Herbert Rawson
Herbert Dick Rawson FRCS(Ed) FRACS
General and Vascular Surgeon
26 April 1924 – 23 June 2018
Dick was born at the family home in Kilbirnie, Wellington, to Jack, a general practitioner, and Gladys. He was the second of four children - Evelyn, Beatrice and Bruce. Dick commenced school at Eastern Hutt School and, successfully completing a proficiency examination, gained entry to Wellesley College. When he was 12 years old his father died suddenly leaving Gladys to raise the family. As a consequence of his father’s death, and on a hardship scholarship, Dick was sent as a boarder to Christ’s College in Christchurch for some male influence. While bullying of junior boarders was the norm at that time, Dick’s musical talents became evident as he commenced playing the piano and participated in the Chapel Choir. He was a very capable gymnast becoming a member of the Gym-eight.
Strongly influenced by his father’s choice of career and sister Evelyn’s commencing medical training, Dick gained entry to Otago University Medical School in 1942. During this time the family lived in Dunedin and Dick was strongly motivated to study to avoid being enlisted for the army. However, there was time to enjoy participation with the University Dramatic Society. Sadly, Evelyn died in a horse accident during her final year at medical school.
Completing his MB ChB in 1947, Dick worked as a house surgeon at Wellington Hospital. In 1949, working his passage as ship’s surgeon, he travelled to Sydney to commence study for his FRACS before returning to Rawene in the Hokianga District for four months general practice to meet his medical bursary obligations. While there he mastered basic Maori. In 1950, in common with many other aspiring surgeons, he travelled to the United Kingdom to obtain surgical training, securing positions at Whipps Cross Hospital, St Andrew’s Hospital, Essex and then Edinburgh – where he obtained his FRCS(Ed). During 1952 he worked as a surgical registrar at Southampton General Hospital. The next year Doug Short, who had worked in Edinburgh with Dick, recommended he apply for the position he was vacating, as Assistant Medical Superintendent at Nelson Hospital.
Taking up employment at Nelson Hospital Dick covered an extended range of general surgery which included urology, ENT, acute orthopaedic surgery, and emergency Caesarean sections. When Dr Low retired in 1955, Dick was appointed to a visiting consultant position providing him the opportunity to become involved in private practice, while continuing his public hospital work. He also became FRACS at that time. From an early stage he specialised in vascular surgery and continued that alongside his wide range of general surgery throughout his 34 year career at Nelson Hospital, as well as in his private practice and operating sessions at Manuka Street Hospital. A younger colleague who operated with Dick over the years felt a quote from a surgical journal in 2014, also fitted his own experience of Dick: 'His operations were swift without being hurried...he was calm... He had a plan for every circumstance.’ He maintained this role, assisting in the provision of a one in three roster, until his retirement from full-time clinical practice in 1995.
Dick had first experienced a taste of surgical locum work in Nuie in 1978 when he had taken his family with him. On retirement from Nelson Hospital he spent some years undertaking surgical locums throughout New Zealand and in Apia and Rarotonga. In 1987 Dick volunteered for a term with Medecins Sans Frontieres in Sri Lanka, this proving a profoundly moving experience, during which he was ambushed and dealt with horrific war injuries.
At the time Dick commenced work in Nelson, the “cold war” dominated international relationships and with the New Zealand government providing a subsidised pilot training programme, Dick took to the air with enthusiasm, learning to fly tiger moths and Auster planes. Hiring a plane for three pounds an hour, and with no extra cost for parking at regional airports, Dick and friends enjoyed air travel to places such as Christchurch, Wellington and Farewell Spit. When Dick’s mother suffered a broken ankle in the late 1950s he met her delightful physiotherapist, Sally Reid, and they married in 1958. Their first child, Jane, was born in 1960 and their second, Tom in 1961. The Rawson family was completed in 1965 with the arrival of quads - John, Anne, Mary and Peter. Despite Dick and Sally’s efforts to retain privacy for the family, this event created national and international interest. With four infants demanding attention, it was necessary to employ Karitane nurses to assist with their care during the first few years. A considerably larger house became a necessity and the family moved to Scotland Street, where there was sufficient garden with trees, for the building of tree houses, and the accommodation of a variety of pets, which included pigeons, mice, guinea pigs and a goat in addition to the traditional cats and dogs. Holidays were spent at the family bach at Marahau, which provided a base for tramping in the Abel Tasman National Park, fishing in Tasman Bay and wind surfing. In 1982 Sally developed aggressive cancer and died within a short time and within two years the quads had left home for tertiary education.
With a love of music and acting, Dick joined the Nelson Repertory Society soon after his arrival in Nelson. He continued this throughout his life and, while working as a locum for six months in Gisborne towards the end of his medical career, gained media attention through a stage performance in the role of Lord Chancellor in Iolanthe. Dick was a member of Nelson Civic Choir and a foundation Member of the National Male Choir of New Zealand in 2000, enjoying a month-long tour of Wales and the UK including appearances on BBC TV. While tramping had been a life-long pleasure, on retirement Dick became an avid solo cyclist covering many thousands of kilometres in numerous countries – including an extended period in Europe when he carried a tent for accommodation.
Dick was passionate about researching his family history and became an active member of the Nelson Historical Society, developing an interest in researching Nelson medical history. He joined the Nelson Alliance Francaise learning to speak French over coffee and cake and this provided the opportunity to participate in an immersion programme in France for a month, to hone his skills. An enthusiastic and creative gardener he enrolled in an Otago University geology course and became involved in field trips in Otago.
Very committed to and supportive of his family, Dick was the dearly loved husband of the late Sally and the much-loved father of Jane, Tom, John, Annie, Mary and Peter and grandad of nine grandchildren.
This obituary was prepared with the assistance of Mary and John Rawson and Mr Harvey Morgan FRACS.