Arthur William Morrow (12 July 1903 – 22 August 1977) was an Australian physician and specialist in

gastroenterology Gastroenterology (from the Greek gastḗr- “belly”, -énteron “intestine”, and -logía "study of") is the branch of medicine focused on the digestive system and its disorders. The digestive system consists of the gastrointestinal tract ...

. He served terms as president of the

Royal Australasian College of Physicians The Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP) is a not-for-profit professional organisation responsible for training and educating physicians and paediatricians across Australia and New Zealand. The RACP is responsible for training both ...

and of the

Australian Club The Australian Club is a private club founded in 1838 and located in Sydney at 165 Macquarie Street. Its membership is men-only and it is the oldest gentlemen's club in the southern hemisphere. "The Club provides excellent dining facilities, ...

Early life

Bill Morrow was born at

East Maitland, New South Wales East Maitland is a suburb in the City of Maitland, New South Wales, Australia. It is on the New England Highway and it has two railway stations, Victoria Street (opened in 1857 with the Newcastle- Maitland line) and East Maitland (opened ini ...

, the only child of Arthur John Morrow and Helonar (née Harkin). Morrow attended

Newington College , motto_translation = To Faith Add Knowledge , location = Inner West and Lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales , country = Australia , coordinates = , pushpin_map = A ...

(1919–1921) and was cox of the school's First VIII that won the Head of the River regatta in 1921. In the same year, he won the Wigram Allen Scholarship, awarded by Sir

George Wigram Allen Sir George Wigram Allen (16 May 1824 – 23 July 1885) was an Australian politician and philanthropist. He was Speaker in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly 1875–1883. Allen was held in high esteem. As speaker he showed dignity, courte ...

, for general proficiency, with

Hubert Cunliffe-Jones Hubert Cunliffe-Jones (30 March 1905 – 3 January 1991) was an Australian-born Congregational Church minister and author, who became chairman of the Congregational Union of England and Wales and a professor at the University of Manchester. ...

receiving it for classics. At the end of 1921, he was named Dux of the College and received the Halse Rogers and Schofield Scholarships.Newington College Register of Past Students 1863–1998 (Syd, 1999) Part 2 – The Lists Morrow was awarded an exhibition in the

Leaving Certificate A secondary school leaving qualification is a document signifying that the holder has fulfilled any secondary education requirements of their locality, often including the passage of a final qualification examination. For each leaving certifica ...

and went up to 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 ...

in 1922 from whence he graduated as a

Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery ( la, Medicinae Baccalaureus, Baccalaureus Chirurgiae; abbreviated most commonly MBBS), is the primary medical degree awarded by medical schools in countries that follow the tradition of the United Kin ...

with first-class honours in 1927.

Career

Early medical career

Following his graduation, Morrow was appointed as a junior resident medical officer at

Royal Prince Alfred Hospital The Royal Prince Alfred Hospital (abbreviated RPAH or RPA) is a major public teaching hospital in Sydney, Australia, located on Missenden Road in Camperdown. It is a teaching hospital of the Central Clinical School of the Sydney Medical School ...

and from 1932 was the deputy clinical superintendent. In 1933, he gained membership of the

Royal College of Physicians The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) is a British professional membership body dedicated to improving the practice of medicine, chiefly through the accreditation of physicians by examination. Founded by royal charter from King Henry VIII in 1 ...

War service

Morrow was commissioned as a

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

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 ...

in 1929. Early in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

he joined the Australian Imperial Force and as a

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

he was placed in command of a medical division in the Middle East. After the German

invasion An invasion is a military offensive in which large numbers of combatants of one geopolitical entity aggressively enter territory owned by another such entity, generally with the objective of either: conquering; liberating or re-establishing con ...

of Greece in 1941 he served in

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and ...

and Egypt. From 1942, until the end of the war, Morrow served in

Katherine, Northern Territory Katherine is a town in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is situated on the Katherine River, after which it is named, southeast of Darwin. It is the fourth largest settlement in the Territory and is known as the place where "The outbac ...

, and

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 ...

and he visited operational areas in

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea). It is a simplified version of ...

New Britain New Britain ( tpi, Niu Briten) is the largest island in the Bismarck Archipelago, part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea. It is separated from New Guinea by a northwest corner of the Solomon Sea (or with an island hop of Umboi the Dam ...

