Richard Rawdon Stawell
Encyclopedia
Sir Richard Rawdon Stawell KBE
, (14 March 1864 – 18 April 1935) was an Australia
n doctor, president of Victorian
branch of the British Medical Association
.
, Melbourne
, Victoria, the sixth son of Sir William Stawell
, Chief Justice of Victoria
and his wife, Mary Francis Elizabeth née Greene. Stawell was sent to England
to be educated at Marlborough school
, but returned to Australia due to health issues and went to Hawthorn Grammar School under Professor Irving
. He then went to Trinity College
at the University of Melbourne
and graduated M.B., B.S. in 1888, with the scholarship in medicine at the final examination, and M.D.
in 1890. Stawell did post-graduate work from 1890 to 1892 in bacteriology
, biochemistry
and physiology
at the National Hospital for Diseases of the Nervous System, Queen's Square, and the Great Ormond Street Hospital for Sick Children. After completing the Diploma of Public Health
(London) in 1891, he did further research at Tübingen
, Germany, and visited clinics in the United States of America
before returning home.
1893–1914 and became recognized as a specialist in children's diseases. From 1894 to 1900 he was honorary co-editor of the Australian Medical Journal, and from 1895 to 1906 was on the committee of the Medical Society of Victoria. He worked actively for the amalgamation of that society with the Victorian branch of the British Medical Association. From 1902 to 1924 Stawell was a member of the honorary medical staff of the Melbourne hospital. The clinical teaching before his appointment was not satisfactory, and it was largely due to Stawell's influence and example that an immense improvement took place. He was an ideal teacher of medicine, and it has been said of him that
Stawell was elected a vice-president of the Victorian branch of the British Medical Association
in 1908 and became president in 1910. He worked successfully for the amalgamation of the two Australian medical journals, the Australian Medical Gazette (NSW
) and the Australian Medical Journal (Victoria), and in 1914 the two were absorbed in the new weekly journal, the Medical Journal of Australia. in World War I
, Stawell served as Lieutenant-Colonel in charge of the medical section with the 3rd Australian General Hospital at the front in 1915 but was brought back to Australia in 1916 to continue his clinical teaching and other important home service work. Stawell became a physician to in-patients at the Royal Melbourne Hospital
in 1919 and was also a member of the medical advisory committee to the Repatriation
department of the Commonwealth. In the following year he was president of the medical section at the Australian medical congress at Brisbane
. He resigned the position of physician to in-patients at the Royal Melbourne Hospital in 1921 and became a consulting physician to the hospital. He had joined the committee of the hospital in 1905 and in 1928 was elected president; he did important work for many years as chairman of the house committee.
and delivered the Halford
oration at Canberra
in November of that year. He was made vice-president at the centenary meeting of the British Medical Association in 1932. He was to have been president at the annual meeting of the British Medical Association at Melbourne in September 1935 but died at Melbourne on 18 April 1935. Stawell married Evelyn Myrrhee Connolly, daughter of H. J. Connolly, on 12 August 1908 who survived him with a son and two daughters. Stawell was created K.B.E.
in June 1929. In 1933 his work for the profession was recognized by the founding of the Sir Richard Stawell Oration.
Stawell was tall and slightly built and an excellent tennis
player in his youth and represented Victoria in intercolonial tennis. In later years he was a keen golf
er and fly-fisher
. He was president of the Melbourne Club
in 1920. His quiet, slightly austere manner did not at first suggest his great personal charm, but among his intimates he could let his inner sense of fun have full play or talk with distinction on music or art. He was a good public speaker and an excellent committee-man. An authority on children's and nervous diseases, a great clinical instructor and possibly the ablest physician in the history of Australian medicine he was honoured and loved by the whole profession. The great immunologist Sir Macfarlane Burnet found him 'a man of much wisdom and immense charm', but with 'a waspish intolerance of stupidity'.
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
, (14 March 1864 – 18 April 1935) was an Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n doctor, president of Victorian
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
branch of the British Medical Association
British Medical Association
The British Medical Association is the professional association and registered trade union for doctors in the United Kingdom. The association does not regulate or certify doctors, a responsibility which lies with the General Medical Council. The association’s headquarters are located in BMA House,...
