Place Names Register Extract
John Hargrave Building
If you know of any information about this place name which does not appear in this extract, please let the Place Names Committee know by completing a submission form.
Print Extract | Search Again| Name | John Hargrave Building |
|---|---|
| Type Designation | Building |
| Place Id | 25073 |
| Place Type | Infrastructure |
| Status | Registered |
| Date Registered | 31 August 2022 |
| Location (Datum GDA94) | |
| Latitude: -12° 21' S (Decimal degrees -12.356163) | |
| Longitude: 130° 52' E (Decimal degrees 130.880408) | |
| View Map | View in NT Atlas | View in Google Earth | |
| Locality / Suburb | |
| Tiwi | |
| Local Government Area | |
| Darwin City Council | |
| History/Origin | John Charles Hargrave (1931-2020) was born on 26 March 1931 in Perth, Western Australia to parents Madeleine and Norman Hargrave. He was schooled at Wesley College in Perth, followed by university in Adelaide, South Australia, where he completed his Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery in 1954. In 1956 Dr Hargrave arrived in Darwin to commence his duties as a Medical Officer. Dr Hargrave was appointed to the first patrol to Lake Mackay in 1957 and reported on the nomadic Western Desert Pintupi people, whom he found to be 'well-nourished' and 'in excellent condition'. He followed this experience in 1958 with the first of many opportunities to develop his practical knowledge and skill, studying a Diploma of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene in London before returning to Darwin, where in 1959 he was appointed Medical Superintendent of the East Arm Leprosarium, an isolation site for those (primarily Aboriginal people) suffering from leprosy. Dr Hargrave is well remembered for having introduced a collaborative and respectful approach to the care of his Aboriginal patients, earning the trust of communities who had hidden signs of the disease due to the policy to segregate people with leprosy. In 1962 Dr Hargrave travelled to India on a World Health Organization (WHO) scholarship to further his understanding of leprosy and its treatment. For several months he worked alongside Dr Paul Brand, the pioneer of muscle tendon transplants. Upon his return to the NT, Dr Hargrave established a reconstructive surgery program at the East Arm Leprosarium where he and his team performed reconstructive microsurgeries to restore movement in hands and feet affected by the deformities of leprosy. The pioneering treatment program undertaken during Dr Hargrave's tenure at the Leprosarium are credited with the practical elimination of leprosy in the NT. In 1967 Dr Hargrave was recognised for his work with the award of the Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE). In 1990 Dr Hargrave extended his program of care to remote communities in East Timor and eastern Indonesia. He established the Australian South East Asia (ASEA) Rehabilitation Service to perform reconstructive surgery on untreated deformities. In 2000, after he had retired, Dr Hargrave transferred the service to the Overseas Specialist Surgical Association of Australia (OSSAA) which continues his work today. In 2007, Dr Hargrave's 'lasting contribution of an exceptional nature over a long period of time in the delivery and development of surgery for underprivileged communities' earned him the singular Royal Australasian College of Surgeons International Medal. Dr Hargrave retired in 1996; having served forty years as a doctor in the Northern Territory, he was at that time the Department of Health's longest serving employee and 'hero'. Dr Hargrave never married and had no children. His contemporaries described him as 'a living saint' and when he passed away in Hobart, Tasmania, on 6 August 2020 his contribution endured through endowments funding annual scholarships in surgery and Aboriginal health with the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons and the Menzies School of Health Research respectively. |
Register & Gazettal information
| Date | Gazettal | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| 31/08/2022 | Date added to the Register (Certified Plan - S2022/067) |