John Flynn Research Paper
JOHN FLYNN 1880-1951
John Flynn, who was one of the best renowned Australian Presbyterian ministers, was the creator of the Royal Flying Doctor Service. He was a Presbyterian minister posted to Beltana in South Australia from 1911 and was made the first superintendent of the Australian Inland Mission in the following year. Since then, Flynn’s work continued throughout the outback in many ways until his death in 1951.Flynn lived in the outback for most of his life, setting up hostels and bush hospitals for miners, road workers, railwaymen and other settlers.
John Flynn was born in the gold rush town of Moliagul on the 25th November 1880, as the third child to Thomas and Rosetta Flynn. It is said that Flynn’s later interest in bringing medical …show more content…
help to isolated areas was partly the result of his mother’s early death when he was only three.
By the time Flynn had graduated from University High School in 1898, he knew that, whatever he did, he wanted to be of service to the public. He had worked as a schoolteacher and became interested in first aid. However, soon he realised that teaching was not exactly what he wanted to do so he decided, in 1903, that he would train to become a Presbyterian minister.
After Flynn had become a Presbyterian minister in 1911, he was asked by the Presbyterian Church to travel throughout the central and northern areas of Australia in order to prepare a report on the conditions of the people who live there and how the church might help them.
The report Flynn wrote, entitled “Northern Territory and Central Australia: A Call to the Church”, had a big influence on the church. Affected by the report, the members of the Presbyterian Church decided to set up a special organisation called the Australian Inland Mission (AIM) to look after the needs of the people of the outback, and they chose Flynn as its …show more content…
head.
Starting with only one nurse, after five years of hard work 23 women were working in Flynn’s nursing hostels. They gradually created a sense of safety in the outback, although Flynn realised that life remained dangerous in the outback. He had faced two big problems in his idea of taking service to where it was needed, which were poor communication systems and uncertain transport. To address this problem, a man called Clifford Peel, a member of the new Australian Flying Corps and one of the people who read John’s magazine “The Inlander”, suggested that aeroplanes could be used to take doctors to isolated people who needed service in 1917. Unfortunately, Clifford was killed on a flying mission in 1918.
Flynn then began a campaign to raise money to buy an aircraft for Clifford’s ideas to work. On 17th May 1928, the Aerial Medical Service of the AIM made its first flight from the town of Cloncurry in Queensland to Julia Creek.
Even though it was successful for bringing medical service for people in the outback, there was one problem remaining; how could people who lived far away from the Cloncurry base call for help? In 1926, he met a man called Alf Traeger, who shared his desire to bring two-way wireless to the outback. By June 1929, a pedal radio was installed at Augustus Down cattle station in Queensland. This provided the link between patient, hospital and the Aerial Medical Service, making it available to deliver proper medical service to all parts of the outback to the people in need for it.
In 1932, John Flynn married the secretary of the AIM, Jean Blanch Baird. Soon in 1933, his work was recognised and he was awarded an Order of the British Empire. He was also awarded honorary of doctorates by the University of Toronto and McGill University, both in Canada. In 1934, the government announced that they will officially support the Aerial Medical Service and provided some of the money Flynn needed in order to make its service completely operational. In 1939, the Presbyterian Church of Australia gave its highest honour to Flynn to the role of Moderator-General.
In 1942, the name of the organisation was changed to the Flying Doctor Service and later, in 1954, it became known as the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS).
The RFDS has continued successfully through the years, providing a valuable medical service to people in the outback. John Flynn died in 1951 of cancer in Sydney, his remains buried at Mt Gillen in Alice Springs. His contribution to the aviation industry and his extraordinary idea to combine medicine, aviation and radio has created a true social revolution across the outback of Australia. He has become the most famous and significant Presbyterian in Australia’s history because he made such a major contribution to the building of the nation.
Bibliography
Books
Robert, G. (2009) Man With a Mission: John Flynn, Pearson Education, Australia.
W. Scott, M. (1963) John Flynn Apostle to the Inland, Great Britain.
Websites
Graeme, B., ‘Flynn, John (1880-1951)’, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/flynn-john-6200, accessed on 2nd August, 2012.
Royal Flying Doctor Service, ‘The John Flynn Story’, http://www.flyingdoctor.org.au/about-us/our-history/the-john-flynn-story/, accessed on 2nd August,
2012.
Wikipedia, ‘John Flynn (minister)’, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Flynn_(minister), accessed on 1st August, 2012.