.
Early life
Stawell was born at KewKew, Victoria
Kew is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 6 km east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Boroondara. At the 2006 Census, Kew had a population of 22,516....
, Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, Victoria, the sixth son of Sir William Stawell
William Foster Stawell
Sir William Foster Stawell KCMG was a British colonial statesman and a Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Victoria, Australia.-Early life:...
, Chief Justice of Victoria
Supreme Court of Victoria
The Supreme Court of Victoria is the superior court for the State of Victoria, Australia. It was founded in 1852, and is a superior court of common law and equity, with unlimited jurisdiction within the state...
and his wife, Mary Francis Elizabeth née Greene. Stawell was sent to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
to be educated at Marlborough school
Marlborough School (Woodstock)
The Marlborough School is a co-educational Church of England comprehensive school in the small market town of Woodstock, about northwest of Oxford. The school's catchment area includes Woodstock itself and surrounding villages. The school is named after the Duke of Marlborough whose ancestral...
, but returned to Australia due to health issues and went to Hawthorn Grammar School under Professor Irving
Martin Howy Irving
Martin Howy Irving was an English rower and educationist who spent nearly all his career in Australia .Irving was born in St Pancras, London, the son of Edward Irving, a major figure of the Catholic Apostolic Church, whom Carlyle called the "freest, brotherliest, bravest human soul mine ever came...
. He then went to Trinity College
Trinity College (University of Melbourne)
Trinity College is the oldest college of the University of Melbourne. Founded in 1872 on a site granted to the Church of England, Trinity is unique among Australian university colleges in its diverse education programs...
at the University of Melbourne
University of Melbourne
The University of Melbourne is a public university located in Melbourne, Victoria. Founded in 1853, it is the second oldest university in Australia and the oldest in Victoria...
and graduated M.B., B.S. in 1888, with the scholarship in medicine at the final examination, and M.D.
Doctor of Medicine
Doctor of Medicine is a doctoral degree for physicians. The degree is granted by medical schools...
in 1890. Stawell did post-graduate work from 1890 to 1892 in bacteriology
Bacteriology
Bacteriology is the study of bacteria. This subdivision of microbiology involves the identification, classification, and characterization of bacterial species...
, biochemistry
Biochemistry
Biochemistry, sometimes called biological chemistry, is the study of chemical processes in living organisms, including, but not limited to, living matter. Biochemistry governs all living organisms and living processes...
and physiology
Physiology
Physiology is the science of the function of living systems. This includes how organisms, organ systems, organs, cells, and bio-molecules carry out the chemical or physical functions that exist in a living system. The highest honor awarded in physiology is the Nobel Prize in Physiology or...
at the National Hospital for Diseases of the Nervous System, Queen's Square, and the Great Ormond Street Hospital for Sick Children. After completing the Diploma of Public Health
Public health
Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals" . It is concerned with threats to health based on population health...
(London) in 1891, he did further research at Tübingen
Tübingen
Tübingen is a traditional university town in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, on a ridge between the Neckar and Ammer rivers.-Geography:...
, Germany, and visited clinics in the United States of America
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
before returning home.
Career
Stawell returned to Australia in 1893 and began to practise at Melbourne; earlier hopes of a private income faded with the bank crash. Stawell was appointed a member of the honorary medical staff of the Children's hospitalRoyal Children's Hospital, Melbourne
The Royal Children's Hospital is a major children's hospital in Melbourne, Australia.As the major paediatric hospital in Victoria, the Royal Children's Hospital and offers a full range of clinical services, tertiary care and health promotion and prevention programs for children and adolescents...
