William Alexander Hamilton Birrell (24 January 1885 – 11 May 1948) was a doctor and an
Australian rules footballer who played for
University
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase ''universitas magistrorum et scholarium'', which ...
in the
Victorian Football League
The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serving as one of the second-tier regional semi-professional competitions which sit underneath the fully professional Australian Football League (AFL). I ...
(VFL).
The oldest son of Albert Veit Birrell and Christina Matheson, Alec Birrell was born in Laen (near
Donald, Victoria
Donald is a town in Victoria, Australia, located on the Richardson River, at the junction of Sunraysia Highway and Borung Highway, in the Shire of Buloke. At the , it had a population of 1,472.
History
The town is named after William Donald, ...
) and was educated at
Geelong College where he was a prominent member of the school football team.
He proceeded to study medicine at the University of Melbourne and during his student years Birrell was promoted from the seconds to play one VFL match for University against
South Melbourne in the first round of the 1911 VFL season.
After graduating as a doctor in 1914, he served with the 20th Light Horse and British Royal Army Medical Corps in World War I. Upon his return to Australia, Birrell practiced in Nathalia for several years. Birrell was also Vice President of the
Nathalia Football Club in 1923.
Birrell later brought into a medical practice in Cheltenham, Victoria in 1927.
In 1920, he married Mary Adela Lane and they had three children together. He died in the Repatriation Hospital in Heidelberg on 11 May 1948.
References
External links
*
*
1885 births
University Football Club players
1948 deaths
Australian rules footballers from Victoria (Australia)
People educated at Geelong College
Australian military personnel of World War I
Australian medical doctors
University of Melbourne alumni
Military personnel from Victoria (Australia)
{{AFL-bio-1885-stub