The Lord Porritt | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Porritt in his uniform,c. 1970 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 11th Governor-General of New Zealand | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 1 December 1967 – 7 September 1972 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Monarch | Elizabeth II | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | Keith Holyoake Jack Marshall | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | The Lord Ballantrae | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Sir Denis Blundell | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2nd Chairman of the British Empire and Commonwealth Games Federation | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 1950–1966 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Sir James Leigh-Wood | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Sir Alexander Ross | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal details | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1900-08-10)10 August 1900 Wanganui, New Zealand | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 1 January 1994(1994-01-01) (aged 93) London, England | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alma mater | University of Otago Magdalen College, Oxford | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Profession | Surgeon | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Military service | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Allegiance | United Kingdom | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Branch/service | British Army | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years of service | 1940–1956 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rank | Colonel | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Battles/wars | Second World War | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Awards | Officer of the Order of the British Empire Officer of the Legion of Merit (United States) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sports career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 187 cm (6 ft 2 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 74 kg (163 lb) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Athletics | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Event | Sprint | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | University of Oxford AC Achilles Club | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sports achievements and titles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personalbest(s) | 100 yd – 9.8 (1923) 200 m – 21.5 (1925)[1][2] | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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ColonelArthur Espie Porritt, Baron Porritt,Bt, GCMG, GCVO, CBE, KStJ, FRCS[3] (10 August 1900 – 1 January 1994) was a New Zealandphysician,military surgeon, statesman and athlete. He won a bronze medal at the1924 Summer Olympics in the100 m sprint. He served as the 11thgovernor-general of New Zealand from 1967 to 1972, becoming the first New Zealand-born person to hold the office.
Porritt was born inWhanganui, New Zealand, the son of Ivy Elizabeth Porritt (née McKenzie) and Ernest Edward Porritt, a doctor. His mother died in 1914 during his first year at theWanganui Collegiate School, and his father left soon after to serve in World War I. He became a keen athlete.
In 1920 Porritt began studying towards a medical degree at theUniversity of Otago where he was a resident atSelwyn College and President of the Selwyn College Students' Association. In 1923 Porritt was awarded aRhodes Scholarship, and he studied medicine from 1924 to 1926 atMagdalen College, Oxford.[4]
Porritt represented New Zealand at the1924 Summer Olympics in Paris, France,[5] where he won a bronze medal in the100 metre dash;[1] the winner wasHarold Abrahams (1899–1978). The race took place at 7 pm on 7 July 1924. Abrahams and Porritt dined together at 7 pm on 7 July every year thereafter, until Abrahams' death. The race was later immortalised in the filmChariots of Fire, but due to Porritt's modesty his name was changed to "Tom Watson".[6] He also won two qualifying races in the200 m, but did not advance in the semi-final. Porritt was captain of the New Zealand team at the1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam but withdrew from the100 m because of an injury.[1]
Porritt is only one of two people to have the rare honour of twice being theNew Zealand flag bearer at Olympic Games, the other beingLes Mills.[7]
After retirement from athletics, Porritt was New Zealand's team manager at the1934 British Empire Games in London and1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin.[1] Porritt was theNew Zealand member of theInternational Olympic Committee from 1934 until he was appointed governor-general in 1967.[8] He was the first President of theIOC Medical Commission and served from 1961 to 1967.
Porritt served as chairman of the British Empire and Commonwealth Games Federation from the1950 Auckland games to the1966 Kingston games.[9]
Porritt became a house surgeon atSt Mary's Hospital, London, in 1926 and later that year was appointed surgeon to thePrince of Wales, the future King Edward VIII.
On 8 March 1940, Porritt was commissioned alieutenant in theRoyal Army Medical Corps with the service number 125494.[3] He served in France untilthe evacuation from Dunkirk, then inEgypt, operating on seriously wounded soldiers from theNorth African campaign, and later landing inNormandy onD-Day. A war-substantive major by February 1943, he was granted the temporary rank of lieutenant colonel and the acting rank of colonel later that year; on 18 December 1943, he was appointed a consultant surgeon with the local rank ofbrigadier.[10][11] He relinquished this position and his brigadier's rank on 1 September 1945, by which time he was a war-substantive lieutenant colonel.[12] He ended his military career in September 1956, with the honorary rank of colonel in theTerritorial Army.[13]
Porritt was King's Surgeon toGeorge VI from 1946 to 1952, and wasSerjeant Surgeon toQueen Elizabeth II until 1967.[6]
In 1955 Porritt was called toEastbourne by the suspectedserial killerJohn Bodkin Adams, to operate on his patient Jack Hullett forcolon cancer. The operation was a moderate success but the death of Hullett under Adams' supervision a few months later followed soon after by the death of his wifeBobby, led to Adams being put on trial for Bobby's murder in 1957. He was acquitted but is suspected in up to 163 deaths.[14]
Porritt was twice president of theHunterian Society (once in 1951) and became president in 1960 of both theBritish Medical Association and theRoyal College of Surgeons of England, the first person to hold the two positions simultaneously, and retained the presidency of the RCS until 1963.[6]
In 1966 Porritt was elected president for two years of theRoyal Society of Medicine but served only one year before leaving for New Zealand.
