Hayton, Alan

Alan Colin Hayton was born in Hawera on 24 July 1919. He was the son of Ernest Colin and Lilian May Hayton and one of six siblings.

He attended Central School in New Plymouth and then New Plymouth Boy’s high School where he was a member of the First XV and then won a Taranaki Scholarship to Otago Medical School in 1937. He completed his studies in 1942 and began work at Wellington Hospital.

During World War Two he served in Fiji as a Captain in the NZ Medical Corps. His two brothers, Stuart and Gilbert, and a sister, Lillian, also served during World War Two. Gilbert, a distinguished RNZAF pilot, died in 1942 after first surviving the torpedoing of his ship and drifting in a lifeboat for nearly 40 days, only to die two days before the lifeboat was rescued. 

Alan married Dorothy Aileen Perry in 1945 and they had three sons, Ross, Max and Mark. Dorothy died in 1964. In 1971 he married Shirley Ada Edgar.

Alan spent the majority of his medical career working in New Plymouth, both in general practice and as a specialist. He retired from medicine in 1984.

Alan had a strong interest in history and completed many local history projects and wrote several articles and books, including some on New Plymouth’s first doctors and the history of Cubs and Scouts in New Plymouth.

He died on 7 November 2012 at the age of 92.