Dr John Smith Purdy

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This soci ...

DSO MID (1872–1936) was an early 20th-century Scots-born physician and military physician who came to fame in

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

Life

He was born on 31 January 1872 in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, the son of George Purdy a market gardener and his wife, Frances Smith. The family moved to

Morpeth Morpeth may refer to: *Morpeth, New South Wales, Australia ** Electoral district of Morpeth, a former electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in New South Wales * Morpeth, Ontario, Canada * Morpeth, Northumberland, England, UK ** Morpeth (UK ...

in northern England in his infancy. He was educated at King Edward VI School, Morpeth. He then studied medicine at

Aberdeen University , mottoeng = The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom , established = , type = Public research universityAncient university , endowment = £58.4 million (2021) , budget ...

graduating MB CM in 1898. In 1899 he joined his older brother Dr James Purdy at Otaki Hospital in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. However, after only a few months he volunteered to join the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sout ...

as a Surgeon-Captain in the New Zealand Mounted Rifles.Australian Dictionary of Biography: John Smith Purdy When he was demobilised in 1902 he went to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

to seek employment and obtained a post at St Bartholomew's Hospital. He undertook a Diploma in Public Health at

Cambridge University , 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 ...

. He also returned to Aberdeen for his doctorate (MD) with a thesis on

syphilis Syphilis () is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacterium ''Treponema pallidum'' subspecies ''pallidum''. The signs and symptoms of syphilis vary depending in which of the four stages it presents (primary, secondary, latent, an ...

. After a few months as a GP in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

he joined Dr E. T. Ross at the Quarantine Service in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

, as a Foreign Office nominee in 1905. In 1906 he was reposted to

El-Tor El Tor ( ar, الطور ''/'' ), also romanized as ''Al-Tur'' and ''At-Tur'' and known as ''Tur Sinai'', formerly Raithu, is a small city and the capital of the South Sinai Governorate of Egypt. The name of the city comes from the Arabic term for ...

in the

Sinai Sinai commonly refers to: * Sinai Peninsula, Egypt * Mount Sinai, a mountain in the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt * Biblical Mount Sinai, the site in the Bible where Moses received the Law of God Sinai may also refer to: * Sinai, South Dakota, a place ...

district, overseeing the quarantine of pilgrims returning from

Mecca Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red ...

. In February 1907 he returned to New Zealand as a district medical officer in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

but found himself in competition with his brother James in terms of any more senior position. He therefore moved to

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

in 1910 taking on the role of Chief Medical Officer (aged only 38). Here he introduced new food hygiene laws. In 1911 he was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established i ...

. His proposers were

William Ramsay Smith William Ramsay Smith (27 November 1859 – 28 September 1937), frequently referred to as Ramsay Smith, was a Scottish physician, educator, naturalist, anthropologist and civil servant, who worked in South Australia after moving there at the ag ...

, John Halliday Scott,

Sir William Turner Sir William Turner (7 January 1832, in Lancaster, Lancashire, Lancaster – 15 February 1916, in Edinburgh) was an English anatomist and was the Principal of the University of Edinburgh from 1903 to 1916. Life Turner was born in Lancaster ...

and Arthur Robinson. His wanderlust still not satisfied, he moved to

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

in 1913 as Metropolitan Medical Officer of Health under Dr J. A. Thompson. Within a few weeks of the onset of the

First World War 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 again volunteered, serving as a sanitary officer with the

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 ...

attached to the 1st Division Australian forces in

(where his local understanding was greatly beneficial). On 1 January 1916 he was promoted to Lt Colonel and placed in charge of sanitation at

Tel-el-Kebir Tell El Kebir ( ar, التل الكبير lit."the great mound") is 110 km north-north-east of Cairo and 75 kilometres south of Port Said on the edge of the Egyptian desert at the altitude of 29 m. Administratively, it is a part of the Isma ...

overseeing a camp of 30,000 ANZAC troops. In October 1916 he was attached to the 10th Field Ambulance Division on the western front in

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. He won the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typ ...

(DSO) for his services at

Messines Ridge The Battle of Messines (7–14 June 1917) was an attack by the British Second Army (General Sir Herbert Plumer), on the Western Front, near the village of Messines (now Mesen) in West Flanders, Belgium, during the First World War. The Nivell ...

in the summer of 1917. Also

Mentioned in Dispatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face ...

he was promoted to temporary Colonel and oversaw the 3rd Australian General Hospital at

Abbeville Abbeville (, vls, Abbekerke, pcd, Advile) is a commune in the Somme department and in Hauts-de-France region in northern France. It is the chef-lieu of one of the arrondissements of Somme. Located on the river Somme, it was the capital of ...

in France from January to June 1918.C. J. Cummins, 'Purdy, John Smith (1872–1936)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/purdy-john-smith-8132/text14207, accessed online 14 April 2022. He was returned to Australia before the end of the war to combat the spreading

Spanish flu The 1918–1920 influenza pandemic, commonly known by the misnomer Spanish flu or as the Great Influenza epidemic, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1 influenza A virus. The earliest documented case was ...

epidemic which had reached Australia on the returning hospital ships. He reached Sydney in September 1918 and began a year-long battle trying to combat the epidemic. The situation was worsened by two minor outbreaks of plague in Sydney in 1920. He was made President of the Health Society of

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 ...

and Chairman of the Public Health Association and President of the Australian Association of Fighting Venereal Disease. In his position on the Town Planning Association of NSW he was influential in instigating a programme of slum clearance in Sydney.Tout-Smith, D. (2003) John Smith Purdy, Medical Officer & Lieutenant-Colonel (1872-1936) in Museums Victoria Collections https://collections.museumsvictoria.com.au/articles/2151 Accessed 14 April 2022 He was also President of the Returned Sailors and Soldiers Imperial League of Australia and Deputy Chairman of the

St John's Ambulance Association St John Ambulance is the name of a number of affiliated organisations in different countries which teach and provide first aid and emergency medical services, and are primarily staffed by volunteers. The associations are overseen by the internat ...

. He died at St Luke's Hospital in

on 26 July 1936. The "J S Purdy Memorial Medal" was struck in his honour by Sydney Technical College in the year of his death.

Family

In 1904 he married Emily Crake. His son Cecil John Seddon Purdy was a well known chess player, author and magazine editor.

Publications

*''Better Sanitation for Ships Crews'' (1912) *''Australian Hygiene and Public Health'' (1932)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Purdy, John Smith 1872 births 1936 deaths Medical doctors from Glasgow Alumni of the University of Aberdeen Australian military doctors Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh