This biography is based on an interview with Rosemary Evans (Adair’s daughter) in April 2021 for the Early Medical Women of New Zealand Project. Further information and photographs were provided by Rosemary and the family. The interviewers were Cindy Farquhar and Michaela Selway.
Contents
1951 graduate
The early years: Te Kuiti, Nga Tawa, and the War

Isidore Adair Mackersey was born a few minutes before midnight on 18 August 1924 at Claybrook Road, Parnell, Auckland. She went by Adair as her mother was also called Isidore. She was born in her maternal grandparents’ house because there had been an outbreak of Puerperal sepsis at the local hospital so “a decision was made that it was not safe for her mother to deliver at the hospital.” (1) Her family were living in Te Kuiti at the time and so they drove to Auckland for the birth. Adair was the youngest of two girls. Her older sister Eleanor was 4 years older than her. The Mackersey’s “lived in a lovely house (on Hospital Road) that was built in the early 20s, and it was up on a hill overlooking the town, it’s still there actually.” (1) The house had a big garden, a badminton lawn, and large vegetable gardens. She remembered that her parents worked hard on their gardens. “Each lawn had a name such as the swing lawn, badminton lawn, front lawn, rose lawn, etc. My favourite was ‘Lovers Lane’ which had a beautiful big pepper tree.” (2)

Adair’s father was a lawyer. He worked as a solicitor and barrister in Te Kuiti. Though Adair’s mother wanted him to move to Auckland to pursue a career as a judge, he preferred the lifestyle of Te Kuiti and, even though it paid less, he decided to stay – “life is to be enjoyed, he said.” (2) During World War I, he embarked for Europe as a Second Lieutenant in the 4th Reinforcements, 3rd Battalion, G Company of the New Zealand Rifle Brigade. He fought on the Western Front in France as part of the Machine Gun Corps and was away from New Zealand for over 3 years. He was an adjutant and was promoted to temporary Captain.
In World War II Adair’s father served as a Major, promoted to Lieutenant Colonel with the 1st Battalion Waikato Regiment (also with 16th Waikato), was involved in training the troops, and was an area commander. Isidore was a homemaker, who was involved in the country women’s association. The family had many pets growing up; a cat called Peter, a dog called Cobber, and a pet lamb.
Adair remembered her parents throwing many parties for all different occasions – Christmas, birthdays, and Guy Fawkes. Adair’s mother would make the two girls fancy dresses for special occasions as well as making most of their clothes.

The family occasionally travelled to Auckland for holidays, as Adair’s maternal grandparents had a house in Parnell. Her grandfather was William Arthur Cumming, a well-known architect who designed St Kevin’s Arcade, several schools including Mt Albert Grammar, Auckland Girls Grammar, and Takapuna Grammar. He was a founding member and a President of the NZ Institute of Architects, and the first director of the School of Architecture at Auckland University College. In 1935, her older sister Eleanor moved to Auckland for school, though Adair stayed at home.
Adair’s desire to pursue a career in Medicine began at a young age. “One time when I developed a cold, Doidoi (her mother) got Dr Wills to come and see me at the house – I was about 4 and stood with only my pants on in the dining room doorway near the step down to the front porch while Dr Wills sat in a chair with his stethoscope around his neck listening to my chest. I thought to myself ‘I’m going to be a Dr when I grow up” and I never thought about doing anything else ever after.” (2) Her daughter, Rosemary, recalled: “And it’s the only thing she ever wanted to be, she never waivered.” (1)

Adair attended Te Kuiti Primary School and then was sent to boarding school at Nga Tawa Diocesan School in Marton, which is an Anglican School for girls. She was sent there because Eleanor had gone there in 1938, however, Adair did not enjoy it. “Eleanor was very protective of me when I started there, but I don’t think I enjoyed the school as much as Eleanor. She was a prefect, in the school choir, and cricket club … I used to learn the same poem each time for memorising so that I could spend more time doing maths which I used to go and sit in the library and do. I was very anxious to get the maths prize each year and did so every year except for the last year, when because of the war it was combined with the English prize which another girl won.” (2) Rosemary recalls, “she was very studious, very quiet.” (1)
At the end of her last year at school, all the girls were brought into a room and sat on the floor. The Head Mistress went around to each girl and asked them what they intended to do the following year. “When my turn came I said I’m going to be a Dr, to which she replied ‘oh, you’ll never do that’ and quickly passed on to the next girl. I was furious with her. When I did eventually qualify I considered writing to her, but I thought ‘how unkind’ because at least she had egged me on to succeed.” (2)
Adair was unable to complete the full five years at school, however, as the Second World War broke out when she was sixteen and she was sent home at the end of 1941 to complete her schooling by correspondence. She studied bookkeeping, home science and first aid, and she spent her spare time tending to the vegetable garden and learning tap dancing. She also helped in her father’s office doing the accounts and reception duties.

