LEE, Dr Alan Edward (1897-1963)
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Alan Edward Lee, MB BS MD FRCS FRACS, was born in Neutral Bay, Sydney on 14 September 1897.
His father, Francis Charles Belton Lee grew up in Gisborne, Victoria but as a young man he moved to Sydney with a number of his siblings and after studying architecture practiced there for some years. In December 1896, he married Mary Ellen nee Cherry whose father manufactured Cherry Churns in Gisborne. About 1907, Frank Lee grew tired of the strains of maintaining an architectural practice and decided to take up land on the newly subdivided Staughton Vale Estate midway between Geelong and Bacchus Marsh.
For a couple of years while the farm was being established Alan Lee lived in Gisborne with his mother’s family and he attended the New Gisborne State School. In 1910, he attended the Balliang State School as one of its first pupils and at the end of that year sat for examinations which led to him being awarded a scholarship worth 34 pounds a year for four years. The Bacchus Marsh Express reported that he came 7th among the list of candidates from country schools and gave credit to his teachers, Miss Gray of Staughton Vale and Mr Binge of New Gisborne.
Alan spent five years at Geelong College from February 1911 to December 1915, the first four years as a boarder and the last year as a day boy. In 1915, he was Dux of the School and won a Government Scholarship and also an Ormond College Scholarship.
He spent the next four years in Ormond College studying Medicine at the University of Melbourne and following a slightly shortened course during the war years graduated MBBS in March 1920. The next two years were spent at the Melbourne Hospital and Fairfield Infectious Diseases Hospital during which time he studied and took the MD degree. Late in 1922, he travelled to England where he studied for and passed the examinations for the FRCS Eng degree in 1924. He was elected to Fellowship of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (FRACS) in 1930.
Upon his return to Australia, in January 1926 he married Ellen Adelaide nee Rial, the daughter of a grazier with extensive interests in southern and western New South Wales. They immediately established themselves in Brisbane and three children were born there: John Francis Lee in November 1926, Robert Edward Lee in March 1928 and Barbara Mary Lee in December 1933.
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In addition to his developing expertise in surgery particularly in the field of abdominal surgery he had extensive interests in medico-political affairs. Of special importance was his relationship with the Australian Medical Association and with the emerging field of health insurance which led to his appointment as the first Chairman of the Queensland Executive Committee of the Medical Benefits Fund of Australia a position he held until his death.
He died of a heart attack in Melbourne on 3 May, 1963 while addressing an Australian Medical Association Conference on matters concerning Voluntary Health Insurance.
Following Alan Lee’s death in 1963, prominent Australian artist, Sir William Dargie was commissioned to paint his portrait from photographs by the Medical Benefits Fund of Queensland. The portrait was unveiled in a ceremony in Brisbane on 29 August, 1964 by Senator the Hon Harrie W Wade, the Federal Minister for Health. The portrait now hangs in the offices of the Queensland branch of the Australian Medical Association.
The following is an extract from an obituary published after his death:
Alan Edward Lee, MB BS MD FRCS FRACS, was born in Neutral Bay, Sydney on 14 September 1897. His father, Francis Charles Belton Lee grew up in Gisborne, Victoria but as a young man he moved to Sydney with a number of his siblings and after studying architecture practiced there for some years. In December 1896, he married Mary Ellen nee Cherry whose father manufactured Cherry Churns in Gisborne. About 1907, Frank Lee grew tired of the strains of maintaining an architectural practice and decided to take up land on the newly subdivided Staughton Vale Estate midway between Geelong and Bacchus Marsh.
For a couple of years while the farm was being established Alan Lee lived in Gisborne with his mother’s family and he attended the New Gisborne State School. In 1910, he attended the Balliang State School as one of its first pupils and at the end of that year sat for examinations which led to him being awarded a scholarship worth 34 pounds a year for four years. The Bacchus Marsh Express reported that he came 7th among the list of candidates from country schools and gave credit to his teachers, Miss Gray of Staughton Vale and Mr Binge of New Gisborne.
Alan spent five years at Geelong College from February 1911 to December 1915, the first four years as a boarder and the last year as a day boy. In 1915, he was Dux of the School and won a Government Scholarship and also an Ormond College Scholarship.
He spent the next four years in Ormond College studying Medicine at the University of Melbourne and following a slightly shortened course during the war years graduated MBBS in March 1920. The next two years were spent at the Melbourne Hospital and Fairfield Infectious Diseases Hospital during which time he studied and took the MD degree. Late in 1922, he travelled to England where he studied for and passed the examinations for the FRCS Eng degree in 1924. He was elected to Fellowship of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (FRACS) in 1930.
Upon his return to Australia, in January 1926 he married Ellen Adelaide nee Rial, the daughter of a grazier with extensive interests in southern and western New South Wales. They immediately established themselves in Brisbane and three children were born there: John Francis Lee in November 1926, Robert Edward Lee in March 1928 and Barbara Mary Lee in December 1933.
In addition to his developing expertise in surgery particularly in the field of abdominal surgery he had extensive interests in medico-political affairs. Of special importance was his relationship with the Australian Medical Association and with the emerging field of health insurance which led to his appointment as the first Chairman of the Queensland Executive Committee of the Medical Benefits Fund of Australia a position he held until his death.He died of a heart attack in Melbourne on 3 May, 1963 while addressing an Australian Medical Association Conference on matters concerning Voluntary Health Insurance.
Following Alan Lee’s death in 1963, prominent Australian artist, Sir William Dargie was commissioned to paint his portrait from photographs by the Medical Benefits Fund of Queensland. The portrait was unveiled in a ceremony in Brisbane on 29 August, 1964 by Senator the Hon Harrie W Wade, the Federal Minister for Health. The portrait now hangs in the offices of the Queensland branch of the Australian Medical Association.
The following is an extract from an obituary published after his death:
'Doctor Lee was one of the leading surgeons in Queensland. He was a member of the British Medical Association and later the Australian Medical Association for 37 years; he was a Branch Councillor for 21 years, including 2 years as President and 2 years as Chairman of the Council. He was a Director of the British Medical Agency in Queensland, the Medical Finance Company and the Queensland Medical Land Investment Company, Chairman of Queensland State Committee of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, and the Visiting Staff Association of Brisbane General Hospital; Vice-Chairman of the Post-Graduate Medical Education Committee; a Member of the Queensland Radium Institute, the faculty of Medicine, the Medical Planning Committee and the Medical and Associated Professions Superannuation Fund. He was consulting surgeon to the Brisbane General Hospital and Greenslopes Repatriation Hospital and a member of the Federal Council of the British Medical Association for 18 years (1942-1959); he was the Council’s representative at the British Commonwealth Medical Conferences in Australia in 1950 and India in 1952. He was a member of the Commonwealth Health Insurance Council and was a Director of Australasian Medical Publishing Company from 1944 to 1963.
For outstanding achievements as a leader of the Medical profession, he was elected to the roll of Fellows of the British Medical Association on 20 February, 1961. He was the Australian Delegate to the World Medical Association Meeting in Berlin in 1960, was a Governing Member of the Blue Cross Association of Australia and was Vice-Chairman of the Voluntary Health Insurance Council of Australia. He helped, as a Federal Council member of the BMA to evolve a policy and plan a National Health Service which the Commonwealth Government adopted. He helped to organize Voluntary Health Insurance plans and played a prominent Australia-wide part in furthering those plans.'