Francis (Frank) Tidswell (1867 – 26 February 1941) was an Australian physician who served as the Director of the Government Bureau of Microbiology,
New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
from 1908 until 1913. In this role he has been noted as "a
pathologist
Pathology is the study of the causal, causes and effects of disease or injury. The word ''pathology'' also refers to the study of disease in general, incorporating a wide range of biology research fields and medical practices. However, when us ...
of distinction who never sublimated his personality to his
public service
A public service is any service intended to address specific needs pertaining to the aggregate members of a community. Public services are available to people within a government jurisdiction as provided directly through public sector agencies ...
role."
From 1925, until his death in 1941, Tidswell was the Director of Pathology at the
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 ...
in Sydney.
In an
obituary
An obituary ( obit for short) is an article about a recently deceased person. Newspapers often publish obituaries as news articles. Although obituaries tend to focus on positive aspects of the subject's life, this is not always the case. Ac ...
,
The Medical Journal of Australia
The ''Medical Journal of Australia'' is a peer-reviewed medical journal published 22 times a year. It is the official journal of the Australian Medical Association, published by Wiley on behalf of the Australasian Medical Publishing Company.
The ...
wrote of him as an "extremely clear thinker, young in mind and receptive of new ideas. In his gentleness of manner, and quiet courtesy, the
hildren'shospital has lost a most valued specialist."
[Nesta Griffiths G (1947), Point Piper, past and Present (Syd:Ure Smith)]
Birth and education
![Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost at Centenary](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a2/Rolls-Royce_Silver_Ghost_at_Centenary.jpg)
Tidswell was born in Sydney, the fifth of nine children born to Frederick Squire Tidswell (1831–1898) and his wife Mary Ann (1836–1912). The fourth child, Francis Thomas Tidswell (1864–1866) had died the year before his birth and the sixth child was the architect
Thomas Tidswell
Thomas Tidswell was an Australian architect, notable for his design of sporting facilities in Sydney.
Birth and education
Tidswell was born in Sydney, the sixth of nine children of hotelier Frederick Squire Tidswell (1831–1898) and his ...
(1870–1950).
He was raised in rural NSW until the age of 13 when his family moved to Sydney.
Fred Tidswell owned the Coogee Bay Hotel and bought
Nugal Hall
Nugal Hall is a heritage-listed Gothic Revival style former private residence, ambassador's residence, boutique lodge, embassy and now private residence located at 16-18 Milford Street, in the Sydney suburb of Randwick on the boundary with ...
the
Mortimer Lewis
Mortimer William Lewis (1796 – 9 March 1879) was an English-born architect, surveyor and public servant who migrated to Australia and became New South Wales Government Architect, Colonial Architect in the colony of New South Wales (now a state ...
designed home in Milford Street Randwick and members of the family lived there until 1903.
Tidswell attended
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 ...
(1881–1884) and then went up to 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 si ...
graduating as a
Bachelor of Medicine and Chemistry in 1892.
He then studied at
University College, London
, mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £143 million (2020)
, budget = Â ...
, and was awarded a D.P.H., by the
University of Cambridge
, mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts.
Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge.
, established =
, other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
in 1893.
Early medical career
Upon graduation, Tidswell occupied a position in the
New South Wales Department of Health
The New South Wales Ministry of Health, branded NSW Health, is a ministerial department of the New South Wales Government. NSW Health supports the executive and statutory roles of the Minister for Health, the Minister for Regional Health, an ...
and then in 1897 was appointed as Demonstrator of Physiology at the University of Sydney and so at a young age he was a principal teacher in a medical subject before the establishment of a
chair
A chair is a type of seat, typically designed for one person and consisting of one or more legs, a flat or slightly angled seat and a back-rest. They may be made of wood, metal, or synthetic materials, and may be padded or upholstered in vario ...
.
Research
In 1898, Tidswell carried out extensive research on
snake venom. He also experimented on the
immunisation
Immunization, or immunisation, is the process by which an individual's immune system becomes fortified against an infectious agent (known as the immunogen).
When this system is exposed to molecules that are foreign to the body, called ''non-sel ...
of
horses with
tiger snake venom by gradually increasing the quantity of venom injected into the animal until it was capable of withstanding what would at first have been sufficient to kill it. He then set out to determine the quantity of the
serum, which he had obtained from the
immunised horse, that was required to neutralise this venom – that is, to destroy its effect upon the animal into which he had injected it. Tidswell found that not only did his anti-venene give a high degree of protection against the venom of the tiger snake, but also that the protective effect could be obtained even many hours after the venom had been at work. This is characteristic of the modern anti-venene, that it produces dramatic, almost miraculous, effects upon patients who may have been bitten many hours before the anti-venene can be administered, and who may already have collapsed and be beyond all hope of recovery by any other treatment.
Board of Health
John Ashburton Thompson, as Chief Medical Officer in NSW, appointed Tidswell as
Bacteriologist
A bacteriologist is a microbiologist, or similarly trained professional, in bacteriology -- a subdivision of microbiology that studies bacteria, typically pathogenic ones. Bacteriologists are interested in studying and learning about bacteria, ...
to the fledgling public health department. Thompson, Tidswell and William George Armstrong went on to produce important research on
plague
Plague or The Plague may refer to:
Agriculture, fauna, and medicine
*Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis''
* An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural)
* A pandemic caused by such a disease
* A swarm of pe ...
and are credited with developing 20th century scientific understandings of plague, in particular that ''
Yersinia pestis
''Yersinia pestis'' (''Y. pestis''; formerly '' Pasteurella pestis'') is a gram-negative, non-motile, coccobacillus bacterium without spores that is related to both ''Yersinia pseudotuberculosis'' and ''Yersinia enterocolitica''. It is a facult ...
