Founding Members
Meet the visionary doctors and community leaders who came together to create what is now the Taranaki Medical Foundation.
Their dedication to education, research, and regional care continues to inspire everything we do.
These are their stories that laid the foundations.
Dr Edmund Peter Allen
(1911–1991)
First President (1966–1968)
MB ChB (Otago), MRCP (Edin), DMR (London), FRCRA, CBE, MBE
Image courtesy of Puke Ariki Museum Collection: https://collection.pukeariki.com/objects/177001/sydney-and-edmund-allen
📸 A young Peter Allen with his father, Dr. Sydney Chalmers Allen, c. 1911 – a legacy of care passed down through generations.
Radiologist
Civic Leader
Quiet Force Behind a Lasting Legacy
Born in Dunedin in 1911 into a family steeped in public service and medicine, Dr. Edmund Peter Allen carried forward a powerful legacy of care and civic leadership.
His heritage included connections to Sir Frederic Truby King, New Plymouth-born founder of the Plunket Society and pioneering advocate for maternal and child health, and to Dr. George Hanbury Farrady St George, one of Taranaki’s earliest surgeons, who arrived in 1842 and practiced in the region for over 50 years.
Dr. Allen’s father, Dr. Sydney Chalmers Allen (1877–1960), was a prominent medical practitioner in New Plymouth and a decorated officer in the New Zealand Medical Corps during World War I. His service to the Brooklands community in New Plymouth set a powerful example of local engagement and integrity.
Peter Allen was educated at King’s College, Auckland, and New Plymouth Boys’ High School, where he was Dux and a National Scholarship recipient. After graduating from Otago Medical School in 1935, he trained in radiology in London and at the Mayo Clinic in the U.S., eventually returning to New Plymouth in 1940 to become the region’s first full-time radiologist. He served at Taranaki Hospital for nearly four decades, pioneering diagnostic and therapeutic radiology, and introducing New Zealand’s first mobile chest X-ray unit.
In 1966, Dr. Allen became the first President of the Taranaki Medical Foundation, guiding its early development and shaping its mission to support local medical research and education. In 1970, TMF awarded him a grant to support his pioneering projects in radiotherapy and diagnostic pelvimetry.
Dr. Allen was also a lifelong contributor to civic life. He served as Deputy Mayor of New Plymouth (1968–1973) and chaired the Town Planning Committee for nearly 20 years. He was instrumental in establishing the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, helped preserve the historic clock tower, and was a patron of the Taranaki Cricket Association, Friends of the Hospital, and numerous community arts and heritage groups.
Known for his quirky wit and firm standards, Dr. Allen never used a calculator—his fountain pen and slide rule were his trusted tools. He published numerous papers, received the Röntgen Award for best contribution to the British Journal of Radiology, and served as President of the Royal Australasian College of Radiologists.
Awarded an MBE in 1977 and a CBE in 1990, Dr. Allen left behind a legacy that continues to influence medicine, art, and civic life in Taranaki. His signature appears on the original TMF minutes—a quiet gem of local history, and a powerful symbol of his leadership.
Selected Publications
Dr. Allen was a prolific contributor to the field of diagnostic and therapeutic radiology. His work appeared in internationally recognised journals such as the British Journal of Radiology, New Zealand Medical Journal, BMJ, and Australian Radiology.
He was awarded the Röntgen Prize for best contribution to the British Journal of Radiology, and his research helped advance techniques in pelvimetry, soft tissue radiography, and radiotherapy dosing.
Notable examples include:
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Radiological Pelvimetry series – British Journal of Radiology, 1944–1949 (Sample article)
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A Modified Barium Enema Technique – Australasian Radiology, 1966 (Read abstract)
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A Trial of Radiation Dose Prescription Based on Dose-Cell Survival Formula – Australasian Radiology, 1984 (Related research)
Key list of publications from 1940 to 1984:
Miss Jean Mary Sandel
(1916–1974)
First Vice -President (1966–1968)
Second President (1968-1969)
Executive Committee Member ( 1972-1974)
MB ChB (Otago), FRCS (Eng), FRACS
Image credit: New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage, via Te Ara – The Encyclopedia of New Zealand.
