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Established in 1888, Peter Dick Optometrists is a family-owned Dunedin optometry practice that spans six generations. Five men named Peter Dick have run the business, which began as a watchmaker and jeweller’s and has offered optometry since 1915.
The practice is now run by two optometrists, Peter Dick and Katrina French, supported by an experienced team of optical assistants: Reiko, Ewart and Jill.
Peter Dick qualified in 1986 with a Bachelor of Optometry (B.Optom) from the University of Auckland.
He worked in Christchurch for nearly two years for a practice that specialised in children with reading disabilities, then spent six months in Melbourne before going to the UK, where he passed the registration examinations and worked as a locum optometrist around the south-east of England. He returned to New Zealand in 1991, joined his father, and together they opened the Oamaru practice. Peter is a member of the New Zealand Association of Optometrists and the Cornea and Contact Lens Society of New Zealand.
Peter works in the Dunedin and Mosgiel practices, and since April 2014 has visited Cromwell and Ranfurly regularly. In 2013 he received a Certificate in Ocular Therapeutics from the Queensland University of Technology, a year-long postgraduate course that allows him to prescribe medication for eye conditions, including red eyes. He is a member of Glaucoma NZ and undertakes ongoing education; in June 2016 he attended Optometry’s Meeting in Boston, the annual conference of the American Optometric Association.
In 2018 Peter became a Board Approved Optometrist Glaucoma Prescriber, which allows him to treat and manage glaucoma independently.
Katrina French qualified as a Doctor of Optometry in Melbourne in 2016, having completed a Bachelor of Science at the University of Otago in 2012. Like Peter, she is qualified to prescribe medication to treat some eye conditions. She previously worked in Alice Springs, Australia.
Katrina joined Peter and the Visique team in March 2019. She is Peter’s niece, and the fifth generation of the family to practise optometry here. In April 2021 she became a partner with Peter in the family business.
Ewart, Jill and Reiko are optical assistants who support patients with eye care and customer service.
Ewart has a background in the telecommunications industry and has embraced being an optical assistant since joining Peter Dick Optometrists in 2014.
Jill has a background in customer service and joined Peter Dick Optometrists in 2017.
Reiko joined Peter Dick Optometrists in 2022 as an optical assistant and also works on administration.
The business has been traced through old newspapers and records. These are the main steps.
On 29 May 1888 Peter Dick, a watchmaker and jeweller trained by Jacob Bernstein of the Octagon, announces in the Evening Star that he has “commenced Business” upstairs in the Octagon, a few doors from his old master.
The shop moves to ground-floor premises in Moray Place, near Princes Street.
The founder’s son, Peter George Dick, is testing eyes alongside the watch and jewellery work, advertising as “P. G. Dick, O.D.” The family history says he was the first of the family to train in optics.
Peter George goes to London, where, the family history says, he takes the diploma of the British Optical Association.
The year the practice dates its optometry from. Its centenary was celebrated in July 2015.
The shop front reads “Peter Dick, Optician, Watchmaker & Jeweller”. In 1925 a suite of rooms is built “to be devoted entirely to the practice of optometry”, and the Evening Star describes the main testing room as “one of the finest in New Zealand”.
Peter Norman Dick, who passed his optical examination in 1929, takes over the practice.
Peter Norman visits Clyde, Alexandra and Ranfurly to see patients. The practice still holds visiting clinics in Ranfurly and Cromwell.
The firm buys T. P. Williamson and Co.’s jewellery and watchmaking business at 59 Princes Street, opposite the Savoy, with room for the optical practice.
Peter Leslie Dick qualifies as an optometrist and joins the practice. He later serves as a councillor of the New Zealand Association of Optometrists and on the Opticians Board. The jewellery side is eventually sold, and the business becomes an optometry practice only.
Peter Dick, the fifth generation, joins his father, and together they open a practice in Oamaru.
Peter begins regular visiting clinics in Cromwell and Ranfurly.
Katrina French joins the practice, the fifth generation of the family to practise optometry here. She becomes a partner in 2021.
The practice becomes the first independent practice in New Zealand to offer AVA™ (Advanced Vision Accuracy), which measures prescriptions to 0.01 of a dioptre.
The Mosgiel practice moves to larger, step-free rooms at 134a Gordon Road.
An OCT Maestro 2 scanner is installed in Dunedin, and the Maestro 1 moves to Mosgiel, so detailed scans of the back of the eye can be done at both practices.
Sources: Otago newspapers on Papers Past (National Library of New Zealand), the Otago Daily Times, the practice’s own records and the family’s history of the business.
