Rudduck, Harold Sugden, GMVC 1894

Captain Harold Sugden Rudduck, Australian Army Veterinary Corps (11 September, 1916 - 4 January, 1917) and was also listed in the Boer War Nominal Roll.  He was a member of the notable family (3 brothers, one of whom Peter was also a veterinarian) that established a company that produced and sold a wide array of veterinary preparations, including vaccines for large and small animals. 

Born in Wiltshire, England on 8 September, 1873, Harold migrated with his  family to Victoria where he was educated at Melbourne Church of England Grammar School, Longerenong Agricultural College and Melbourne Veterinary College.  He graduated GMVC in 1894.  He set up his own practice in Queen Street, Melbourne.  Soon after, he started manufacturing and selling products for animal health.  In 1900 he enlisted as a Captain in the 2nd Contingent of the Victorian Mounted Rifles, later commanding the Pietersburg Veterinary Field Hospital.  Before returning to his practice in Melbourne, he completed diplomas from King’s College, London, and the (Royal) Sanitary Institute.  He also toured Europe and North America, visiting veterinary and bacteriological establishments.  In 1905, Harold published a 73-page book, “The Diseases of Australian Stock, Their Prevention and Treatment”.  Having remained a reserve officer, he was recalled to serve with the AAVC in 1916.

Returning to open a dispensary in Lonsdale Street, Harold manufactured and sold patent medicines, surgical instruments and vaccines, including the first for pulpy kidney disease and contagious abortion.  He established Rudduck & Co Pty Ltd with his five sons, 2 of which were veterinarians, Harold Jr and Geoffrey, who – as Dr Peter - was the first television vet on Channel 7’s Happy Hammond show in the 1960s.  In the 1930s, Harold established a practice in Moorabbin, which he called the “Veterinary Service Station”.  It was a large (7 acres) hospital and boarding facility, catering to all species and said to provide ‘sympathetic and scientific’ care by a staff of experts.  An ambulance was available to meet trains at the Moorabbin Station.  His brother, Peter, did the large animal work while ‘Bert’ did the small animals.

At various times, Harold was also veterinarian to the Williamstown Racing Club, a meat inspector for the Brighton Town Council, and a consultant to the Metropolitan Board of Works farm at Werribee, the Melbourne Zoological Gardens and the Australian Government on beef export trade to England.  In later years, Harold was living in Narbethong.  He died in Bentleigh on 8 May, 1964.  He was survived by his second wife, Constance Alice Jean Noonan, and five sons from his first marriage.