Many of you here tonight will have many fond memories of Dr John Bulman and his lovely wife Sue. Dr John may have delivered you, set your broken bones or taken out your tonsils. Tully was very lucky to have had this very talented doctor practice in our town.
John Bulman grew up in England and followed in his fathers’ footsteps to study medicine at the University of Edinburgh. Upon graduation in 1948, he commenced his residency at the King Edward Memorial Hospital which was situated in the heart of London. It was here he met a pretty, young nurse Ursula Mellor Bright, known to all as Sue. Three years later they were married but John was in the midst of another love affair. Queensland House was directly opposite the hospital where they both worked, and John was going there on his breaks to read Queensland newspapers and look through other publications on Queensland. He was convinced their future lay in North Queensland. John applied for and was granted the position of Assistant Medical Officer at the Innisfail Hospital and in 1957, he persuaded his young bride to pack up and move halfway across the world. They set sail for Melbourne where John had a brother living. There they bought a car and started the long arduous trip to north Queensland. His “Child Bride”, as he often referred to Sue, was feeling homesick and wondering where on earth he was taking her.
On arrival at Innisfail, it was not long before he was promoted to Medical Superintendent. The nursing Staff were continually amazed at his medical knowledge, expertise, and surgical skills. For nearly two years he was the only doctor at the hospital. He was constantly on call and extremely busy, but he was always accessible to his staff and patients. He never lost his sense of humour which was one of his most enduring qualities.
In 1963 he left the Innisfail Hospital and set up private practice in Bryant Street, Tully. He was the Government Medical Officer and performed all the postmortems at the Tully Hospital morgue. Between house calls and consultations at his practice, he also operated every Wednesday at the Tully Hospital. On top of this he had private patients in the hospital that he visited before and after work. Dr John delivered hundreds of babies at all times of the day and night. He also operated on a few animals. For the next thirty-six years Dr John or Doc Bully as he was affectionately known, cured people’s ills, stitched their wounds, delivered their children, and mourned with them in the loss of their loved ones. There would be few families in this district who have not benefitted from John Bulman’s medical knowledge. He was often called upon to assist in tricky operations especially if the hospital doctors did not feel competent enough.
Many people recall an incident where a young girl had come off her horse sustaining terrible head injuries. Nowadays she would have been immediately transferred to Townsville but in those days, she was solely treated at Tully Hospital. Dr John saw her in the ward and without delay performed a craniotomy to remove the swelling from her brain thus saving her life. He was a gifted surgeon.
One patient tells the story of going into hospital to have her fourth baby. When she awoke from anesthetic, not only had Dr John delivered the baby by caesarian but had taken out her appendix (referring to these to be bothersome) and attended to her ingrown toenail!
He was often seen with a white towel around his neck as he found the humidity always uncomfortable. He was a great patron to the RSL Club, Top Pub, Bottom Pub, Bowls Club, Railway Hotel and Country Club. Doc Bulman got around. He often laughed about all the Butler Street Consultations he had.
John and Sue had two chosen children, Johnny and Fleur. They spent their childhood growing up in the Brannigan Street house where John and Sue loved to entertain. Sue was a snappy dresser and an excellent cook. She adored having company over. Her signature cocktail was called “Elephants Breath” and I’m guessing it packed a punch. But Sue’s other talents were of a more artistic nature. Sue was an avid painter. She was in an art group with other talented ladies. They were once tutored by well-known artist Noel Wood whose studio was on Bedarra Island. Sue produced many works, in oils and water colours, which were exhibited and sold. Sue was deeply loved and admired by all who knew her. An animal lover, Sue always had dogs. Every afternoon she would take them out to Jarra Creek for a run. It was returning from one of these outings that Sue had a terrible car accident. Robert Mackay was called into the hospital as he was the only person in Tully whose blood type was compatible with Sue’s. It saved her life.
The Bulman’s also had a 700-acre property on Jarra Creek Road- now Tully Gorge Road. This block was standard scrub when John purchased it, and he employed Peter Boisen to develop it then manage it. John named his property Buljarra. Here he fattened up and sold mostly brahman cross cattle.
In 2001, John and Sue celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. By the next year John was in Tully Nursing Home where he passed away aged 78. His “Child Bride” was by his side. Sue followed her soul mate four years later. Tully was extremely lucky to be blessed with this wonderful couple.
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