Gallery
Mackay, Edward Alan (1863 - 1944)
M.B., Ch.B. (Melb)
- Born
- 1863
Edward Alan, Victoria, Australia - Died
- 1944
- Occupation
- Medical Practitioner and Paediatric Surgeon
Details
Transcription of item written by Dr Colin Macdonald and published in "The Book of Remembrance", The Royal Women's Hospital, Melbourne, 1956.
EDWARD ALAN MACKAY
(1895 - 1898)
Edward Alan Mackay, born in 1863, was a son of Dr. George Mackay, a pioneer pastoralist, who had settled as early as 1838 in the north-east of Victoria at The Grange, Tarrawingie. Alan Mackay, for as such he was known, was educated at the Melbourne Grammar School, of which Edward Morris was then the headmaster. Mackay always retained a great interest in and affection for his old school and, in 1923, in succession to Stanley M. Bruce, was elected President of the Old Melburnians. During his medical course, at the University of Melbourne, he was in residence at Trinity College, then under Dr. Leeper, and there, in 1884, he won the Warden’s Scholarship. He graduated M.B. in 1888 and Ch.B. in 1889.
Alan Mackay was for only a brief period, 1895 to 1898, a member of the honorary staff of the Women’s Hospital. His association with the Children’s Hospital, however, extended over many years and culminated in his appointment as honorary consultant surgeon to that hospital. He practised medicine with devotion and distinction, and because of his kindliness and shrewdness of judgement, he was greatly sought after and beloved by his patients.
The early history of this State was in his blood, and he and his brothers, in memory of their father and other overlanding pioneers, established a lecture which is given annually at Wangaratta. He was a keen supporter of the Historical Society of Victoria and, in 1934, to the Section of Medical History of the Victorian branch of the British Medical Association, he delivered its inaugural address on "Medical Pastoralists of Victoria".
He never forgot the Scotland of his forebears and was always a welcome visitor at Scottish gatherings in Melbourne. He then sometimes wore a dark green Mackay kilt, which looked surprisingly well on his tall, slight and spectacled figure. He invariably fostered what was best in Scottish culture and tradition.
Alan Mackay was a gifted raconteur and there were few subjects he could not discuss, and in doing so, illuminate. He was held in great esteem by his contemporaries and his juniors. He died in 1944.
Archival/Heritage Resources
Royal Women's Hospital Archives
- Book of Remembrance, 1956 - 1975; Royal Women's Hospital Archives [ Details... ].
Prepared by: Robyn Waymouth
Created: 1 August 2006, Last modified: 26 November 2006