The Dr G A Harrison Memorial Gates at Eltham's Taumata Park were officially opened by Eltham's Mayor, T B Crump, during the town's Peace Celebrations on 13 November 1918.
"Dr G A Harrison came to Eltham from England in 1894 and commenced practice. He travelled about the district in a horse and buggy later driven by a groom. Early in October 1898 when returning home from a call at Mangatoki, his horse reared and threw itself, the buggy and the doctor into a stream 20 feet below.....Dr Harrison became a highly-respected figure in the district because of his confident and cheerful nature".
In February 1913 a prick from a safety pin to his thumb at his cottage hospital in King Edward Street proved fatal. With the resulting death of Dr Harrison (aged 46), the whole town went into mourning and a short time later Memorial Gates were erected at the eastern entrance to Taumata Park.
From: Standish, Russell, Eltham - One Hundred Years, 1984
Inscription on pillar plaque reads:
SACRED
TO
THE MEMORY OF GEORGE ALFRED
HARRISON, M.R.C.S.
LONDON, L..R.C.P.
ENGLAND.
WHO DID GOOD AND
FAITHFUL WORK IN
THE RELIEF OF
SUFFERING, IN
THIS DISTRICT, FOR
MANY YEARS,
AND DIED 23RD
FEBRUARY 1913.
Related Documents:
Dr G A Harrison's obituary Hawera & Normanby Star (24 February 1913)
Bath Street (Word on the Street collection)
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