Ebenezer Teichelmann FRCS (23 March 1859 – 20 December 1938), known as 'the little Doctor' to his friends, was an Australian-born surgeon, mountaineer, explorer, conservationist and photographer in New Zealand.

"[1] Teichelmann successfully applied for the position of Surgical Superintendent of the Westland District Hospital, in Hokitika on the West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand.

[3] As the sole doctor to a population scattered over 380 kilometres of rugged coastline, Teichelmann was required to be an excellent surgeon and a good administrator.

[7] Teichelmann's responsibilities required him to travel at all hours of the day or night in what was a remote and rugged area, often with little more than a track to follow, and where few rivers were bridged.

The year Teichelmann arrived, he treated several people for smoke inhalation and burns after fire destroyed eight buildings on Revell Street, including the Golden Age Hotel, and the Hokitika Guardian and Evening Star newspaper offices and archives.

She died suddenly of a heart attack while her husband was at Blue Spur, and the local newspaper reported that a gloom was cast over the entire town at her unexpected death.

[1] In 1912, Teichelmann requested a leave of absence from his post to update his medical skills, citing the isolation of his position, and New Zealand as a whole, as a motivating factor.

The township farewelled him on 22 March 1912, in a gathering at the Hotel Westland, with speeches and a rendition of La Marseillaise, and presented him with a gold watch and chain.

[1][9] Teichelmann travelled to Europe, spending time in Birmingham, Edinburgh, Vienna, Dresden, Leipzig and Paris, as well as period climbing in Zermatt, and attending the sixth International Gynecological and Obstetric Congress in Berlin.

[10] On his return to New Zealand in January 1913 he described the advances in motor transport in London, such that horses were rarely to be seen, and several visits to Hendon aerodrome, where he was impressed with England's progress in aviation, but also mentioned that prevalent strikes made things generally unsatisfactory.

He was a Surgeon Major in the New Zealand Medical Corps with the 13th Canterbury Regiment since 1907, and he expected to serve but was not initially called up, possibly because of his German name or his age.

[1] Teichelmann wrote to the British War Office and to James Allen, the New Zealand Defence Minister, requesting to be allowed to do his duty, and was eventually called up to the Medical Corps on 25 August 1915, and assigned to the Sixth Reinforcements.

Teichelmann boarded the troopship SS Marquette in Alexandria along with other medical personnel from the hospital, including a contingent of 36 New Zealand nurses, and the Ammunition Column of the British 29th Division.

Alongside the more usual problems of typhoid, para-typhoid, and dysentery, strong winds, sleet and snow at the end of November 1915 caused severe frostbite injuries which Teichelmann, with his mountaineering experience, was well-qualified to treat.

The first cases in Hokitika were reported on 13 November, and were followed the next day by a public meeting calling for volunteers to assist with dealing with the effects.

Inhalation chambers were set up in the library and a drill shed, and on 15 November, when Westland Hospital was already crowded with patients, Teichelmann opened a further twenty beds at the Victoria School.

[1] Teichelmann benefited from advice from surveyors and explorers George John Roberts (1848–1910) and Charlie Douglas, who he visited often and was responsible for the medical care of in the last years of their lives.

[14] Newton reports that Teichelmann's companions loathed his heavy camera equipment when it was time to 'swag' in or out of a climb, but that they were always keen to see the photographs that resulted.

[14] Newton had arrived on the West Coast in 1901, with a letter of introduction to Teichelmann from Bishop Julius, to take up the position of Vicar of Ross and South Westland.

Other companions included W. Batson, a guesthouse owner from Waiho; Jack Clarke, Scottish climber R. S. Low, the Reverend Kemp, D. Nolan, and Dr Vollman, an archaeologist from Peru.

[1] Teichelmann built up an extensive collection of photographs of New Zealand scenery, and made a point of taking as near complete panoramic views as possible, which was of assistance to mappers of the area.

Will Kennedy, President of the New Zealand Alpine Club, saw Teichelmann's images of Westland scenery and later said "The outstanding beauty and excellence of these photographs attracted my attention so tremendously that I longed to know the man responsible for them."

Teichelmann had a collection of glass lantern slides that he was able to use to lecture about the Westland scenery, and left them behind for Tourist Department officials to show, with newspapers appreciating him as an unofficial ambassador for the region.

The board cleared blackberry, appointed honorary rangers, and advocated for control of possums, weasels, stoats and rats due to their negative effects on native birds.

[23] When Newton returned to Hokitika to stay with Teichelmann in 1934, he found him suffering from "an obscure trouble in the jaw", but otherwise he appeared to have aged little and was as interested in alpine matters as he had always been.

Permission was required from the family, so Ward tracked down a grand-nephew of Teichelmann's in Victoria, John Tudor, who visited the grave in 2007 and donated $250 towards the restoration project.

The foreword was written by Sir Edmund Hillary, who said"As a young climber I came to respect the climbs and exploration done by Dr. Ebenezer Teichelmann, mainly from the West Coast of New Zealand, up those long and difficult valleys such as the Cook River Valley, and his many first ascent were remarkable in that day and age of hobnail boots and long handled ice axes.