Dr Henry Manning

Henry Manning was Dunedin’s first resident doctor and also Dunedin’s first ‘road hog’. An Englishman, he came as the ship’s surgeon on the John Wickliffe and stayed on in the new settlement for 18 months. He then went back to England but returned to Otago a few years later and married Eliza Stokes in Dunedin in 1852. They subsequently settled at Warepa in South Otago, combining farming with a small medical practice. They had a nice little cottage covered with roses, ivy and other climbing plants which they called ‘Woodend Cottage’.

Manning was quite an eccentric man (matched by his wife who was a great horsewoman but always rode her horse with an open umbrella), very vain and concerned for his appearance. You can see in his portrait that he was fine looking – he certainly thought so – and was particularly proud of his long, glossy curls. At night he used a special curling paper to maintain this hairstyle and would sometimes forget to remove the papers before attending to his first patients in the morning.

The road hog label was given him because he was very fond of riding fast on his horse through Dunedin’s main street. He was frequently prosecuted for ‘furious riding’ after splashing mud all over pedestrians as he passed by. Dr Manning was also notorious for his foul language and sharp temper. He once challenged Dunedin’s first judge to a duel after the latter had made comments on a woman involved in a court case. He was also wont to take a snitch against the well-to-do and could be rude and contemptuous toward them as patients. On the other hand he was kind and generous to the poor and sick, often waiving payment for his services.

He also loved children and when he and his wife did not have any children of their own, they were kind and generous to all the children of the district. Once they gave a party to which all the children were invited – though many were not allowed to accept by their parents because of the Mannings’ reputation.

‘The doctor started out to carve a huge pie which was gaily decorated with coloured ribbons running from the centre to the circumference of an enormous dish. As he cut carefully along each ribbon, he lifted out a triangular slice of fine brown pie crust, which covered the lid of a cardboard box of wonderful shape, and of still more wonderful contents. As each child lifted off its pie crust he or she found beneath a dear little live kitten. The delight of the youngsters present and the grief of the absent ones when they heard the description of the feats, and what they had missed, can well be imagined.’ [James Fulton, Medical Practice in Otago and Southland in the Early Days, 1922]

Dr Manning died in 1885 aged 73.