John Flynn, who was one of the best renowned Australian Presbyterian ministers, was the creator of the Royal Flying Doctor Service. He was a Presbyterian minister posted to Beltana in South Australia from 1911 and was made the first superintendent of the Australian Inland Mission in the following year. Since then, Flynn’s work continued throughout the outback in many ways until his death in 1951.Flynn lived in the outback for most of his life, setting up hostels and bush hospitals for miners, road workers, railwaymen and other settlers.
John Flynn was born in the gold rush town of Moliagul on the 25th November 1880, as the third child to Thomas and Rosetta Flynn. It is said that Flynn’s later interest in bringing medical …show more content…
help to isolated areas was partly the result of his mother’s early death when he was only three.
By the time Flynn had graduated from University High School in 1898, he knew that, whatever he did, he wanted to be of service to the public. He had worked as a schoolteacher and became interested in first aid. However, soon he realised that teaching was not exactly what he wanted to do so he decided, in 1903, that he would train to become a Presbyterian minister.
After Flynn had become a Presbyterian minister in 1911, he was asked by the Presbyterian Church to travel throughout the central and northern areas of Australia in order to prepare a report on the conditions of the people who live there and how the church might help them.
The report Flynn wrote, entitled “Northern Territory and Central Australia: A Call to the Church”, had a big influence on the church. Affected by the report, the members of the Presbyterian Church decided to set up a special organisation called the Australian Inland Mission (AIM) to look after the needs of the people of the outback, and they chose Flynn as its …show more content…
head.
Starting with only one nurse, after five years of hard work 23 women were working in Flynn’s nursing hostels. They gradually created a sense of safety in the outback, although Flynn realised that life remained dangerous in the outback. He had faced two big problems in his idea of taking service to where it was needed, which were poor communication systems and uncertain transport. To address this problem, a man called Clifford Peel, a member of the new Australian Flying Corps and one of the people who read John’s magazine “The Inlander”, suggested that aeroplanes could be used to take doctors to isolated people who needed service in 1917. Unfortunately, Clifford was killed on a flying mission in 1918.
Flynn then began a campaign to raise money to buy an aircraft for Clifford’s ideas to work. On 17th May 1928, the Aerial Medical Service of the AIM made its first flight from the town of Cloncurry in Queensland to Julia Creek.
Even though it was successful for bringing medical service for people in the outback, there was one problem remaining; how could people who lived far away from the Cloncurry base call for help? In 1926, he met a man called Alf Traeger, who shared his desire to bring two-way wireless to the outback. By June 1929, a pedal radio was installed at Augustus Down cattle station in Queensland. This provided the link between patient, hospital and the Aerial Medical Service, making it available to deliver proper medical service to all parts of the outback to the people in need for it.
In 1932, John Flynn married the secretary of the AIM, Jean Blanch Baird. Soon in 1933, his work was recognised and he was awarded an Order of the British Empire. He was also awarded honorary of doctorates by the University of Toronto and McGill University, both in Canada. In 1934, the government announced that they will officially support the Aerial Medical Service and provided some of the money Flynn needed in order to make its service completely operational. In 1939, the Presbyterian Church of Australia gave its highest honour to Flynn to the role of Moderator-General.
In 1942, the name of the organisation was changed to the Flying Doctor Service and later, in 1954, it became known as the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS).
The RFDS has continued successfully through the years, providing a valuable medical service to people in the outback. John Flynn died in 1951 of cancer in Sydney, his remains buried at Mt Gillen in Alice Springs. His contribution to the aviation industry and his extraordinary idea to combine medicine, aviation and radio has created a true social revolution across the outback of Australia. He has become the most famous and significant Presbyterian in Australia’s history because he made such a major contribution to the building of the nation.
Bibliography
Books
Robert, G. (2009) Man With a Mission: John Flynn, Pearson Education, Australia.
W. Scott, M. (1963) John Flynn Apostle to the Inland, Great Britain.
Websites
Graeme, B., ‘Flynn, John (1880-1951)’, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/flynn-john-6200, accessed on 2nd August, 2012.
Royal Flying Doctor Service, ‘The John Flynn Story’, http://www.flyingdoctor.org.au/about-us/our-history/the-john-flynn-story/, accessed on 2nd August,
2012.
Wikipedia, ‘John Flynn (minister)’, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Flynn_(minister), accessed on 1st August, 2012.