Richard Powell Francis (1860–1894) was the first Australian to graduate from

Balliol College Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the f ...

(

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

) and died after rescuing others in the

1893 Brisbane flood The 1893 Brisbane flood, occasionally referred to as the Great Flood of 1893 or the Black February flood, occurred in 1893 in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The Brisbane River burst its banks on three occasions in February 1893. It was the ...

Early life

Richard (Dick) Powell Francis was born in Eccles,

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, England in 1860 and emigrated with his parents Arthur Morley Francis and Angela Francis and new born brother Clement, to

Moreton Bay Moreton Bay is a bay located on the eastern coast of Australia from central Brisbane, Queensland. It is one of Queensland's most important coastal resources. The waters of Moreton Bay are a popular destination for recreational anglers and are ...

Brisbane on the sailing clipper, ''Saldanha'', with a full passenger list of 500 in February 1862. The family bought land at what is now known as

Corinda Corinda is a suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , Corinda had a population of 5,064 people. History The suburb takes its name from the Corinda railway station, which in turn was likely named after a local cattle stat ...

and farmed this land. The family was to experience the

Brisbane River The Brisbane River is the longest river in South East Queensland, Australia, and flows through the city of Brisbane, before emptying into Moreton Bay on the Coral Sea. John Oxley, the first European to explore the river, named it after the Go ...

flooding in 1863. When Dick was 14 he shattered his thumb with a gunshot at Redcliffe, when holidaying at his father's property. He made his way over the to Brisbane with his brother to the home of Dr. Prentice. To avert death and lockjaw the doctor amputated his thumb without anesthetic. He became a founding pupil of the

Brisbane Grammar School , motto_translation = Nothing Without Labour , established = 1868 , type = Independent, day & boarding , gender = Boys , denomination = Non-denominational , slogan = , key_people = , ci ...

when it was opened for the first time in 1869.

Study at Oxford University

Francis was the winner of the first exhibition scholarship to

in England and was the first Australian to graduate from the University, from which he returned with the degree of M.A.

Teacher

Francis returned to live in Brisbane approximately in 1885, and took up the post of Master of Mathematics at his old school, the Brisbane Grammar School. On 5 July 1892, he married Mary Waugh the eldest daughter of Dr. John Neill Waugh at

Christ Church, Milton Christ Church is a heritage-listed Anglican church at 3 Chippendall Street, Milton, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The current church building is the second one at this site and was designed by John H Buckeridge and built in 1891 as ...

in Brisbane. He lived with his wife at Corinda in the home built by his father, traveling daily back and forth to the Brisbane Grammar School.

1893 Brisbane flood

In February 1893, Brisbane experienced a huge flood which inundated a large portion of the Chelmer, Graceville,

Sherwood Sherwood may refer to: Places Australia *Sherwood, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane *Sherwood, South Australia, a locality *Shire of Sherwood, a former local government area of Queensland *Electoral district of Sherwood, an electoral district from ...

and Corinda area. When the flood waters rose, he launched his own small boat and began the work of rescue. Many people he reached just in time to save them from being washed from roof tops in to the rising waters. To others, whose danger was not urgent, he carried food. According to accounts published at the time, this young grammar school master could not have done what he did, save for the fact that he was an athlete, a prominent Rugby footballer and cricketer. Rain fell incessantly and his clothes were never dry. Yet for three days and nights without ceasing, he rescued marooned people with his row boat over the flood waters without stopping to sleep or even to rest, snatching a bite of food as opportunity offered.

Death and funeral

His heroism led to his death. In his weakened condition a chill which he caught rapidly developed into

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

. He died on 24 February 1893, at his residence aged 32 years and 10 months. The boys of the Brisbane Grammar School were shocked to hear of his death. His funeral to the cemetery at Corinda was one of the largest that had been attended in Brisbane. Men who had been with Dick Francis as first students when the Brisbane Grammar was opened in 1869 joined with his own class pupils and the remainder of the then school to follow his remains to their last resting place at the Francis family cemetery. Among those he rescued were some of his pupils from the Grammar School, where his popularity, already established, was enhanced and he became the hero of the college. His wife Mary gave birth to their only son, Richard Powell Waugh Francis on 16 April 1893 a couple of months after his death. His son became a doctor and went to serve in the rank of Captain as a Medical Officer in

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 ...

embarking on 7 September 1916. He went to live in

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 ...

and passed away in 1944.

Commemoration

There is a bronze memorial tablet in the Great Hall of the school, erected in 1942 in memory of him. A plaque on the north wall of the antechapel at

commemorates him with the following words: ‘'The first Australian student at Balliol, who by his unselfishness and public spirit in the College, by his work at the earliest settlement in East London, and afterwards as a Master at Brisbane Grammar School, was an influence for good on many. He was born in 1860, matriculated 1879, and died in 1893, giving his life to help others in the Great Flood at Brisbane."