Source
📸 Medical staff including Jean Sandel
Dr Jean Sandel (front row, third from left) pictured with colleagues at New Plymouth Hospital, c.1950s.
Trailblazing Surgeon
Champion of Education
Enduring Legacy
Miss Jean Sandel was one of New Zealand’s most distinguished surgeons and a founding force behind the Taranaki Medical Foundation.
Born in 1916 and raised in Taumarunui, she showed academic brilliance from an early age. As a boarding student at New Plymouth Girls’ High School, she was Dux for two consecutive years and Head Girl in 1933. She entered Otago Medical School on a Senior National Scholarship and graduated MB ChB in 1940, having won multiple academic prizes, including the Travelling Scholarship.
She pursued surgery at a time when few women did—not as an act of defiance, but from a quiet, determined belief in her vocation. After gaining significant surgical experience during the war years, she travelled to England in 1946 and in 1947 became the first New Zealand woman to be awarded the Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons of England (FRCS). She returned home in 1950 to begin what would become a lifetime of service at New Plymouth Hospital, where she later became Director of Surgery and a respected teacher and mentor.
Sandel’s clinical work was known for its precision, endurance, and deep compassion. Her surgical lists were famously full, her standards exacting, and her concern for patient welfare absolute. She was a stern but effective teacher, held in high regard by staff and trainees alike. Even in her final year, as her health declined, she continued to operate and lead with extraordinary stamina.
She played a formative role in the founding of the Taranaki Medical Education and Research Society (now TMF) in 1966. She served first as Vice President, then as President from 1968–1969, and remained active as an executive member representing the New Plymouth Staff Association until her death.
A strong advocate for regional education and access to medical innovation, she led and supported several initiatives, including:
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The screening of “Prescription for Life,” a public health education film broadcast across Taranaki with help from the Mount Egmont Translator tower
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A 1973 regional neurology and neurosurgery weekend course, offered free to all doctors in Taranaki and Whanganui
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A push to fund local research, despite challenges in participation from rural practitioners
Outside the hospital, Jean Sandel had a vibrant and wide-reaching life. A keen sports fan, she held a lifetime seat at Eden Park and travelled often to Auckland and Wellington to attend major rugby and cricket tests. She was an active member of the New Plymouth Soroptimist Club and a passionate bridge player. Her historic home, "Brackenhurst", on Pendarves Street—then known as York Terrace—was renowned for its beautifully tended garden. She often gifted flowers to friends, a quiet reflection of her deep love for nature and her enduring instinct to care, not only in surgery, but in all corners of life.
Her faith was central to her life. A committed Presbyterian, she quietly supported many social service initiatives. In her will, she left significant bequests to the Presbyterian Social Services Association, with instructions to fund a geriatric hospital or, alternatively, support the work of Chalmers Home in New Plymouth. Despite the demands of surgery, she cared for her mother during a long terminal illness without ever revealing her own cancer diagnosis.
She also left funds to Taranaki Base Hospital, specifically earmarked to create recreational amenities for medical staff—including a squash court—reflecting her deep and lasting care for the wellbeing of those she represented. Even in preparing her will, she remained a steadfast advocate for her colleagues’ health and balance.
In 1975, Dr Peter Allen, Mr Robson, and Rev. W.T. Woods joined medical staff in dedicating a memorial garden outside the New Plymouth Hospital chapel in her honour. It remains a place of peace and reflection, a living tribute to a life of service.
Jean Sandel passed away in November 1974, aged just 57. Her funeral filled St. Andrew’s Church, a testament to the community’s deep love and respect. Though she never sought attention for her achievements, her legacy continues—etched into Taranaki’s medical history, and in the lives of the many she healed, taught, and quietly supported.
Her name lives on in the Jean Sandel Retirement Village, in the church window dedicated to her, in TMF’s founding records, and in every young woman who now sees surgery not as an impossibility—but as a path she helped clear.
An official biography of Jean Sandel was authored by fellow TMF founder Dr. Victor Hadlow and published in the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography.
