Gordon Clunes Mackay Mathison FRCP (10 August 188318 May 1915) was a physician, medical researcher, and soldier. Appointed the first director of the

Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research WEHI (), previously known as the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, and as the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, is Australia's oldest medical research institute. Sir Frank Macfarlane Burnet, who won the Nobel Prize in 1960 for ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, Australia, he died on 18 May 1915, from wounds received in action on 10 May 1915 during the Gallipoli campaign, before he could take up the position.

Family

The eldest of the three children of Hector Munro Mathison (1850-1895), a State School headmaster, and Mary Martha Mathison (1860-1942), née Barber, Gordon Clunes Mackay Mathison was born at Stanley, near Beechworth, Victoria on 10 August 1883. An older brother, also known as Gordon Clunes Mackay Mathison, had died on 13 January 1883, aged six months. Soon after his birth, the family moved to

Elsternwick, Victoria Elsternwick is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, 9 km south-east of Melbourne's Melbourne city centre, Central Business District, located within the City of Glen Eira local government areas of Victoria ...

, where both his father and younger brother Robert Mackay (born 1894) died in 1895.

Education

Primary

He attended Elsternwick State School, where his father and mother both taught, and his father was the headmaster.

Secondary

He attended

Caulfield Grammar School Caulfield Grammar School is an Independent school, independent, co-educational, Anglican Church of Australia, Anglican, International Baccalaureate, day school, day and boarding school, located in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1881 as ...

from 1896 to 1900, where his scholarship and good character were later remembered.

Tertiary

As a member of Queen's College, Mathison studied medicine at the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...

, receiving many academic awards, from 1901 to 1905.

Medical research

Mathison's research career began as a University of Melbourne Scholar studying physiology. In 1907 he travelled to England to take up an appointment as a Sharpey Scholar 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 = ...

. He received a

Beit Memorial Fellowship The Beit Memorial Medical Fellowships were one of the most prestigious and competitive fellowships for post-doctoral or medical degree research in medicine in the United Kingdom. The Fellowships were founded in 1909 by Sir Otto Beit, a German-bor ...

in 1910 to conduct research at

University College Hospital University College Hospital (UCH) is a teaching hospital in the Fitzrovia area of the London Borough of Camden, England. The hospital, which was founded as the North London Hospital in 1834, is closely associated with University College London ...

, where he was awarded a DSc for his research into the physiology of respiration. During this period he focused on the effects of

asphyxia Asphyxia or asphyxiation is a condition of deficient supply of oxygen to the body which arises from abnormal breathing. Asphyxia causes generalized hypoxia, which affects primarily the tissues and organs. There are many circumstances that can i ...

, and was commissioned by the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

to investigate the causes of

altitude sickness Altitude sickness, the mildest form being acute mountain sickness (AMS), is the harmful effect of high altitude, caused by rapid exposure to low amounts of oxygen at high elevation. People can respond to high altitude in different ways. Sympt ...

.BMJ Obituary. Captain Gordon Clunes Mackay Mathison headstone AWM photo C04844

Nominated Director of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research

In September 1913 Mathison was appointed Sub-Director of Pathology and Sub-Dean of the Clinical School at the

Melbourne Hospital The Royal Melbourne Hospital (RMH), 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. Th ...

; and, on 23 April 1915, he was nominated as the first director of the nascent

, Australia's first pathological research institute. He did not survive to take up the position.

Military service

While in the United Kingdom, Mathison had been active in the University of London Officers’ Training Corps In August 1914, soon after the outbreak of the

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, he enlisted in the 2nd Field Ambulance,

Australian Army Medical Corps The Royal Australian Army Medical Corps (RAAMC) is the branch of the Australian Army responsible for providing medical care to Army personnel. The AAMC was formed in 1902 through the amalgamation of medical units of the various Australian coloni ...

. He embarked with his unit on HMAT A18 ''Wiltshire'' from Melbourne to Egypt on 19 October 1914. Mathison was attached as a medical officer to the 5th Battalion of the Australian Imperial Force at the time of the Battle of Gallipoli.

Death

On 10 May 1915 while resting outside of the aid station where he had been operating, Mathison was wounded by a stray bullet at

Cape Helles Cape Helles is the rocky headland at the southwesternmost tip of the Gallipoli peninsula, Turkey. It was the scene of heavy fighting between Ottoman Empire, Ottoman Turkish and United Kingdom, British troops during the landing at Cape Helles at th ...

