Douglas Squire Irving Burrows CBE (Civil) MBE (Military) (7 August 1915 – 10 December 1982) was an Australian

stock broker A stockbroker is a regulated broker, broker-dealer, or registered investment adviser (in the United States) who may provide financial advisory and investment management services and execute transactions such as the purchase or sale of stocks an ...

, businessman and philanthropist who from 1970 until his death was President of the Board

Royal Alexandra Hospital for Children The Children's Hospital at Westmead (formerly Royal Alexandra Hospital for Children) is a children's hospital in Western Sydney. The hospital was founded in 1880 as "The Sydney Hospital for Sick Children". Its name was changed to the "Royal Alex ...

. With Lorimer Dods and John Fulton he co-founded the Children's Medical Research Foundation of which from 1970 he became the Chairman of the Management Committee.

Early life

Burrows was born in Sydney, the son of Rita (née Squire) and Harry Irving Burrows. He was educated at

Newington College , motto_translation = To Faith Add Knowledge , location = Inner West and Lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales , country = Australia , coordinates = , pushpin_map = A ...

(1932–1934) and rowed in the 1st IV at the GPS Head of the River in 1933 and 1934. In 1934 he was stroke of the crew. Burrows was Captain of 1st Rifle Shooting Team in 1934. Under his captaincy, the team were GPS Premiers that year and won the

Earl Roberts Earl Roberts, of Kandahar in Afghanistan and Pretoria in the Transvaal Colony and of the City of Waterford, was a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1901 for Field Marshal Frederick Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts, Frederic ...

Trophy.

Working life

Upon finishing school, Burrows gained employment with the chartered accounting firm Priestley & Morris. He stayed with the firm until the beginning of World War II and at war's end rejoined them briefly before joining A J Dawson as an Accountant. In 1951, Burrows became a Member of the Sydney Stock Exchange as a partner of Ernest L Davis & Co. He later served as a director of A J Dawson Ltd, and as Deputy Chairman of Edward Lumley Ltd, Security Life Assurance Ltd and Security & General Insurance Company Ltd.

War service

In 1939, Burrows enlisted in the

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal land warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army (CA), wh ...

and travelled with the first group of enlisted men on the first boat to leave after the beginning of the war. He served in North Africa, Greece and eventually in

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torr ...

on the

Kokoda Track The Kokoda Track or Trail is a single-file foot thoroughfare that runs overland – in a straight line – through the Owen Stanley Range in Papua New Guinea (PNG). The track was the location of the 1942 World War II battle between Japanes ...

. As Major Douglas Burrows, he became Deputy Assistant Adjutant General of the

Australian 6th Division The 6th Division was an infantry division of the Australian Army. It was raised briefly in 1917 during World War I, but was broken up to provide reinforcements before seeing action. It was not re-raised until the outbreak of World War II, when ...

. In that role he was responsible for co-ordinating the ceremony for the signing of surrender documents by Lieutenant General

Hatazō Adachi was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. Early career Adachi was born into an impoverished family, originally descended from samurai, in Ishikawa Prefecture in 1890 (the 23rd year of the reign of Emperor Meiji, which i ...

, Commander of the

Japanese 18th Army The was a field army of the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. History The Japanese 18th Army was formed on November 9, 1942, under the Japanese Eighth Area Army The was a field army of the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II ...

in New Guinea. After signing the unconditional surrender, Adachi presented his sword to the General Officer Commanding, 6th Division, Major General

Horace Robertson Lieutenant General Sir Horace Clement Hugh Robertson, (29 October 1894 – 28 April 1960) was a senior officer in the Australian Army who served in the First World War, the Second World War and the Korean War. He was one of the first graduates ...

. Adachi's aide then surrendered his sword to Burrows and this weapon remains with the Burrows family to this day. On 14 February 1946 he was made a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

in the Military Division for his war service.

Marriage and family

On 15 August 1942, whilst on a few days army leave, Burrows married Valma Ashcroft who had modelled for advertisements, the

Australian Wool Board The Australian Wool Board was an Australian Government statutory board that existed in its first phase between May 1936 and January 1945; in its second phase between June 1945 and June 1953; and in its third and final phase, between May 1963 and ...

and women's magazines including covers for ''

The Australian Women's Weekly ''The Australian Women's Weekly'', sometimes known as simply ''The Weekly'', is an Australian monthly women's magazine published by Mercury Capital in Sydney. For many years it was the number one magazine in Australia before being outsold by ...

''. They had three children; Mark Douglas Burrows AO; Peter Irving Burrows AO; and Tina Burrows. During their married life, the Burrows were residents of St Ives, New South Wales.

Children's Hospital

In 1952, Burrows joined the board of the

. He served as Treasurer (1959–66) and Vice-President (1966–70) before becoming President and serving in that role for eleven years. His wife, Valma, was also appointed to the board in 1973. Valma Burrows’ brother-in-law was Dr Sandy Robertson AM a paediatric surgeon at the Children’s Hospital.

Honours

Burrows was made a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(Civil) on 16 June 1979 in recognition of his services to children's health. The

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's ...

Medical School Foundation's Douglas Burrows Chair of Paediatrics and Child Health was established in 1983 in his honour.Douglas Burrows Chair of Paediatrics and Child Health
Retrieved 11 August 2012

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burrows, Douglas Squire Irving 1915 births 1982 deaths People educated at Newington College Members of the Order of the British Empire Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Australian philanthropists 20th-century philanthropists Australian Army personnel of World War II Australian Army officers