'' is spread to humans by
fleas
Flea, the common name for the order Siphonaptera, includes 2,500 species of small flightless insects that live as external parasites of mammals and birds. Fleas live by ingesting the blood of their hosts. Adult fleas grow to about long, ar ...
from infected
rats. Their work was a large part of a revolution of
social medicine
The field of social medicine seeks to implement social care through
# understanding how social and economic conditions impact health, disease and the practice of medicine and
# fostering conditions in which this understanding can lead to a health ...
in Australia. The knowledge that
infectious diseases
An infection is the invasion of tissues by pathogens, their multiplication, and the reaction of host tissues to the infectious agent and the toxins they produce. An infectious disease, also known as a transmissible disease or communicable dise ...
could be spread from one human to another by insects and that infection could be derived from animals, brought public health into scientific scrutiny. The outbreak also led to further improvements being made to the
North Head Quarantine Station
The North Head Quarantine Station is a heritage-listed former quarantine station and associated buildings that is now a tourist attraction at North Head Scenic Drive, on the north side of Sydney Harbour at North Head, near Manly, in the Nort ...
as the value of segregating infected patients from the populace had been realised.
As Principal Assistant Medical Officer, Tidswell also filled the role of Microbiologist from 1 January 1898 until 1 July 1908 when the Bureau of Microbiology was established.
Pathologist
With the creation of the Ministry of Health in 1913, Tidswell resigned and entered private practice.
In 1925 he was appointed Director of Pathology at the
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 ...
. The hospital's centenary history states: "As a boy Tidswell had been brought up in the country and taught to respect people for their work rather than their rank. At the Hospital he had a loyal staff who regarded him with the greatest respect and affection. He firmly held that on the job rank was necessary but out of the hospital it did not matter and he would raise his hat courteously to the lowliest employee."
In the later years of his career he worked a three-day week dividing his time between Sydney and the
Southern Highlands.
Marriage and family life
In 1902, Tidswell married Edith Millie Jones, the third daughter of
The Hon. Richard Jones MLC, of ''Gayton''
Burwood. The wedding ceremony was performed at St. Paul's Anglican Church Burwood, followed by a reception at the Jones family home on Burwood Road. The marriage produced one daughter, Marjorie Squire Tidswell (1904–1992).
The couple built a home, ''Deloraine'', on the northern tip of
Point Piper
Point Piper is a small, harbourside eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia, east of the Sydney CBD, in the local government area known as the Municipality of Woollahra.
Point Piper has been historically r ...
in 1903 to a design by Tidswell’s brother the architect Thomas. Tidswell's knowledge of trees, flowers and soils led to him being a keen gardener.
While the house still stands at 132 Wolseley Road, it has been substantially altered and is now known as ''Cordoba'' having been redesigned in a
Spanish Revival
The Spanish Colonial Revival Style ( es, Arquitectura neocolonial española) is an architectural stylistic movement arising in the early 20th century based on the Spanish Colonial architecture of the Spanish colonization of the Americas.
In th ...
style by the architects Esplin & Mould. The beautifully landscaped garden has been subdivided leading to the erection of a newer house on the water front at 132A.
Walking Coastal Sydney
Retrieved 25 January 2014. From the 1930s, the Tidswells lived at their historic 1860s farmhouse, ''Farnborough'' on the Illawarra Highway
Illawarra Highway is a short state highway in New South Wales, Australia. It connects Wollongong to the Southern Highlands and links Princes Highway and Hume Highway. It is named after the geographical area it crosses, the Illawarra region.
...
just out of Moss Vale
Moss Vale is a town in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, Australia, in the Wingecarribee Shire. It is located on the Illawarra Highway, which connects to Wollongong and the Illawarra coast via Macquarie Pass.
Moss Vale has several h ...
, where they developed another important garden and bred draught horse
A draft horse (US), draught horse (UK) or dray horse (from the Old English ''dragan'' meaning "to draw or haul"; compare Dutch ''dragen'' and German ''tragen'' meaning "to carry" and Danish ''drage'' meaning "to draw" or "to fare"), less oft ...
s. The garden is now opened to the public by its current owners. Tidswell was a man of considerable private and professional means and was an early motoring enthusiast. In 1912 he purchased a Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost
The Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost name refers both to a car model and one specific car from that series.
Originally named the " 40/50 h.p." the chassis was first made at Royce's Manchester works, with production moving to Derby in July 1908, ...
that was fitted with a high-sided Torpedo Phaeton body by coachbuilder
A coachbuilder or body-maker is someone who manufactures bodies for passenger-carrying vehicles.Construction has always been a skilled trade requiring a relatively lightweight product with sufficient strength. The manufacture of necessarily ...
Barker. The car was used sparingly by Tidswell but after new owner's and a period of dereliction it has been restored and when offered at auction in England in 2003 it was estimated to be worth between £180,000 and £220,000.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tidswell, Frank
1867 births
1941 deaths
Australian public health doctors
People educated at Newington College
Sydney Medical School alumni
Alumni of University College London
Alumni of the University of Cambridge
Australian pathologists