Dr Patrick Francis Hunter Giles
(1927–2017)

Patrick Francis Hunter Giles was born in New Zealand, the oldest of four children. He was Dux of St Patrick’s College, Wellington, and went on to study science at Victoria University of Wellington. He then moved to Dunedin to study medicine at the University of Otago. As a junior doctor, Patrick enjoyed being sent to remote areas, one of which was Masterton Hospital (now Wairarapa Hospital) in the North Island of New Zealand. It was there he met and married Mary, then a student nurse.

Patrick began training in obstetrics and gynaecology in Dunedin. He then worked at the Royal Women’s Hospital in Melbourne from 1960–1961, before travelling to the UK for the specialist exams, where he worked in Hull, then Oxford. He returned to the Royal Women’s Hospital in Melbourne from 1964 to 1966, before moving to Perth.

In Perth, Patrick was Reader, then Associate Professor at the University of Western Australia, in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at King Edward Memorial Hospital, until his retirement in 1992. With regard to obstetrics, he was interested in the medical treatment of infertility. Patrick was devoted to his students and seemed to take a particular interest in teaching them, winning a Tutor of the Year award in 1992.

His son Philip was accidentally killed in 1969, aged 9, at a pedestrian crossing. He separated from his wife in 1983. Despite these life events, he regarded himself as having lived a fortunate life.

Patrick died peacefully aged 90. He is survived by his two daughters, Marian and Sophie, his son Adrian and his grandson Hunter.