biographies

Sutherland, Bertram Milne (1877 - 1951)

O.B.E., M.B.(Melb), F.R.A.C.S., F.R.C.O.G.

Born
1877
Dunolly, Victoria, Australia
Died
1951
Occupation
Anaesthetist, Board of Management member, Gynaecologist, Medical practitioner, Obstetrician and Surgeon

Details

Written by Dr Colin Macdonald and published in "The Book of Remembrance", The Royal Women's Hospital, Melbourne, 1956.

Transcription


BERTRAM MILNE SUTHERLAND
(1914 - 1938)

Bertram Milne Sutherland, born in 1877 at Dunolly, Victoria, was the only son of Dr. John Sutherland, an Edinburgh graduate who, in 1871, had migrated to Australia and here had married Christine Milne. In 1886 Dr. John Sutherland commenced practice in Moonee Ponds, and Bertram Milne Sutherland continued his education at the South Melbourne College, of which J.B. O’Hara, teacher, mathematician and poet, was the outstanding headmaster. Sutherland studied medicine at the University of Melbourne and graduated M.B.Ch.B. in 1903. He subsequently went to England and was on the eve of sitting for the primary Fellowship examination of the Royal College of Surgeons when his father’s fatal illness necessitated return to take over the family medical practice. Many years later he was made a foundation Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons and a further honour was his election, a year before his death, as Fellow of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.

In 1910, Sutherland was appointed as an anaesthetist to the Women’s Hospital and four years later became an honorary obstetric surgeon to this hospital. Thus commenced a period of service which only ended with his death. He rose to become chairman of the honorary staff in 1930, which position he held until retirement in 1938. During these years he had been found by the hospital to be such a wise and reliable counsellor, that he was elected to the committee of management, and continued on it until his death in 1951.

Sutherland took an active part in public medical affairs and was most meticulous in promoting the ethical standards of his profession. His many years of service to the Victorian Branch of the British Medical Association culminated, in 1932, in his election as President. For twenty-seven years he sat on the Central Council of the Victorian Bush Nursing Association. He devoted much time to its activities, and from 1946 until his death was its President. He was also a member of the Melbourne Post-Graduate Committee.

In the first world war, he served for five years in Egypt and England and became lieutenant-colonel and commanding officer of Number 3 Australian Auxiliary Hospital, Dartford, England. For his services he was awarded the O.B.E.

As a young man, Sutherland was a fine athlete. He was an outstanding lacrosse player in the late nineties of the last century when this game was enjoying a great vogue in Melbourne. At the University, he also gained a cricket blue.

In his latter years, "Old Bertie", as he was affectionately called, was a familiar figure at the Women’s Hospital and there was little about the hospital that he did not know. Many generations of residents, students and nurses remember with gratitude the help and instruction given by this kindly surgeon.

Archival/Heritage Resources

Royal Women's Hospital Archives

  • Book of Remembrance, 1956 - 1975; Royal Women's Hospital Archives [ Details... ].

Prepared by: Robyn Waymouth

Created: 19 September 2006, Last modified: 22 September 2006