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Dr W. E. McFarlane, medical doctor and astronomer

from State Library of Queensland

• Vesna Verencevic said:

  Skilled in using stethoscopes as well as telescopes, but singing, dancing, and playing the piano make him a superhero doctor.

• Vesna Verencevic said:

  "The town's doctor was of vital importance for his medical work but Dr McFarlane had other talents as well. The newspapers of the time record him playing the organ for a Masonic function and appearing in a local variety show singing comic songs and accompanying himself on the piano. He built a small roller-skating rink under his house for the use of the local children and was also a keen amateur astronomer. In 1910 he purchased a fine 7 inch refracting telescope and built an observatory with rotating dome to house it behind his house on Hospital Hill.

• Vesna Verencevic said:

  From: www.slq.qld.gov.au/blog/country-doctor-and-exploding-star

• Annette Cadell said:

  Died of influenza in 1919.