In 1943, she joined the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force where she specialised in meteorology. She was first sent to Wellington, and then to New Plymouth for a Bell Block course. “I developed an interest in looking at clouds and the different pictures they form in the sky that has given me some pleasure all my life.” (2) After the course was complete, Adair was sent to Mechanics Bay in Auckland. Her tasks involved decoding and reporting the coded weather reports from various stations around New Zealand and the Pacific. They were regularly sent new decoding books. Adair remembered that the decoding was done by subtracting without carrying over. “Also once a day we had to release a large hydrogen filled balloon and follow it through a telescope to calculate the direction and speed of the wind.” (2)
Medical school
Adair’s family was very supportive of her decision to enter medical school. Her mother, in particular, was excited for her. When the war was almost over, Adair was speaking on the phone with her when she said, “‘you will be able to do medicine now’. I was so excited and could not think of anything else for days afterwards.” (2)

Adair completed her Medical Intermediate year in 1945 at the University of Auckland. During this year she lived in Biltmore Boarding House with her sister Eleanor, who was very supportive. Adair found maths, biology, zoology, and physics quite challenging since she had left school in fifth form due to the war. Nevertheless, she worked very hard and managed to pass all four exams. Despite this hard work, she was not at first accepted to the Medical School. “Fortunately Daddy had written to them the previous year and now they advised that ex-service people would be given preferences, so I was very thrilled.” (2)
On the way down to Dunedin, she often visited family in Hawkes Bay. From there, she took the train to Wellington, boat to Lyttleton, and then train to Dunedin. She regularly returned to Te Kuiti in the holidays to help in her father’s law practice. Adair stayed at St Margaret’s while she was at Medical School, though she did not always get on with the other girls there. Many of the girls from Nga Tawa were upset that she had got her position through the ex-serviceman’s preference, and they had not. “Some of the boys who did not get accepted said to me ‘you’ll get through, marry, have kids and never practice’. They were quite unkind about some things, but I did not let it worry me. I worked very hard.” (2)
The way she described medical school to her children made it seem like it was much harder for the women than it was for the men: “Perhaps more exacting standards or if the boys played up a bit, they were always cut a bit of slack, but I don’t think the girls were. The girls had to, sort of, not only perform twice as hard but also be meticulous in grooming and be really precise about things.” (1)

Adair studied hard while she was at Medical School. She felt that she had a lot to catch up on since her high school studies had been interrupted by the war. Rosemary explained that her mother was very diligent and studious; someone with incredible determination. “So some people get there with a bit of luck and a bit of skill and a bit of bluff. My mum was always, “I’m going to work the hardest of anybody in the room, and I’m going to get there on my own merit and my own hard work”.”
Unfortunately, Adair failed her exams in 1948. She was one of only two in the class who failed. Her family was supportive nonetheless and encouraged her to repeat the year. She was very nervous on her first day of classes the following year. She sat next to a man she had never met before and ended up talking about how upset she was. “I can’t remember what he replied, but he made me feel that of all the class he was the only person who understood what I felt like. I said to myself ‘gosh, you’ll make good Dr!’.” (2) On her second day, she was very surprised to find that she was sat next to this same man in bacteriology class. She looked to the microscope what was labelled A Mackersey and E Marsden, as the class was paired up alphabetically to share microscopes. “I could not work out his name, as everybody called him something different from words beginning with ‘E’. then just before the weekend he said ‘would you like to go rabbit shooting on Sunday?’ I said yes, but I still didn’t know his name and so began our romance.” (2)
The man was Ernest David Lindsay Marsden (who went by Tim). He was two years older than her but was only doing his medical schooling now because he had first completed a Bachelor of Science and then had served in the radar department during the war. Tim’s father, Ernest Marsden, was knighted because he had “worked with Ernest Rutherford. While still an undergraduate he conducted the famous Geiger–Marsden experiment, also called the gold foil experiment, together with Hans Geiger under Rutherford’s supervision. This experiment led to Rutherford’s new theory for the structure of the atom.” (1)
This year, Adair had moved from St Margaret’s to Huntly House, which was another student accommodation associated with the university. “Tim and I soon became inseparable. We would go to a dance on Saturday night and then swotted at home together on Sundays. We would each set exams for the other to do the following day. I had my first kiss when listening to the general election results.” (2) One evening, Tim suddenly told her that he had been thinking of asking her to marry him, to which she responded with a very emphatic yes! “That night I sent Doidoi a telegram, ‘as Max is to you, Tim will soon be too’ (Max was Eleanor’s husband). But unfortunately, she did not understand my cryptic message and so I rang them the next day and they were very happy and pleased with Tim as a future son in law. I received a very nice letter from Gramp (Tim’s father) who was in London at the time, but I did not meet his parents until much later.” (2)
Adair remembers returning to Dunedin at the beginning of 1950 with a beautiful three diamond engagement ring on her finger. This year was quite busy. She lived alone in her hospital flat, and Tim lived in his “bachelor pad” (2). Whenever they were not studying, they spent their time renovating the flat they would move into when they got married, which was opposite Dunedin Hospital.
The couple got married at the beginning of their last year, in February 1951 in Te Kuiti. Eleanor was Adair’s matron of honour and Tim’s brother-in-law was his best man. They honeymooned at Mansion House on Kawau Island.
“Nan kindly lent us her car to go to Kawau for our honeymoon. We had one puncture near a spot where Eleanor and Max had also had a puncture on another trip. We spent the first night at the Hamilton hotel. Guests at the wedding had given us money and it was used to buy our first car, a baby Austin. I remember sitting in the taxi at the wedding and saying to myself ‘haven’t I done well’.” (2)

