Bill Newing was born in the Melbourne suburb of Essendon - his father, William, an accountant came from Glasgow and his mother, Mary Kernan, equally a Celt, from Cork. He was educated at the Christian Brothers’ College, St Kilda, and pursued his medical studies in the University of Melbourne and St Vincent’s clinical school. Soon after graduation he joined the AIF and from 1917 to 1919 saw action as a regimental medical officer and later with 6 Field Ambulance in France and Belgium.

On his return, like many future consultants of that era, he commenced general practice in Clifton Hill. During this period he contracted pulmonary tuberculosis - this illness aroused his interest in diseases of the chest, and as a consequence he proceeded to the USA to study and develop skill in recently developed techniques such as artificial pneumothorax. Subsequently, in Melbourne, he entered into partnership with Clive Fitts in a private sanatorium. The results were good and this project continued until streptomycin and other anti-tuberculous drugs made sanatoria redundant. That he had suffered from tuberculosis accounted for the empathy he had with patients and the love they bore him.

His interest in tuberculosis was not confined to his sanatorium. He was involved in wider public issues and was president of the Victorian Tuberculosis Association from its inception until a few months prior to his death. During his term of office he was largely responsible for the initiation of mass chest x-ray surveys. He was physician to inpatients at St Vincent’s from 1933 to 1952. My first recollection of him was as a student at his indoor rounds, where I was immediately impressed by his distinguished bearing and (although teaching was not his forte) by the clarity of his demonstration of clinical signs, the breadth of his knowledge and his caring attitude towards his patients. This latter attribute was well brought out by the fact that at the end of his round he would sit down at each bedside, explain to the patient his condition and allay any apprehensions.

He was not an academic - publishing little and having no involvement in research - but these deficits did not lessen his stature as a consultant and his opinion was widely sought. His association with the AAMC continued between wars, and in World War II he was promoted colonel and given command of 108 AGH - in which capacity he served until the end of the War. He played an important part in Legacy for thirty-seven years and was at one time chairman of the medical committee.

That his was a well-rounded and full life was illustrated by his sporting activites. As a youth he played league football with Essendon, and in later years was a very competent golfer and captain of Yarra Yarra. His greatest love was fly fishing at which he was expert - he sought the trout with deadly effect in Victoria and Tasmania. The garden too claimed his attention - one wonders how he found the time - and he had a reputation as a rosarian.

He had a long and happy marriage to Olivia Byrne. There were five children of the union - four daughters and one son, Richard, who is senior plastic surgeon at St Vincent’s. In conclusion he was a gentle man, a simple man and his whole philosophy could be summed up in the words he used so often in so many situations and to so many people - ‘Can I help?