1893–1914 and became recognized as a specialist in children's diseases. From 1894 to 1900 he was honorary co-editor of the Australian Medical Journal, and from 1895 to 1906 was on the committee of the Medical Society of Victoria. He worked actively for the amalgamation of that society with the Victorian branch of the British Medical Association. From 1902 to 1924 Stawell was a member of the honorary medical staff of the Melbourne hospital. The clinical teaching before his appointment was not satisfactory, and it was largely due to Stawell's influence and example that an immense improvement took place. He was an ideal teacher of medicine, and it has been said of him that
Stawell was elected a vice-president of the Victorian branch of the British Medical Association
British Medical Association
The British Medical Association is the professional association and registered trade union for doctors in the United Kingdom. The association does not regulate or certify doctors, a responsibility which lies with the General Medical Council. The association’s headquarters are located in BMA House,...
in 1908 and became president in 1910. He worked successfully for the amalgamation of the two Australian medical journals, the Australian Medical Gazette (NSW
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
) and the Australian Medical Journal (Victoria), and in 1914 the two were absorbed in the new weekly journal, the Medical Journal of Australia. in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, Stawell served as Lieutenant-Colonel in charge of the medical section with the 3rd Australian General Hospital at the front in 1915 but was brought back to Australia in 1916 to continue his clinical teaching and other important home service work. Stawell became a physician to in-patients at the Royal Melbourne Hospital
Royal Melbourne Hospital
The Royal Melbourne Hospital , located in Parkville, Victoria an inner suburb of Melbourne is one of Australia’s leading public hospitals. It is a major teaching hospital for tertiary health care with a reputation in clinical research...
in 1919 and was also a member of the medical advisory committee to the Repatriation
Repatriation
Repatriation is the process of returning a person back to one's place of origin or citizenship. This includes the process of returning refugees or soldiers to their place of origin following a war...
department of the Commonwealth. In the following year he was president of the medical section at the Australian medical congress at Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
. He resigned the position of physician to in-patients at the Royal Melbourne Hospital in 1921 and became a consulting physician to the hospital. He had joined the committee of the hospital in 1905 and in 1928 was elected president; he did important work for many years as chairman of the house committee.
Late life
In 1930 Stawell was first president of the Association of Physicians in AustralasiaRoyal Australasian College of Physicians
The Royal Australasian College of Physicians, or RACP, is the organisation responsible for training, educating, and representing over 9,000 physicians and paediatricians in Australia and New Zealand. It was founded in 1938....
and delivered the Halford
George Britton Halford
George Britton Halford was an English-born anatomist and physiologist, founder of the first medical school in Australia, University of Melbourne School of Medicine.- Background :...
oration at Canberra
Canberra
Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...
in November of that year. He was made vice-president at the centenary meeting of the British Medical Association in 1932. He was to have been president at the annual meeting of the British Medical Association at Melbourne in September 1935 but died at Melbourne on 18 April 1935. Stawell married Evelyn Myrrhee Connolly, daughter of H. J. Connolly, on 12 August 1908 who survived him with a son and two daughters. Stawell was created K.B.E.
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
in June 1929. In 1933 his work for the profession was recognized by the founding of the Sir Richard Stawell Oration.
Stawell was tall and slightly built and an excellent tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
player in his youth and represented Victoria in intercolonial tennis. In later years he was a keen golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
er and fly-fisher
Fly fishing
Fly fishing is an angling method in which an artificial 'fly' is used to catch fish. The fly is cast using a fly rod, reel, and specialized weighted line. Casting a nearly weightless fly or 'lure' requires casting techniques significantly different from other forms of casting...
. He was president of the Melbourne Club
Melbourne Club
The Melbourne Club is a male only club, established in 1839 and located at 36-50 Collins Street, Melbourne; adjacent to the women-only Lyceum Club. The club is made up of approximately 1500 members; admission being by invitation only...
in 1920. His quiet, slightly austere manner did not at first suggest his great personal charm, but among his intimates he could let his inner sense of fun have full play or talk with distinction on music or art. He was a good public speaker and an excellent committee-man. An authority on children's and nervous diseases, a great clinical instructor and possibly the ablest physician in the history of Australian medicine he was honoured and loved by the whole profession. The great immunologist Sir Macfarlane Burnet found him 'a man of much wisdom and immense charm', but with 'a waspish intolerance of stupidity'.