres in Dunedin under then new aseptic principles.

The plaque will replace one put up by the New Zealand Historic Places Trust in 1977 that has faded over the years.

''There has been a lot of interest from the local community, Barnett family members and the Otago Medical School in getting the plaque replaced,'' trust acting area manager for Otago-Southland Jonathan Howard said.

The new plaque has been made of baked enamel so it will last longer.

Sir Louis Barnett lived at the Hampden house on holidays and later, in his retirement, from 1936 to 1946. On the corner of Appleby and Ipswich Sts, it is now owned by Joe and Margaret Johnston.

The ceremony starts at 1.30pm and will be transferred to the nearby Hampden and District Memorial Hall if the weather is bad.

 

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