Though the couple were “flat broke” they were extremely happy. Tim made furniture out of apple crates and the nursing staff were very kind to them because they let the couple plug their electricity into the main building so that they did not need a separate electricity meter. Occasionally, the nursing staff would bring them leftover food. “They would find a tray outside their room that had some little treats in it.” (1)
The two of them had a lot of fun being students in Dunedin. Rosemary believes that her father was very social, however her mother was “always work first. Always. Do that, then you can play.” (1) While they were dating they went on a few day trips, had picnics, went rabbit hunting, riding on Tim’s motorbike, and visiting various beaches. At one point, they watched Burt Munro race his motorbike at Oreti beach.

Adair and Tim completed their studies at Otago Medical School and graduated on 13 December 1951. “At the end of the year a notice was hung up stating that no student had failed to satisfy the examiners. Tim and I walked over to see the board and at first we all thought it was a practical joke. So evolved the term ‘Da Vinci’s year’ and I had a copy of the notice for some years, as this was an unheard of event … It was a wonderful ending to a lifelong wish and I owe much to my parents.” (2)

Career in New Zealand
The year following her graduation, Adair obtained a position at Waikato Hospital. Rosemary believes that the couple must have lived at least some of this year (1952) apart, as Tim worked for a time as a ship surgeon on a boat in Papua New Guinea. The following year, they reconnected at Tītahi Bay in Porirua where Adair had a GP practice at the family house and Tim worked at Porirua Hospital. While the family was living in Tītahi Bay they had their first two children (Alastair and Nigel). From October 1953 und September 1957, Adair worked as a visiting Anaesthetist at Wellington Hospital, where Dr Alfred Slater was her mentor.
In 1964, the family moved to Auckland. They first lived in Market Road and then shortly after moved to the North Shore. The two children attended Devonport Primary while the family lived in Devonport and then a few months later they bought a house in Takapuna. Between the two of them they ran two general practices: one on Victoria Road and another on Lake Road.
In 1967, the couple adopted a baby girl they named Rosemary.
When Rosemary was six years old, the Marsdens had the opportunity to buy a building opposite their Lake Road GP clinic, which they were renting. Between the two clinics, the couple were very busy.
Rosemary said,
“Juggle is exactly right because she had so much going on, my two brothers, eight and ten years older, they both did competitive swimming, so Mum and Dad used to drive them over to the Tepid Baths in the city a couple of times a week in the morning before school so the boys could train, And so there was juggling with that, and then when I was in my early teens, Dad stood for Devonport Council and he got on the council, so there was Council and there was Rotary and then night surgery two or three times a week as well. Mum did all of the accounts, the staff rosters, the pays and everything for both of the surgeries. My earliest job was rolling cotton wool balls out of those big sheets of cotton wool.” (1)
Because they were so busy, they had a lady who came in to help with the laundry and cleaning. She came three times a week. Tim would come home at lunchtime when he had a break for about an hour and a half. Adair would normally “put a hot meal in for him in a bain-marie in the oven on the timer” so that when he came home he would have a warm meal ready to eat for lunch. (1)
Adair on the other hand, would normally just eat a sandwich and have a cup of coffee on the run. Rosemary said that her mother was “flat-out” all the time. “My mother didn’t do downtime. She would go to bed at 11 o’clock or midnight.” (1)
Because the couple was so busy, Adair created a very organised system at both GP clinics.
“So at each of the two practices, the consulting rooms were all colour coordinated. So you would have a blue room, a green room, a yellow room or a pink room, depending which surgery you were at. And there would be a peg that was painted in the colour codes for the rooms and then pegs painted different colours for each of the doctors. All of the linen, towels and ancillary items were also colour coded for the rooms, so it was very easy to tell if something was in the wrong place, for example a green hand towel left in the blue surgery. Mum would usually have a purple peg, because that was her favourite colour, and Dad– I think he was red And so when the nurses were getting the patient files set-up for the doctors they would be there set up in one of those toaster rack holders and Mum could come in and she would grab the next file that had her colour peg on it. She knew that was her patient and what room that that person would be sitting in waiting. So that she could just go straight to them– no downtime, no wastage.” (1)
Moreover, because they were both Drs Marsden, the patient had to specify who they wanted to see when making an appointment: “”Hello, I’d like to see Doctor Marsden.” “Yes, is that the lady doctor or the man doctor?” (1)
Rosemary said that both of her parents were “what I would call old-school GPs, which is a lot of the consultation was about the person, and how was the person coping, and not just: “What sickness are you presenting with?”.” (1)
Eventually the Marsdens decided to sell their practices so they so could have more time and they semi-retired. They conducted various locums around New Zealand, travelled to wherever they desired to be. They would contact people in the area where they wanted to visit and the GP would usually be able to find a space for them and it would become a working holiday.
Locum work and moving to Australia
In 1988, Tim and Adair decided to move to Sydney, Australia, which was where Rosemary was living at the time. Originally they had planned to go and work in Lae in Papua New Guinea, however it was at a time of civil unrest in the area and so they took an alternative locum in Sydney. They both worked at Blacktown Medical Centre: “Mum and Dad went there in GP locum roles and within a few months, Dad was asked to be the Medical Director of the Centre.” (1) They did a lot of continuing medical education while there. During their time at Blacktown, they were involved with trainings at Westmead Hospital and Tim was a GP for the local Police Citizens Youth Club for the boxing matches and other community events.

