In 1934 Dr Fred Buddee who held a Bachelor of Medicine, Master of Surgery, and was a Member of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, bought Dr Gerard Gall’s medical practice.
Fred and Margaret Buddee had six children Barbara, Wallis, Bill, (who followed his father into medicine), Margaret, Donald, and David.
Their property, ‘Strawberry Hills’ of 500 acres was managed by Lloyd Rees.
Dr Buddee took over Dalhousie Maternity Hospital in the late 1930s and added a three-bed ward in 1941 and from 1947 the hospital rented Dalhousie from him as their separate maternity unit.
He was an alderman from 1944 to 1955 and Mayor for four of those years and sat on the executive of NSW Local Government as well as serving as Captain of the local Army Medical Corps and undertook military work at the periodically locally based army camps.
Sadly, he died of a heart attack in July 1955, aged 52 and there are 28 sides to our catalogue cards of his life here – detailing great involvement in our community.
As a mark of respect to his activities in music, choirs, eisteddfods, golf, bowls, tennis, horticultural, agricultural and pastoral societies, charter president of Glen Innes Lions Club, as a Mason, as a churchman, in charities and among children and schools of all denominations etc, a public appeal was launched in Glen Innes and approximately £1,000 [$2,000] was raised towards the Buddee Memorial Prize for Outstanding Achievement.
Serving on the Memorial Trust were Messrs. RH Fayle, H G Sheldon, JF Moroney, FH Doyle, and Mrs Dorothy George – Mr Peter McNee and later Mr Henry Liston took the place of Mr Moroney and FH Doyle.
The income from the Trust was to be used:
‘For the purpose of making an annual award in Glen Innes for outstanding achievement in one or more of the following fields Viz: Nursing, Scholastic, Music and the Arts, Sport or for the purpose of assisting an infant to receive urgent medical attention.’
Worthy recipients include: 1960 Miss Barbara Irwin, Nursing and Miss Biddy Ogilvie, Scholastic;1962 Rev Father R Buchhorn, Scholastic; 1963 Peter Hartmann, Science;1964 Horst Struve, Scholastic;1965 Sister Colleen (Lenord), Music; 1966 Miss June Simpson, Scholastic; 1967 D M Howland, Music and the Arts;1968 Barry Jones, Sport; 1969 Roland Bannister, Music; 1967 Stuart Rochester, Scholastic; 1971 Mrs. Elva Donaghue Music.
Who were the others and when did this award cease?
