The Journal of the St John Ambulance Historical
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‘Preserving and promoting the St John heritage’ The front cover of St John History Volume 15 displays the 2013 portrait of the Hon. Dr Neil Conn AO GCStJ, by the Sydney artist, Evert Ploeg. The painting is the official St John Ambulance Australia portrait commissioned to commemorate the two triennia that Dr Conn served as the Chancellor of the Priory in Australia of the Most Venerable Order of St John, 2007–2013. The Priory customarily commissions portraits of its Chancellors as they approach the end of their period in office. The portraits have then been displayed in the various headquarters buildings the Priory has occupied, where they form an important part of the Priory Heritage Collection. The collection now includes seven such portraits, one of each of the eight distinguished Australians who have served as Chancellor in the seven decades since the Priory was established in 1946. On 24 June 2014, Dr Conn formally assumed office as the Lord Prior of the Order, that is, the Order’s principal administrative officer and its third most senior member after the Sovereign Head and the Grand Prior. He thus became the first Australian to hold this key position. The speech that Dr Conn delivered during his Lord Prior’s installation ceremony at the Priory Church of St John in Clerkenwell, London, on 5 November 2014 is the leading article for this edition of St John History. The Conn portrait now hangs in the Australian Office of St John Ambulance Australia at 10 Campion Street, Deakin, Australian Capital Territory, where it has joined the portraits of previous Chancellors. St John History THE JOURNAL OF THE ST JOHN AMBULANCE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF AUSTRALIA ISSN 1445-7490 St John History Volume 15 VOLUME 15, 2015 i ‘Preserving and promoting the St John heritage’ St John History is the annual ournal of the Historical Society, and is provided gratis to all financial members of the Society. Correspondence about articles in the journal should be directed to the Editor, Dr an Howie W illis. Volumes 1–14 of St John History are available online at the St John Ambulance Australia national website stohn.org.auabout click on History. nformation about the Historical Society may be obtained from the eecutive officers President Dr Allan Mawdsley Treasurer Mr Gary Harris mawdsley melbpc.org.au garylharris optusnet.com.au Secretary Mr James Cheshire Editor Dr an Howie W illis jmmc cheshire.net.au iwillis oe mail.com.au Deputy Secretary Dr Edith hangure edith.khangureambulance.net.au Q ueries about membership and distribution of the Journal should be sent to the State Territory embership Officers Overseas and Australian Capital Territory South Australia Dr an Howie W illis Dr rian otheringham Priory Librarian Chair, St John Historical Society of SA St John Ambulance Australia St John Ambulance Australia SA PO o 22, Deakin est ACT 20 8 5 Edmund Avenue, nley SA 5066 iwillis oe mail.com.au brian foth.net.au New South ales Tasmania s Loredana apoli Ms oy Cowie I nformation Management Coordinator Chief ecutive Officer St John Ambulance Australia S St John Ambulance Australia Tas 9 Deane Street, urwood NS 2134 57 Sunderland Street loredana napoli stjohnnsw.com.au Moonah TAS 7009 roy .cowie stjohn.org.au Northern Territory Mrs Dawn at Victoria Historical Society Membership Secretary Mr Gary Harris PO o 72, Nyah V C 3594 Historical Society embership Officer rs at’s ictorian postal address St John Ambulance Australia ic nc. belfryvic bigpond.com PO o 573, Mount averley V C 3149 garylharris optusnet.com.au Q ueensland Ms eth Dawson W estern Australia Chair, History and Heritage Committee Dr Edith hangure St John Ambulance Australia ld Librarian and Archivist PO o 14, ortitude alley LD 400 St John Ambulance Australia A nc. beth.dawson stjohnqld.com.au PO o 1 3, elmont A 6194 edith.khangureambulance.net.au St John Ambulance Australia, ational Office PO o 22, Deakin est, ACT 200 10 Campion Street, Deakin, ACT 200 stjohn.org.au about St John History Proceedings of the St John Ambulance Historical Society of Australia Volume 15, 2014–2015 Editor an Howie W illis Historical Advisor, St John Ambulance Australia Contents Introduction St John History, about Volume 15, 2014–2015 1 Lord Prior’s installation speech The ederation of One St John, N e i onn 2 Papers of the Society’s 2014 History Seminar, Perth, Western Australia 6 H rry xe r The early nights of St John in Spain. An Odyssey. 7 D a i d a h y Eponymous stretchers. Stretchers named after their inventors. 