Empey, William Albert, BVSc 1918
WILLIAM ALBERT EMPEY
The Australian Veterinary Association salutes the passing of its oldest member, the remarkable Bill Empey — veterinarian, soldier, microbiologist, sportsman, family man and raconteur.
Bill Empey was born on 29 March 1896 in Rushworth, Victoria and died in Sydney on 11 November 1989. He matriculated from Wesley College, Melbourne in 1914, and graduated BVSc from the University of Melbourne in 1918. Immediately afterwards he left Australia on the same troop ship as fellow graduate Harold Albiston .
Following service in Belgium and France as Captain in the Australian Army Veterinary Corps, Bill Empey returned to Australia in 1919.
He worked in the Victorian Department of Agriculture from 1921 to January 1929, when he transferred to the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in Melbourne as the first permanent appointee to work on Food Preservation and Transport for the remainder of his working life until he retired in 1961. Bill Empey's first project was the problem of drip associated with thawing of frozen meat and fish. He showed that more drip was lost from meat when the muscle pH was low. This work is still pertinent and still cited today. It was the basis of further preventive research in the 1950's.
Recommendations to avoid squirter disease in bananas were made following studies associated with Dr EJ Goddard of the University of Queensland. With the opening of new Meat Research Laboratories and experimental cold rooms at the Brisbane Abattoir at Cannon Hill in 1932, Bill Empey moved to Queensland where he accomplished some of his most valuable work with colleague Dr WJ Scott. Their investigations into reducing microbial contamination of beef and controlling chilling and storage conditions of chilled beef laid the technical foundation for the successful export of chilled beef (as opposed to frozen beef which had lost popularity) to the United Kingdom, then Australia's most important market.
In March 1938 the food preservation research staff were brought together at Homebush Abattoir in Sydney. In 1949 Bill Empey was appointed to lead a new Fish Investigations Section. He was the first editor, and editor for 20 years, of Food Preservation Quarterly, having earlier shown his ability to present technical material to a non-specialist audience.
Although Bill Empey had played Australian Rules football and cricket for Hawthorn in Melbourne (he was credited with scoring a century in 55 minutes during one innings!), it was after his retirement that Bill's sporting prowess became more evident. He took up golf at 70 and played regularly at the Ryde/Parramatta course. Some veterinarians met him for the first time at AVA golf days, because he became an active AVA member following his retirement from CSIRO. He was a regular attender of AVA functions for more than 20 years.
He was a reliable supporter also of the Ryde RSL Sub Branch and the Ryde Ex Servicemen's Memorial Club and its President gave the eulogy at Bill's funeral on 16 November 1989.
Inter alia he said: "Bill Empey was one of nature's gentlemen. He was marvellous company with his charm and ready wit. He will be sadly missed from the weekly gathering of veterans over 70 years at the Club".