Cecil Purser (16 December 1862 – 13 January 1953) was an Australian

physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

and served terms as chairman of

Royal Prince Alfred Hospital The Royal Prince Alfred Hospital (abbreviated RPAH or RPA) is a large 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 at the ...

and vice-chancellor and deputy chancellor of the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

Birth and education

Purser was born at

Castle Hill, New South Wales Castle Hill is a suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, located 34 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district and 9.5 kilometres north of Parramatta. It is within the Hills District, New South Wales, Hills District regi ...

, the eldest son of bootmaker and later orchardist James Purser, and his Scottish wife Mary Ann, née Kyle. He attended school locally in Castle Hill and later at

Newington College Newington College is a multi-campus Independent school, independent Uniting Church in Australia, Uniting Church Single-sex education, single-sex and Mixed-sex education, co-educational Pre-school education, early learning, Primary school, primar ...

(1879-1881). At the end of 1881 he was named Dux of the College and received the inaugural Schofield Scholarship. In 1882 he went up to the University of Sydney and was a resident of St Andrew's College. Whilst at university he was captain of the cricket XI and was a noted athlete. He graduated as a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

in 1885 and as a Bachelor of Medicine and Chemistry in 1890.

Medical career

After appointments as a resident medical officer and a medical superintendent at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Purser began private practice in Petersham in 1893. In the same year he married Louisa Victoria Brierley in the

Congregational church Congregationalism (also Congregational Churches or Congregationalist Churches) is a Reformed Christian (Calvinist) tradition of Protestant Christianity in which churches practice congregational government. Each congregation independently a ...

. After his marriage Purser and his new wife lived in the Sydney suburb of

Lewisham, New South Wales Lewisham is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Lewisham is located 7 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Inner West Council. History Le ...

. Louisa Pursers's sister Florence was Mrs A.B. Shand. Purser became an

honorary An honorary position is one given as an honor, with no duties attached, and without payment. Other uses include: * Honorary Academy Award, by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, United States * Honorary Aryan, a status in Nazi Germany ...

at Royal Prince Alfred in 1896, and from 1912 until his death he was a consultant physician with rooms in

Macquarie Street, Sydney Macquarie Street is a street in the Sydney central business district, central business district of Sydney in New South Wales, Australia. Macquarie Street extends from Hyde Park, Sydney, Hyde Park at its southern end to the Sydney Opera House a ...

. From 1925 until their deaths the Pursers lived on the tenth floor of The Astor in Macquarie Street. The prevention and treatment of

pulmonary tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

was his speciality. He was a member of the Tuberculosis Advisory Board and the

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

Board of Health and of the councils of the War Memorial Hospital, Waverley, and

Crown Street Women's Hospital Crown Street Women's Hospital (now-closed) was once the largest maternity hospital in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was located at 351 Crown Street on the corner of Albion Streets, Surry Hills. The hospital was one of several stand- ...

. He joined the board of the RPAH in 1909 and was vice-chairman for three years before his appointment as chairman in 1924. During his term of office the Rockefeller Building was constructed on the hospital campus. In 1933 he resigned as chairman of Prince Alfred due to his annoyance at the shortage of government financial support. On the foundation 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 ...

in 1938, Purser was appointed a

Fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...

Educational appointments

Purser was elected to the

senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

of the University of Sydney in 1909 and was

vice-chancellor A vice-chancellor (commonly called a VC) serves as the chief executive of a university in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia, Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Kenya, other Commonwealth of Nati ...

in 1917, 1918 and 1923. In 1924 and 1925 he served as deputy chancellor. He was an examiner within the faculty of medicine for 19 years from 1911. Purser served on the councils of St Andrew's College, Wesley College, (where the Cecil Purser Wing (1943) is named in his honour), The Women's College, Newington College, and was for a term president of the Old Newingtonians' Union.

Community involvement

From 1893 he was a member of the

Royal Society of New South Wales The Royal Society of New South Wales is a learned society based in Sydney, Australia. The Governor of New South Wales is the vice-regal patron of the Society. It is the oldest learned society in the Southern Hemisphere. The Society traces its ...

and for a term chaired the public health and kindred sciences section of the Society. Purser was honorary

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

in 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 colon ...

Reserve.

Portrait

* Jerrold Nathan - held by the

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Purser, Cecil 1862 births 1953 deaths Australian hospital administrators People educated at Newington College Members of Newington College Council University of Sydney alumni Australian pulmonologists Vice-chancellors of the University of Sydney Military personnel from Sydney Royal Australian Army Medical Corps officers Colony of New South Wales people 19th-century Australian military personnel 20th-century Australian military personnel