13 B ri n oth rin h m The et raordinary life of Algernon Sheppard indsay, 20 South Australia s inaugural St John Commissioner. G a ry H rris Sir James Cantlie. Author and editor of the Mar I I I ’ series of 29 St John Ambulance first aid manuals. I a n Ho i - W i l is Sir John urley. A forgotten St John Ambulance founding father’ . 34 V in nt itt e St John Ambulance teaching and the Australian ep erience 46 of snae bite. J l l a n M a w d s e y Sir illiam Clarke, the first President of St John Ambulance 53 in Australia. T r v or a yh w St Johnnies who served with the oyal Australian Air orce. 61 M a r N e w ton n The Most Venerable Order of St John s it really a Christian 73 I a n Ho i - W i l is organisation R o e rt e a r The Joint ar Organisation of the ritish ed Cross and 8 0 the Most Venerable Order of St John. John H e a rn Semiotics and St John colours as symbols of service. 8 5 T i othy i l a n Challenge coins and St John Ambulance numismatics in 93 Papua New Guinea. Occasional papers B r ce a s a ke The St John Historical Tour, May–June 2014. 96 E d ith h n u r The St John Ambulance Historical Society of Australia 99 a preliminary history. J l l a n M a w d s e y Owen eresford illiams MC StJ 1 8 5–1963 . A St John 101 benefactor. Reports from the State and territory branches of the Historical Society The Priory and Australian Capital Territory, an Howie W illis. 105 St John Ambulance Archives New South ales, etty Stirton. 106 Northern Territory St John Ambulance Historical Committee, Dawn at. 107 The History and Heritage Committee, ueensland, eth Dawson. 10 St John Historical Society of South Australia, rian otheringham. 109 St John Ambulance Historical Society of Victoria, Shirley Moon. 112 The an aye Eddie Heritage Centre, estern Australia, Edith hangure. 113 Introduction St John History: about Volume 15, 2015 This edition of St John History is a major milestone in the life of its publisher, the St John Ambulance Historical Society of Australia. hy major’ ? irst, as the Editor through all its 15 editions, did not imagine when compiled and edited the first that it might last so long or become so widely read. or did I guess that so many talented historians would wish to contribute and that their contributions would be so diverse. Second, when Volume appeared in 2002 it was an unpretentious little 20 page production of four articles only. W hen we compare that with Volume 15, which ece eds 100 pages and carries 16 articles and seven reports, we can appreciate the point that St John History has not only grown appreciably but is a journal that has greatly stimulated historical research into the Order of St John and its various health and welfare delivering services. Some 250 journal articles across 15 editions represents a hugely productive, continuing research effort sponsored by St John Ambulance Australia through the Historical Society. A third reason is that the owon effect of all those articles has been to heighten St John members’ awareness of their own institutional history. To what et ent that might persuade them to recommit themselves to the objectives of the Order of St John and its oundations is uncertain however, the rise of St John History as a national forum for the sharing of historical information suggests that, through this ournal, the Historical Society is successfully fulfilling its primary function, which is epressed in its informal motto of preserving and promoting the St John heritage . The fourth, major, reason why Volume 15 is a milestone is that it acn owledges the achievement of a great servant of the Ordert he Honourable Dr Neil Conn AO GCStJ. n 2014 Dr Conn, the immediate past Chancellor of St John Ambulance Australia, succeeded to the position of ord Prior of the Order, the most senior appointment after that of the Sovereign Head and the Grand Prior, respectively Q ueen liabeth and her first cousin Prince ichard Duke of loucester. Dr Conn is the first Australian appointee to the position, the duties of which entail being the worldwide administrative head of the Order under the ord Prior. St John History congratulates the ord Prior on his appointment and wishes him well in what is certainly the most demanding of all positions within the Order. n acn owledging his achievement, Volume 15 starts by publishing the speech he delivered at his installation ceremony on 5 November 2014. St John History is also delighted to be able to display Dr Conn’s official portrait on the front cover of this edition. The portrait, by the artist Evert Ploeg, was commissioned to commemorate Dr Conn s achievements in his si years as the Australian Chancellor of the Order 2007–13.