Read it on Te Ara – The Encyclopedia of New Zealand
“Perhaps Jean Sandel’s greatest achievement was that a stranger, meeting her socially and captivated by her quiet charm, would never have guessed they were speaking with one of New Zealand’s most distinguished professional women.”
— JHF, 1974 tribute in the Taranaki Herald
“As a woman surgeon, Jean Mary Sandel was a rarity.”
— Margaret D. Maxwell,
Women Doctors in New Zealand: An Historical Perspective, 1921–1986
Dr Alan Colin Hayton
(1919–2012)
First Honorary Secretary (1966–1974+)
More information to follow shortly
Mr. Salil Roy Chowdhury
(1928–2015)
Second Vice-President (1968–1969)
Third President (1969-1974)
BSc (Hons), MBBS (India), FRCS (England), FRACS (New Zealand)
Surgeon
Superintendent
Champion of Rural Healthcare
Born in New Delhi and educated in Calcutta and the UK, Mr. Salil Roy Chowdhury (widely known as “Roy”) brought global experience and a deeply human approach to his surgical and leadership roles in Taranaki. After completing his BSc (Hons) in Delhi and his MBBS in Calcutta in 1953, he earned his FRCS (England) in 1961 and later his FRACS in New Zealand.
He arrived in Taranaki in 1966 to serve as a full-time surgeon at Hāwera Hospital and was soon appointed Surgeon Superintendent in 1969. Known for his compassion, quiet leadership, and clinical skill, Roy championed the importance of maintaining surgical services in regional hospitals and helped oversee the development of Hāwera’s intensive care unit.
Within the Taranaki Medical Foundation, Mr. Chowdhury was elected Vice President in 1968 when Miss Jean Sandel became President. On 7 August 1969, she passed the presidential mantle to him, and he served in this role until 1974. His presidency was marked by both thoughtful vision and detailed action. On 17 July 1969, he raised the critical need for specialist equipment to support a three-monthly training programme in intensive coronary care—at a time when the estimated cost of such a programme ($40,000) was beyond the Foundation’s means. Rather than let the matter drop, he proposed a coordinated national solution involving the Postgraduate Medical Federation, the Health Department, and the National Heart Foundation to jointly fund mobile equipment that could rotate through hospitals across New Zealand.
In June 1970, he wrote to TMF advocating for continued in-service surgical training to ensure Taranaki hospitals maintained their approval by the Royal Colleges. His commitment to professional standards, regional training, and collaborative solutions became hallmarks of his leadership. He was re-elected President annually from 1970 through 1974, reflecting the strong confidence his colleagues placed in him.
Beyond medicine, Mr. Chowdhury was a dedicated Rotarian, first becoming involved with Rotary while living in Hāwera—a commitment he continued after moving south. In Blenheim, he was awarded a Paul Harris Fellowship and later served as Rotary District Governor. He was also a tireless advocate for public health equity. After relocating to the South Island in 1981 to continue his surgical career at Wairau Hospital, he became President of the Marlborough branch of the Cancer Society (1986–88). Concerned by the region’s high rate of skin cancer, he initiated and organised New Zealand’s first free skin cancer screening clinic in Blenheim in 1988. The clinic brought together specialists including plastic surgeon Gary Duncan (Wellington) and dermatologist Peter Sears, providing vital early detection services to the local community. This pioneering effort reflected Roy’s lifelong dedication to preventive healthcare and community wellbeing.
He also found joy in gardening, trout fishing, woodworking, and cricket—often travelling from Hāwera to Auckland or Wellington for test matches. Admired for his humility, calm presence, and quiet humour, he was as respected by hospital staff as he was by his patients.
Mr. Chowdhury’s contributions to surgery, hospital development, and regional medical education live on through the institutions he served—and through the communities that continue to benefit from his work.
📖 Further Reading:
Dr. Chowdhury’s career and character have been honoured by professional colleges on both sides of the world:
🔹 Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (FRACS, 1969)
Obituary – RACS
🔹 Royal College of Surgeons of England (FRCS, 1961)
Obituary – RCS England
