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Asset Name:
E008331 - Stewart, Richard John (1942 - 1991)
Title:
Stewart, Richard John (1942 - 1991)
Author:
Royal College of Surgeons of England
Identifier:
RCS: E008331
Publisher:
London : Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date:
2015-10-02
Description:
Obituary for Stewart, Richard John (1942 - 1991), Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England.
Language:
English
Source:
Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Full Name:
Stewart, Richard John
Date of Birth:
17 November 1942
Place of Birth:
Invercargill, New Zealand
Date of Death:
1 January 1991
Titles/Qualifications:
MRCS and FRCS 1970

MB ChB Otago 1965

ChM Otago 1978

FRACS 1974
Details:
Richard Stewart's career reminds us that in spite of all the advances in medical science the lives of the most dedicated doctors can still be cut short by disabling disease. He was born in Invercargill, New Zealand, on 17 November 1942, the son of Dr Lindsay Rutherford Stewart, a general practitioner-surgeon and his wife, Hilary Stanford, née Hyndman. He was educated locally and then at Otago Medical School where he qualified in 1965. His inclinations were surgical and he came to England in 1968, taking posts at the Royal Marsden and the Gordon Hospitals. He passed the FRCS in 1970 and went on to become senior registrar with Professor Harold Ellis at Westminster and with Mr Pendower at Charing Cross. He returned to New Zealand in 1974 and was appointed senior lecturer at the Christchurch Medical School and consultant surgeon to the Hospital. He soon acquired the FRACS and the ChM. In 1980 he moved to the Wellington School of Medicine where he became Associate Professor and had important opportunities for research. He was particularly interested in fine needle aspiration of the acute abdomen and he won the Jacksonian Prize of the College for an essay on this subject. He was the New Zealand delegate to the World Association of Hepatic, Pancreatic and Biliary Surgeons. In addition to his researches he was a tireless worker for the Royal Australasian College. As Chairman of the New Zealand Committee he had the critical task of assessing surgical standards at the smaller hospitals and he was honoured by presentation of the College medal as an acknowledgement of his services. His research interests were wide-ranging and not always the most fashionable, as witnessed by his concern for the morbidly obese. His final publication, the definitive chapter on the acute abdomen for *Baillière's clinical gastroenterology* was completed two weeks before his death and published posthumously. As a young man he was introduced to mountaineering by his father and with three friends made the first ascent of the South Face of Mount Cook. After this he was invited by Sir Edmund Hillary to join the Himalayan Schoolhouse Expedition in 1964. The group constructed two schools, two bridges and an airstrip at Lukla. A party of four, including Richard, made the first ascent of the 21,370 ft mountain Thamserku. Writing to Richard in December 1990 Sir Edmund reminisced 'it was a great effort and in fact one of our most successful expeditions, with its combination of climbing and an extensive building programme'. While still a student he married Christine Mora on 19 September 1964 and by her had a daughter, Polly, and a son, James. Tragically Richard suffered from motor neurone disease, the progress of which compelled him to give up surgery in 1989. He continued to work as Associate Postgraduate Dean and embarked on a degree course in philosophy but he died of his disease on 1 January 1991.
Sources:
Information from his widow Mrs C Stewart and his colleagues

*NZ Med J* 1992 105 392, with portrait
Rights:
Copyright (c) The Royal College of Surgeons of England

Image Copyright (c) Image reproduced with kind permission of the family
Collection:
Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format:
Obituary
Format:
Asset
Asset Path:
Root/Lives of the Fellows/E008000-E008999/E008300-E008399
Media Type:
JPEG Image
File Size:
71.55 KB