They worked there until 1995 and then returned to New Zealand. They moved to Buchanan Street in Devonport, two doors down from the old maternity hospital and although they loved being back in NZ, they still went back to Australia from time to time to do locums in Sydney and in Canberra. “Mum was also on the Medical Ethics Committee here in NZ. So when there were investigations into claims against GPs she would read all the case notes and go and sit on some of those Committee Hearings.” (1)
Rosemary said that her parents had a wonderful relationship and managed to find fun moments everywhere they worked. “They would play the most fantastic practical jokes. In Devonport, where– it was April fools, I think, and with the help of the nurses, mum borrowed some clothes and a wig and got all dressed up and was bought in as a patient, and she’s there talking, “Oh, doctor, it’s so terrible and I don’t know what to do.” And dad’s like, “Oh, you poor dear,” and, “It’s all right, you’ll get there.” And in the end, one of the nurses had to come in, because dad just hadn’t twigged.” (1)

Life at home
Rosemary said that her mother was a very studious person, both in her work and at home.
“Mum was lists, lists for everything, super precise, super organised, always planned ahead, it was nothing for my Mum to plan five years ahead, ten years ahead and try to be prepared, Sundays was family day so that usually meant a either barbeque at home round the pool or, if my brothers were off doing things, Mum or Mum and Dad would take me to the museum or the art gallery or for a picnic or we’d go out on the boat or things like. But it was always do all the work first, get all Saturday’s work completed, do the garden, the washing, get everything else done that needs doing, and then you can have a rest or have fun. And she didn’t really relax herself— however the only reading my Mum pretty much ever did was, medical journals, she hardly ever read for fun, whereas my Dad did both. So she was always trying to keep up to date with what’s the latest on this or that medical treatment and which new medicines were being released. My mother was very keen on self-improvement. She was also an excellent knitter and made many treasured garments and blankets for the whole family.” (1)

When writing a summary of her life, Adair wrote that her dream was to travel to Japan and learn to speak Japanese. She also wanted to learn to play the piano.
When she retired, she spent a lot of her time with the grandchildren. Adair would also go swimming and she loved gardening, for which she had a lifelong passion. She had a wonderful vegetable garden. “My parents were very competitive. So to give you an idea of that, every morning they would photocopy the crossword puzzle from the newspaper, and then each would do it separately, and then they would check it off against each other the next day. And at the front of the house, there were two vegetable beds. One was mum and one was dads, and they would be, “How big are your carrots? How tall are your beans?” And we caught my dad, one day, pulling weeds out of his garden and replanting them in mum’s.” (1)
Adair and Tim retired in 2003 and spent some time travelling and enjoying visits with their family. Tim passed away in Auckland on 9th January 2008. Adair moved to a lovely home in Milford for a few years where she was very happy and then she settled at Bupa Beachhaven Care Home. “The staff really liked her at Beach Haven particularly when she was having a really good day, as she was very interesting company.” (1)

Adair passed away peacefully on 18th March, 2019. She lived a wonderful life.
Bibliography
- Rosemary Evans, interview with Cindy Farquhar and Michaela Selway, 2021.
- “Adair’s History” – a short memoir written by Adair Marsden.