Rupert Walter Hornabrook, born in 1871, was the first physician in Australia to devote his medical practice solely to anaesthesia. He was appointed to the Royal Melbourne Hospital in 1909, after an adventurous earlier career which ranged from service in plague hospitals in India to the Boer War in South Africa.
Hornabrook was a colourful character whose work in anaesthesia included popularizing the use of the ethyl chloride-ether sequence in the early 1900s, when chloroform and closed inhalers were the norm. He was also a vigorous campaigner for the recognition of anaesthesia as a branch of medicine in its own right.
WilsonG.One Grand Chain. The History of Anaesthesia in Australia 1846–1962 Volume 1, 1846–1934.Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists1995; 223–234.
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HornabrookR.W.Some anaesthetic notes being the result of experience in the Royal Australian Navy, with some observations on a recent discussion on anaesthesia. Med J Aust1914; 1: 559–561.
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HornabrookR.W.Open ethyl chloride anaesthesia for minor operations and as a preliminary to open anaesthesia. Australasian Medical Gazette1911; 660–664.
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HornabrookR.W.Hints on general anaesthesia. Australasian Medical Gazette1910; 666–670.
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Anon.The late Dr RW Hornabrook. The Australian Journal of Dentistry1951; 305–309.
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HornabrookR.W.Some of the difficulties the anaesthetist has to contend against. Aust Med J1914; 1559.
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HornabrookR.W.A plea for the more considerate treatment of patient and anaesthetist by the surgeon. Aust Med J1913; 1009–1012.
8.
WilsonG.One Grand Chain. The History of Anaesthesia in Australia 1844–1962. Vol. 11846–1934. Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists, Melbourne, 1995.
9.
HornabrookR.W.Anaesthetic and other notes. Med J Aust1918; 8: 143–146.
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HornabrookR.W.Chloroform anaesthesia. Med J Aust1932; 438–444.