, Bougainville and

Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and eas ...

. He was promoted to temporary

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

and awarded 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 ...

and

mentioned in despatches 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 ...

Later medical career

Morrow rejoined Royal Prince Alfred Hospital as an honorary assistant-physician and was appointed an honorary physician in 1952. He became a consultant physician there in 1963 and also at the

Concord Repatriation General Hospital Concord Repatriation General Hospital (abbreviated CRGH), commonly referred to as Concord Hospital, is a major hospital in Sydney, Australia, on Hospital Road in Concord. It is a teaching hospital of Sydney Medical School at the University of ...

, Canterbury Hospital and the now closed Marrickville and Western Suburbs hospitals. He lectured in therapeutics and chaired the Postgraduate Committee of Medicine at the University of Sydney. Morrow was the foundation president of the Gastroenterological Society of Australia in 1958.

College of Physicians

In 1938, Morrow was appointed a foundation member of the

and served as a member of the board of censors for 16 years and as its censor-in-chief from 1962 until 1966. He was elected president of the college in 1966 and served in that position until 1968.

Personal life

Marriage and children

In 1937, Morrow married Jean Buchanan Brown at St Stephen's

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

Church, Sydney. The couple lived in Bellevue Hill and had three daughters. Lady Morrow died in 1971 and, in 1974, Sir William married the widowed Margaret Mary Chauvel (née Fairfax) at St Mark's

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

Church,

Darling Point Darling Point is a harbourside eastern suburb of Sydney, Australia. It is 4 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district and is part of the local government area of Woollahra Council. Darling Point is bounded by Sydney Harbour to ...

Clubs

Morrow was a member of the

and president from 1973 until 1975, during which time the club's site was redeveloped.

Viscount Slim Viscount Slim, of Yarralumla in the Capital Territory of Australia and of Bishopston in the City and County of Bristol, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1960 for Field Marshal Sir William Slim upon the en ...

, whilst

Governor-General of Australia The governor-general of Australia is the representative of the monarch, currently King Charles III, in Australia.Royal Sydney Golf Club Royal Sydney Golf Club is golf club in Rose Bay, New South Wales, Australia, a suburb of Sydney. Founded in 1893, Royal Sydney is one of Australia's premier sporting and social clubs. It features an 18-hole Championship Course, a 9-hole Centen ...

and the

Australian Jockey Club Australian Turf Club (ATC) owns and operates thoroughbred racing, events and hospitality venues across Sydney, Australia. The ATC came into being on 7 February 2011 when the Australian Jockey Club (AJC) and the Sydney Turf Club (STC) merged. The ...

Honours and memorials

– 1941, 30 December *

Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised orders of chivalry; it is a part of the British honours system. Knights Bachelor are the ...

– 1959,

New Year Honours The New Year Honours is a part of the British honours system, with New Year's Day, 1 January, being marked by naming new members of orders of chivalry and recipients of other official honours. A number of other Commonwealth realms also mark this ...

* A. W. Morrow Department of Gastroenterology – 1961,

* A. W. Morrow Chair in Medicine – 1994,

Portraits

* Howard Barron – Held by the

* Graeme Inson – Held by

Bibliography

* A. S. Walker, Middle East and Far East (Canb, 1953) * A. S. Walker, The Island Campaigns (Canb, 1957) * Lives of the Fellows of the

Royal College of Physicians of London The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) is a British professional membership body dedicated to improving the practice of medicine, chiefly through the accreditation of physicians by examination. Founded by royal charter from King Henry VIII in 1 ...

, vol 7 (Lond, 1984) * J. R. Angel, The

1838–1988 (Syd, 1988) * G. L. McDonald (ed), Roll of the

, vol 2 (Syd, 1994) *

Medical Society, Senior Year Book (Syd, 1926) *

Medical Journal of Australia The ''Medical Journal of Australia'' is a peer-reviewed medical journal published 22 times a year. It is the official journal of the Australian Medical Association, published by Wiley on behalf of the Australasian Medical Publishing Company. The ...

, 13 January 1979 *

Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper i ...

, 23 August 1977

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morrow, William 1903 births 1977 deaths People educated at Newington College Sydney Medical School alumni Australian gastroenterologists Australian Knights Bachelor Australian Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Australian military doctors