Sir Carrick Hey Robertson (27 August 1879 – 14 July 1963) was a Scottish-New Zealand surgeon. Robertson was born in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

Lanarkshire Lanarkshire, also called the County of Lanark ( gd, Siorrachd Lannraig; sco, Lanrikshire), is a historic county, lieutenancy area and registration county in the central Lowlands of Scotland. Lanarkshire is the most populous county in Scotlan ...

, Scotland, in 1879. As surgeon in

Waihi Waihi is a town in Hauraki District in the North Island of New Zealand, especially notable for its history as a gold mine town. The town is at the foot of the Coromandel Peninsula, close to the western end of the Bay of Plenty. The nearby res ...

and

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

hospitals, Robertson also served with the

New Zealand Medical Corps New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz (South Korean band), The Boyz Albums and EPs * New (album), ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartn ...

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Educated at

St Dunstan's College ) , type = Public SchoolIndependent day school , chair_label = Chairman of Governors , chair = Paul Durgan , head_label = Head , head = Nicholas Hewlett , address = Stanstead Road, Catford , city = London B ...

, London, Guy's Hospital and the University of London, he arrived New Zealand in 1906 via Natal, to serve as medical superintendent of Waihi Hospital. He served during the First World War as a temporary major in the New Zealand Medical Corps onboard hospital ship ''Marama,'' from 1915 to 1916. A recognised expert in surgery for goitre (then common in New Zealand), he and Dr Casement Aickin performed the first heart operation in New Zealand in 1927 and was a national pioneer of

brain surgery Neurosurgery or neurological surgery, known in common parlance as brain surgery, is the medical specialty concerned with the surgical treatment of disorders which affect any portion of the nervous system including the brain, spinal cord and peri ...

. A prominent surgeon, he was a founding fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons and honorary fellow of the Association of Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland. He was appointed a

Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised orders of chivalry; it is a part of the British honours system. Knights Bachelor are the ...

in the

1929 New Year Honours The 1929 New Year Honours were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the United Kingdom and British Empire. They were announced on 26 February 1929.United Kingdom and Briti ...

, and awarded the Chevalier of the ''

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

'' in 1938. He died in Auckland 14 July 1963. He was buried at Purewa Cemetery in the Auckland suburb of Meadowbank.

Honours

* 1924 honorary fellow of the

American College of Surgeons The American College of Surgeons is an educational association of surgeons created in 1913.American College of Surgeons Online "What is the American College of Surgeons?"/ref> See also *American College of Physicians The American College o ...

* 1929 knighted at an investiture in

St James's Palace St James's Palace is the most senior royal palace in London, the capital of the United Kingdom. The palace gives its name to the Court of St James's, which is the monarch's royal court, and is located in the City of Westminster in London. Altho ...

, London * founding fellow of the College of Surgeons of Australasia * 1938 he was made a

chevalier de la Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon B ...

* 1947 honorary fellow of the

Association of Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland The Association of Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland is a British medical association founded in 1920 with the twin aims of the ''advancement of the science and art of surgery and the promotion of friendship amongst surgeons''. Association of Su ...

References

1879 births 1963 deaths New Zealand surgeons Medical doctors from Glasgow Scottish emigrants to New Zealand New Zealand military personnel of World War I Knights of the Legion of Honour New Zealand recipients of the Legion of Honour New Zealand Knights Bachelor Burials at Purewa Cemetery {{NewZealand-med-bio-stub