John Gilruth FRSE MRCVS

Appointed: 25 March 1912 to 1 August 1919

Date of birth: 17 February 1871

Place of birth: Auchmithie near Arbroath, Forfar, Scotland

Parents: Andrew Gilruth and Ann (née Anderson) - farmers

Education

• Arbroath High School
• High School of Dundee
• Glasgow Veterinary College
• Pasteur Institute, Paris

Spouse: Jeannie McLean (née McLay) – married 20 March 1899

Children: 1 son and 2 daughters

Employment history

• 1885 to 1886 - Law Clerk
• 1893 to 1896 - Government Veterinary Surgeon, New Zealand
• 1897 to 1908 - Chief Veterinarian and Government Bacteriologist, New Zealand
• 1900 – Member of the Royal Commission on Public Health, New Zealand
• 1901 – Pathologist at the new Department of Public Health
• 1908 to 1912 – Foundation chair of veterinary pathology at the University of Melbourne
• 1911 - Member of a scientific mission to investigate the potential of the NT led by Professor Baldwin Spencer
• 1912 - first Administrator of the Commonwealth of Australia's Northern Territory

Qualifications, appointments and admissions

• 1887 - Veterinary Science (Glasgow Veterinary College)
• 1896 - Bacteriology (Pasteur Institute, Paris)
• 1892 - Member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, London
• 1902 - Honorary member of the British Medical Association

Honours and awards

• 1892 - Member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, London
• 1907 - Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE)
• 1909 - Honorary Doctorate of Veterinary Science (University of Melbourne)

Subsequent career

• 1919 to 1929 - Private Consultant
• 1929 to 1935 – Consultant for Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (later CSIRO)
• 1930 to 1935 - Chief for Division of Animal Health
• 1933 to 1936 - President and honorary member of Australian Veterinary Association

Memorials

• Gilruth Plains Research Station, Queensland
• Gilruth Prize, Australian Veterinary Association
• Gilruth Avenue, Darwin (earlier known as Gilruth's Neck)