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Thomas Walter Lipscomb (1875–1947)

We announce with regret the death on Nov. 19, 1947, at the age of 72, of Dr. Thomas Walter Lipscomb, chairman of the Australasian Medical Publishing Company, Limited, and former president of the New South Wales Branch Council of the B.M.A.

Thomas Walter Lipscomb was born in 1875, the son of William Griffin Lipscomb, of Maitland, New South Wales. Australia. He qualified M.B., M.Ch. at Sydney, and went into general practice at Leichhardt in Sydney in 1902. He was a foundation Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons. Lipscomb's interests were largely surgical, and in 1903 he was appointed to the surgical staff of Lewisham Hospital, Sydney, where he was for many years the senior surgeon. In 1920 he retired from general practice and gave up his time entirely to consultant surgical work. Lipscomb was a man who took a warm interest in all professional matters and gave sterling service to the many causes he had at heart. He was a member of the New South Wales Branch Council from 1913 to 1931, and its President in 1922-3. He took ;i prominent part in 1913 in negotiations with the friendly societies of New South Wales, and represented the New South Wales Branch at the Annual Representative Meetings. He was one of the joint honorary secretaries of the third session of the Australasian Medical Congress (B.M.A.) held in Sydney in 1929. Lipscomb took a leading part in the organization of postgraduate education and was chairman of the New South Wales Post-Graduate Committee in Medicine from 1939 to 1944; for many years he was a member of the Board of the Prince Henry Hospital while it was functioning as a post-graduate teaching hospital; he was also a member of the Federal Council of the B.M.A. in Australia.

For over 25 years Lipscomb was closely associated with the Australasian Medical Publishing Company, responsible among many other things for the publication of the Medical Journal of Australia. He was also chairman of the Board of Directors of The Maitland Merciury, a daily paper owned by his family. Lipscomb was rightly, very proud of the activities of the Australasian Medical Publishing Company, which has always maintained the highest standard. He was a man of the greatest probity and always spoke his mind simply and clearly yet without aggression. As recently as September last year he was present at the meeting of the World Medical Association in Paris. Lipscomb had a warm affection for England, and he will be missed by the many friends he had here. Of his family of seven, three sons qualified in medicine at the University of Sydney, and two of them are now practising in England.

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Citation details

'Lipscomb, Thomas Walter (1875–1947)', Obituaries Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://oa.anu.edu.au/obituary/lipscomb-thomas-walter-22450/text32153, accessed 28 March 2024.

© Copyright Obituaries Australia, 2010-2024

Life Summary [details]

Birth

1875
Maitland, New South Wales, Australia

Death

19 November, 1947 (aged ~ 72)
Keswick, Cumberland, England

Cultural Heritage

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