Fethers, Geoffrey Ernest, LVSc 1918, BVSc 1918
GILRUTH PRIZE AWARDED TO
GEOFFREY ERNEST FETHERS
Geoff Fethers, who is now in his 83rd year, received his early education at Caulfield Grammar School, and later at Longeronong Agricultural College, Victoria. He entered the veterinary courses at the University of Melbourne in 1915. Because of the urgent need of veterinary officers in the Australian Imperial Forces the 4-year course leading to the degree of Bachelor of Veterinary Science was shortened by the elimination of some of the vacations, and Geoff graduated in August 1918. He immediately joined the Australian Army Veterinary Corps with the rank of Captain and left Australia for the Middle East, where he served in Egypt and Palestine with the Australian Light Horse until the war ended.
On his return to civilian life in 1919, he commenced practice, at first in Box Hill in partnership with the late Henry Tucker, and later on his own account in Mont Albert. this proved to be a most successful venture and he was joined in partnership with John Arnott until he decided to devote his talents to consultative and advisory work which by then occupied a great deal of his energies.
In addition to this thriving, highly successful practice, conducted at all times with due regard to a commendable standard of professional conduct, Geoff took an active part in community affairs. The following is a brief account of some of his extra mural activities. Three years ago he was honoured with special membership of the Rotary Club of Melbourne after 50 years service, including the Presidency in 1936. He served on the Council of Marcus Oldham Agricultural Farm College for 8 years, and was elected as a member of the Royal Society of Victoria in 1942. He made a significant contribution as the only veterinary member of the committee responsible for the ground-work leading to the re-establishment of veterinary teaching in the University of Melbourne in 1962. For some years he was honorary consultant to the Sir Colin MacKenzie Sanctuary at Healesville.
In addition to his strictly professional activities Geoff was associated with Herbert Jepp and E.A. Underwood in developing a flourishing business exporting dairy cattle to China, Hong Kong and Singapore and remount horses to the Dutch East Indian Government.
As if the forgoing were not enough to occupy his time, Geoff brought the veterinary profession before the public at a highly commendable level by broadcasting over national and commercial radio and more latterly over commercial television.
His contribution to the development and organisation of our profession are equally impressive. It would be no exaggeration to assert that the status and prestige of the Australian Veterinary Association as we know it today are to a significant degree due to the pioneering work carried out by Geoff Fethers in the early 1920s and subsequently, he was directly responsible for the compilation of the original Memorandum and Articles of Association which were ultimately adopted and his enthusiasm and hard work were rewarded by the birth and subsequent healthy development of the Association as it is known today.
Geoff Fethers graduated in veterinary science at a time when our profession was emerging from the horse doctor days. His attitude to his work, his insistence on an acceptable level of professional dignity and his adoption of a high code of ethics undoubtedly were important factors in helping to establish the status of the veterinary profession in the community.
The Gilruth Prize is awarded for meritorious service to veterinary science in Australia. The previous recipients of the Prize have come mainly from the ranks of research workers, administrators, and academicians. It is a matter of great significance that at last a man who devoted a large part of his professional life to veterinary practice in its strictest sense has been chosen to receive this treasured honour.
GEOFFREY ERNEST FETHERS
Dr Geoff Fethers died in Melbourne on 26 September 1988 aged 91 years after a long and notable career in the veterinary profession.
He matriculated at the age of 16 in 1913 but was too young to enter university and spent a year as a student at Longeronong Agriculture College. In 1915 he began studies in the Veterinary School at the University of Melbourne from which he graduated in August 1918 from an abbreviated course introduced because of the pressures of World War 1.
Geoff then joined the Australian Imperial Force and served as a Captain with the Light Horse in the Middle East under General Allenby; he was one of five brothers all of whom served in the AIF in the 1914-18 war and all of whom returned safely.
Geoff set up in practice in Box Hill in partnership with the late Henry Tucker in 1919. In 1924 he married and set up his own practice in Mont Albert Road, Box Hill, from which he retired in 1958. This was a very successful venture in which he was partnered by John D Arnott.
During this period of his life Geoff participated in many developments and initiated many of his own, only some of which are listed here. He was honorary secretary of the Veterinary Association of Victoria from 1924 to 1929, and president in 1932. He was a member of the Veterinary Board of Victoria from 19241939 and president from 1933 to 1939.
He founded the veterinary practitioners Society in 1940 but resigned in 1944. He campaigned strongly for and participated in the introduction of compulsory testing for eradication of tuberculosis in cattle. His practice extended all over Victoria and into South Australia, and for many of his later years he practised as a consultant in sheep and beef cattle long before that term was coined. He was also associated with Herbert Jepp and EA Underwood in a flourishing business, which exported dairy cattle to China, Hong Kong and Singapore, and horses to the Dutch East Indies.
He was a part-time lecturer in veterinary science at Dookie Agricultural College for 13 years (1927 to 1940). From 1937 to 1974 he was veterinary adviser to the Victorian Graziers Association. His weekly veterinary column in the Weekly Times appeared without missing an issue for 55 years. He was also veterinary adviser and regular columnist for the Graziers Review for 40 years, broadcast weekly on 23 commercial radio stations for 12 years and broadcast regularly on the ABC Country Hour for 8 years.
Geoff had a brief encounter with pets on live television but found the medium too difficult to manage. He also reviewed and rewrote several books including the Weekly Times Farmers Handbook (6 revisions). Many of Geoff's friends will have read his book
In education he was active in the establishment of Marcus Oldham Agricultural College and the reopening of the Melbourne Veterinary School in 1962. He was a member of the Royal Society of Victoria from 1942 to 1957, honorary adviser to the Royal Agricultural Society for 37 years from 1920 to 1957 and consultant to the Sir Colin MacKenzie Sanctuary at Healesville for some years.
In 1980 Geoff Fethers was awarded the Gilruth Prize of the AVA. The citation commented on his direct responsibility for "the compilation of the original Memorandum and Articles of Association which were ultimately adopted and his enthusiasm and hard work were rewarded by the birth and subsequent development of the Association as it is known today".
Geoff also found time from his busy practice to be involved in Melbourne Rotary Club (60 years), Freemasons for many years, a number of golf clubs and a bowling club in which he played with some distinction. Typical of the man was that he not only played golf, he also organised the construction of the Eastern Golf Club course, in 1922. He was a long time member of several city clubs.
Geoff was a very modest and generous man. Few readers of the Australian Veterinary Journal will have heard of him. Most will have no idea of the extraordinary range and depth of his participation in veterinary and public life that are catalogued briefly above. Fewer still could know that he also enjoyed a wonderful family life with his wife Nancy, who predeceased him by five years and his two sons Adrian and Julian and his daughter Judith.
This record is inadequate to express the contribution that Geoff Fethers made to the veterinary profession. He conducted himself and his practice at all times with a very high standard of professional service and personal conduct, which were a model to his colleagues. Not only was he highly respected by his fellow veterinary practitioners, but he also appeared as a happy family man and a generous and knowledgeable scientist to animal owners of all types, from pet owners to Western District graziers. His public image was one of a conservative and dependable but generous and modest man, and the veterinary profession and its reputation profited by it for the many years that Geoff Fethers served it. We mourn his passing with a very real and deep sense of loss.