The Heaslip Bequest for Health

This is the story of Gordon Heaslip and his bequest to a medical school in South Australia to remedy the deficiencies in medical education he suffered before graduating MBBS (Adelaide) in 1929.

Born in 1902 in mid-north South Australia where the pioneering Heaslip family created an agricultural dynasty, Gordon chose to become a Methodist medical missionary. After completing medical and theological studies, Gordon and wife Barbara went to Fergusson Island in Papua.

After providing medical and spiritual care to Papuans during the depression, Gordon and Barbara returned to Adelaide where Gordon completed medical research on tropical fevers and joined the military in WW II.

After medical discharge with polycythemia vera in 1946, Gordon developed farms in Tintinara and Gilles Downs Station near Iron Knob.

Gordon died in 1961 from leukemia and polycythemia.

Flinders University received the bequest which is being applied to preventive medicine and primary health care.