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Wyn Beasley
It is timely that Basil Hutchinson's paper on Eric Anson1 is published in the Journal at this time, because 2008 marks another milestone in a journey that may be said to have begun with Anson.
For Anson was a pioneer, one might say the pioneer of anaesthesia as a specialty in this country. In the period between the wars he secured a comprehensive training in the new specialty, then brought his expertise back to his native Wellington. As Hutchinson describes, he strove to establish a niche for specialist anaesthetists in the local College of Surgeons, then a mere 5 years old. He was a clubbable man, and would probably have become president of the Wellington Club if he had stayed in the capital (it was to be his brother Tom who came to occupy the position!)
After the Second World War, in which he served with no less distinction--if a trifle less élan --than in...