Richard St John Honner (30 November 1897 – 10 November 1962) was an Australian surgeon, gynaecologist, obstetrician and an Olympic athlete. He competed in the men's 400 metres and the

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

at the

1924 Summer Olympics The 1924 Summer Olympics (french: Jeux olympiques d'été de 1924), officially the Games of the VIII Olympiad (french: Jeux de la VIIIe olympiade) and also known as Paris 1924, were an international multi-sport event held in Paris, France. The op ...

Early life and athletics

Born in

Maitland, South Australia Maitland () is a town in South Australia known as the "heart of Yorke Peninsula" due to it being near the centre of the region. By road, it is 168 km west of Adelaide, 164 km south of Port Pirie and 46 km north of Minlaton. At ...

his family moved when he was a child to

Junee, New South Wales Junee () is a medium-sized town in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. The town's prosperity and mixed services economy is based on a combination of agriculture, rail transport, light industry and government services, and in par ...

.Honner was educated at

St Joseph's College, Hunters Hill , motto_translation = Strive Strive for better things , established = , type = Independent single-sex secondary day and boarding school , educational_authority = New South Wales Department of Educati ...

. While studying medicine at 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 ...

, Honner trained as a hurdler and long-jumper and was selected for the

1924 Paris Olympics The 1924 Summer Olympics (french: Jeux olympiques d'été de 1924), officially the Games of the VIII Olympiad (french: Jeux de la VIIIe olympiade) and also known as Paris 1924, were an international multi-sport event held in Paris, France. The op ...

. He finished in overall equal fourteenth place in the long jump and placed third in his heat in the 400m and did not progress. Before he left Australia he set an Australian long jump record which stood for 27 years. While conducting his medical post-graduate qualifications in England, Honner continued to compete in track and field. In 1925 he won the broad jump title at the English National Championship setting a new British record. He defended that title and bettered the British record in 1926.St Joseph's College Magazine 1926

Medical career

Honner studied medicine at the

, graduating in 1922 and taking up a residency at St Vincent's Hospital in 1922-23. Following the 1924 Olympics Honner ventured to the UK for medical residencies (the Middlesex Hospital 1924 and the Poplar and London Hospital 1925-27). He had completed his practitioner and surgery qualifications in England by 1925.Honner at ADB
/ref> In 1928 he was appointed honorary gynaecologist at Lewisham Hospital, and in 1931 surgeon and honorary obstetrician at St Margaret's Hospital. In 1936 he advanced to become a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons Edinburgh, and in 1937 next year became a fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons.

War service and personal

During WWII Honner was a major in the Australian Army Medical Corps. He served in military hospitals, in Goulburn and at Alice Springs, Northern Territory. He married Kathleen Mary Dooley in the chapel of

St John's College, University of Sydney St John's College, or the College of St John the Evangelist, is a residential college within the University of Sydney. Established in 1857, the college is the oldest Roman Catholic, and second-oldest overall, university college in Australia. ...

in 1928. In 1962 while addressing colleagues at a dinner at the

Australia Hotel The Australia Hotel was a hotel on Castlereagh Street, Sydney in New South Wales, Australia. From its opening in 1891 until its closure on 30 June 1971 and subsequent demolition, the hotel was considered "the best-known hotel in Australia", "the ...

in Sydney he collapsed and died of a heart attack.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Honner, Richard 1897 births 1962 deaths Athletes (track and field) at the 1924 Summer Olympics Australian male sprinters Australian male hurdlers Australian male long jumpers Olympic athletes for Australia People educated at St Joseph's College, Hunters Hill Sportsmen from New South Wales Australian Athletics Championships winners Athletes from New South Wales