Porritt was appointed anOfficer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1943,[10] and promoted to Commander (CBE) in 1945.[15] He was decorated as an Officer of the USLegion of Merit on 14 November 1947.[16] He was appointed aKnight Commander of the Order of Saint Michael and Saint George (KCMG) in 1950,[17] and was promoted to Knight Grand Cross (GCMG) in 1967. In 1957 he was appointed aKnight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (KCVO),[18] being promoted to Knight Grand Cross (GCVO) in 1970.[19] He was also made a Knight of theOrder of St John of Jerusalem (KStJ) in 1957.[20]
Porritt was created aBaronet of Hampstead on 25 January 1963.[6][21] When he was elevated to be aLife Peer on 5 February 1973, he chose to honour his home town and was createdBaron Porritt, of Wanganui in New Zealand and of Hampstead in Greater London.[22]
In 1967 Porritt returned to New Zealand to be appointed by the Queen on the advice of Prime MinisterKeith Holyoake as the 11thGovernor-General of New Zealand, and the first to be born in New Zealand.[6] His term marked a turning point in the country's constitutional history: his successors have all been New Zealanders (although one of his predecessors,Lord Freyberg, moved to New Zealand when he was two).[23] An earlier Gallup poll for theAuckland Star newspaper found 43 per cent of respondents preferred Britons for the role, while 41 per cent favoured New Zealanders and 6 per cent candidates from other Commonwealth countries.[23] Newspapers at the time welcomed the appointment, theGreymouth Star saying that it was "an acknowledgement of New Zealand's maturity."[23]
Prior to the1969 general election in September of that year, Porritt sparked a heated debate with a Labour candidateEddie Isbey when he argued in a speech to theSouthern Cross Medical Care Society that the welfare state was "uneconomic".[24]
Later, Porritt's wife also created controversy, when she replied to a question on equal pay for women by stating: "Perhaps when New Zealand, like India and Israel, produces a woman prime minister it will be time to call a halt to the emancipation movement".[24]
At his lastWaitangi Day speech in 1972, Porritt caused more controversy by stating that: "Maori-Pakeha relationships are being dealt with adequately through the biological process of intermarriage."[24]
At the end of his term in September 1972 Porritt returned to England.
InChristchurch, New Zealand, a park was named Porritt Park in the suburb ofWainoni. The park surrounded by theAvon River / Ōtākaro became home to Canterbury Hockey, Canterbury Rowing, Canterbury Touch Rugby and also used as a venue for Cricket. Porritt Primary School in Napier opened in 1975, named in honour of his service to New Zealand. He has also a dedication of a running track in Hamilton, New Zealand named Porritt Stadium.
Porritt was initiated in Oxford University'sApollo University Lodge No. 357 on 13 June 1925, and later joined otherEnglish Constitution lodges, including Sancta Maria Lodge No. 2682 (a medical practitioners' lodge), Prince of Wales's Lodge No. 259 (a so-called 'red apron' lodge as it nominates one of the 19 Grand Stewards each year, who wear red aprons), and Royal Alpha Lodge No. 16 (membership of which is at the personal invitation of theGrand Master).
During his term as Governor-General (1968–1971), Porritt served as Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of New Zealand.[25]
Lord Porritt died in London at the age of 93 on 1 January 1994.[1] and his wife died in 1998.
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| Government offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Governor-General of New Zealand 1967–1972 | Succeeded by |
| Professional and academic associations | ||
| Preceded by | President of theBritish Medical Association 1960–1961 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | President of theRoyal College of Surgeons of England 1960–1963 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | President of the Royal Society of Medicine 1966–1967 | Succeeded by |
| Baronetage of the United Kingdom | ||
| New creation | Baronet (of Hampstead) 1963–1994 | Succeeded by |
