Person

Ramsay, John (1872 - 1944)

Kt CBE FRCS

Born
26 December 1872
Glasgow, Lanark, Scotland
Died
6 February 1944
Launceston, Tasmania, Australia
Occupation
Surgeon

Summary

John Ramsay was surgeon-superintendent at Launceston General Hospital from 1898 to 1912. He also designed and built St Margaret's Hospital from which he commenced private practice. In 1906 he performed the first successful resuscitation of the heart by massage in Australia, opening the thorax of a patient who had clinically died during an operation.

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Details

During World War I he was Major in charge of surgery at Hornsey Military Hospital in Launceston. Ramsay was President of the Tasmanian branch of the British Medical Association (1925); Foundation Fellow of the Australasian College of Surgeons (1927); Chairman of the Northern Tasmanian division of St John Ambulance Association for 17 years (commander brother of the Order of St John of Jerusalem 1937); President of the Launceston Club; first chairman of the Equity Trustees Co. of Tasmania and the Goliath Portland Cement Co.; Director of the board of Kiwi Polish Co.; and a member of the executive of the Medical Council of Tasmania, Crippled Children's Association, Anti-Cancer Campaign, and Red Cross Society. The Sir John Ramsay Memorial Library at the Launceston General Hospital was established in his memory in 1944.

Chronology

1893
Education - Bachelor of Medicine (MB) and Bachelor of Surgery (BS), University of Melbourne
1894
Career position - Resident Medical Officer at the Melbourne Hospital
1895
Career position - Resident Medical Officer in Auckland, New Zealand
1895 - 1898
Career position - House Surgeon at the Launceston General Hospital in Tasmania
1898 - 1912
Career position - Surgeon-Superintendent at the Launceston General Hospital
1902
Education - Master of Surgery (MS), University of Melbourne
1912 -
Career position - Private practice at St Margaret's Hospital in Launceston
1912 - 1917
Career position - Honorary Consulting Surgeon at Launceston Hospital
1924
Award - Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) - for Public service
1925
Career position - President, British Medical Association, Tasmanian branch
1925 - 1944
Career position - Honorary Consulting Surgeon at Launceston Hospital
1927 - 1944
Career event - Founding Fellow, College of Surgeons of Australasia
1929 -
Career position - Member of the board of management of the Launceston Hospital
1933 -
Career position - Chairman, Launceston Hospital
1939
Award - Knight Bachelor (Kt), for services to surgery.

Related Corporate Bodies

Published resources

Books

  • Craig, C., Launceston General Hospital: the first hundred years, 1863 - 1963 (Launceston: Board of Management of the Launceston General Hospital, 1963), 138 pp. Details
  • Kenny, Patrick (Sir), The founders of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (Melbourne, Victoria: The Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, 1984), 84 pp, https://www.surgeons.org/-/media/Project/RACS/surgeons-org/files/our-heritage-archives/founders.pdf. Details
  • Richards, Paul A.; Morris, John C. H.; and Scott, Allan, Master Surgeons: John Ramsay, Clifford Craig and Max Clemons: 2002 papers and proceedings (Launceston: Launceston General Hospital Historical Committee, 2002), 27 pp. Details

Book Sections

Journal Articles

  • Anon, 'Obituary: John Ramsay', Medical journal of Australia, 1 (13) (1944), 282-3. Details
  • Anon, 'Sir John Ramsay, C.B.E.,M.S., F.R.A.C.S.', British medical journal, 1 (4337) (1944), 271. Details

Resources

See also

  • Barry, B. J., 'Geoffrey Kaye Oration: anaesthesia - ideals and reality', Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, 17 (2) (1989), 213-9. Details
  • Fleming, D. W., 'The founders of the College: Western Australia', Australian and New Zealand journal of surgery, 81 (6) (1981), 623-4. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1445-2197.1981.tb05266.x. Details
  • Ryan, James, Sutton, Keith and Baigent, Malcolm eds, Australasian Radiology: a History (Sydney: McGraw-Hill, 1996), 542 pp. Details

Rosanne Walker

Created: 30 June 1997, Last modified: 22 August 2023

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