Dr George William Augustus Lynch (20 June 1861 – 22 March 1940) was a British physician. He served as

Chief Medical Officer Chief medical officer (CMO) is the title used in many countries for the senior government official designated head of medical services, sometimes at the national level. The post is held by a physician who serves to advise and lead a team of medical ...

in Fiji, and was a member of the colony's Legislative Council.

Biography

Lynch was born on 20 June 1861 in London.John Venn (2011
''Alumni Cantabrigienses: A Biographical List of All Known Students, Graduates and Holders of Office at the University of Cambridge, from the Earliest Times to 1900, Volume 2''
Cambridge University Press, p244 His father, William Nicholas Lynch, was a barrister who worked at the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn an ...

in London and Georgetown in

British Guiana British Guiana was a British colony, part of the mainland British West Indies, which resides on the northern coast of South America. Since 1966 it has been known as the independent nation of Guyana. The first European to encounter Guiana was S ...

. He attended

Westminster School (God Gives the Increase) , established = Earliest records date from the 14th century, refounded in 1560 , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , head_label = Hea ...

between 1875 and 1879, before studying at

Caius College Gonville and Caius College, often referred to simply as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges and one of th ...

at 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 ...

and

St Thomas' Hospital St Thomas' Hospital is a large NHS teaching hospital in Central London, England. It is one of the institutions that compose the King's Health Partners, an academic health science centre. Administratively part of the Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foun ...

.Obituary
''The Elizabethan'', June 1940, p42 In 1890 he was appointed as a District Medical Officer in the town of Ba in Fiji,Dr. George Lynch, M.B. (Camb.)
''

Pacific Islands Monthly ''Pacific Islands Monthly'', commonly referred to as "PIM", was a magazine founded in 1930 in Sydney by New Zealand born journalist R.W. Robson. Background ''Pacific Islands Monthly'' was started in Sydney in 1930. The first issue ran in August ...

'', June 1940, p40 progressing to become Senior Medical Officer in 1898, and then Chief Medical Officer in 1908. He served as Head of the Fijian School of Medicine between 1907 and 1919. In his role as Senior and Chief Medical Officer, he was also appointed to the Legislative Council in 1903,''Fiji Blue Book for the Year 1904'', p81 and also served in the Executive Council. After retiring in 1919, he returned to the UK and settled in

Aldeburgh Aldeburgh ( ) is a coastal town in the English county, county of Suffolk, England. Located to the north of the River Alde. Its estimated population was 2,276 in 2019. It was home to the composer Benjamin Britten and remains the centre of the int ...

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

, where he continued to practice. He died on 22 March 1940 at the age of 78.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lynch, George 1861 births Medical doctors from London People educated at Westminster School, London Alumni of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge 19th-century British medical doctors 20th-century British medical doctors Fijian civil servants Members of the Legislative Council of Fiji Members of the Executive Council of Fiji 1940 deaths