. He was evacuated to Deaconesses Hospital,

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...

, Egypt, where he died of his wounds on 18 May 1915, and was buried in the War Memorial Cemetery, at

Chatby Shatby Beach Shatby ( ar, الشاطبي ') is a neighborhood in Alexandria, Egypt. Institutions Many important institutes are located in Shatby, such as: *Alexandria University *Bibliotheca Alexandrina *Collège Saint Marc *El Nasr Boys' School ...

, near Alexandria. The Imperial War Graves Commission headstone erected over Mathison's grave bears the inscription: HE BEING MADE PERFECT IN A SHORT TIME FULFILLED A LONG TIME.

Legacy

The University of Melbourne established a triennial lecture on medical research in Mathison's honour using an endowment from friends of Mathison; and, on Friday, 18 May 1917, a memorial tablet was unveiled at the Melbourne Hospital. Those present at the unveiling included Mathison's mother, personal friends of Mathison, Sir Harry Allen, the dean of the faculty of medicine at the University of Melbourne, Sir John Grice, chairman of the Melbourne Hospital committee, Dr. MacFarland, the vice-chancellor of the University of Melbourne, members of the University council, members of the medical profession, and members of the Melbourne Hospital committee. Testimony to his attainments, character. and scholarship ("his death was referred to as a national calamity") were given by Sir Harry Allen, Captain Philip Beauchamp Sewell, AAMC, who would also be killed in action not long after, and Sir John Grice. Sir Harry Allen unveiled the memorial tablet (for the text of the tablet, see box at right). A bequest from Mary Mathison in memory of her son was used to establish the Gordon Clunes Mathison Research Scholarship at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research Annual Report, 1942 His name is located at panel 183 in the Commemorative Area at the

Australian War Memorial The Australian War Memorial is Australia's national memorial to the members of its armed forces and supporting organisations who have died or participated in wars involving the Commonwealth of Australia and some conflicts involving pe ...

Footnotes

References

* Webber, H., ''Years May Pass On... Caulfield Grammar School, 1881–1981'', Centenary Committee, Caulfield Grammar School, (East St Kilda), 1981.
Personal: Mr. Gordon C. Mathison, M.B., B.S., ''The Argus'', (1 March 1910), p.7.

Australian Casualties: Two More Lists (25th and 26th Lists): Killed: Victoria (Capt. Mathison, G.C.M., 5th Batt. (A.A.M.C.), Elsternwick, Vic.—Died of wounds), (Saturday, 29 May 1915), p.17.

Killed in Action: Mathison, (Tuesday, 1 June 1915), p.1.

Australians Who Have Fallen, (Tuesday, 1 June 1915), p.5.

Personal Particulars: Captain G. C. M. Mathison, ''The Argus'', (Wednesday 2 June 1915), p.12.

Personal: Tribute to Late Dr. Mathison, ''The Argus'', (19 May 1917), p.18.

E.H.S., "Obituary: Gordon Clunes McKay (sic) Mathison, M.D., B.S.Melb., D.Sc.Lond", ''The British Medical Journal'', No. 2842, (19 June 1915), pp.1070-1071.
* Obituary: Gordon Clunes McKay Mathison, MBBS 1906, MD 1911 1884-1915, ''Chiron; Journal of the University of Melbourne Medical Society'', Vol.2, No.5, (1992), p. 16. * Brothers, A., "A Dedicated Life — Gordon Clunes McKay Mathison", ''Chiron; Journal of the University of Melbourne Medical Society'', Vol.4, No.5, (2002), p. 52.

External links

Australian War Memorial: World War I Nominal Roll: Captain Gordon Clunes Mathison

Australian War Memorial: Red Cross Wounded and Missing Records: Gordon Clunes Mathison

Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour - Gordon Clunes Mackay Mathison.

World War I Service Record: Gordon Clunes Mackay Mathison

Commonwealth War Graves Commission casualty Details: Mathison, Gordon Munco Mackay (sic).

The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research

''Melbourne Medical School: 150 Years of Medicine'': Gordon Mathison killed at Gallipoli.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mathison, Gordon 1893 births 1915 deaths People educated at Caulfield Grammar School Melbourne Medical School alumni Australian Army officers Australian military personnel killed in World War I Australian medical researchers WEHI alumni People from Elsternwick, Victoria Medical doctors from Melbourne Military personnel from Melbourne