Lindsay Tasman Ride
Brigadier Sir Lindsay Tasman Ride CBE, JP, ED, MD, MRCS, LRCP, Hon LLD | |
---|---|
William Charles Knowles | |
Personal details | |
Born | Lindsay Tasman Ride 10 October 1898 Newstead, Victoria, Australia |
Died | 17 October 1977 British Hong Kong | (aged 79)
Children | William David Lindsay Ride, Elizabeth Mary Ride, Dorothy Ann Ride, Edwin John Lindsay Ride |
Alma mater | |
Brigadier Sir Lindsay Tasman Ride, CBE, JP, ED, MD, MRCS, LRCP, Hon LLD (10 October 1898 – 17 October 1977) was an Australian physiologist, soldier, and vice chancellor of the University of Hong Kong.
Early life
Ride was born in
Education and WWI
Ride attended three state schools in the
Medical studies
Ride enrolled in medicine at the University of Melbourne where he was resident at Ormond College. [2] There he took an active interest in sport by participating in rifle shooting, athletics, rowing, cricket and football. He was the president of the Students' Representative Council from 1921 to 1922. Ride was elected Victorian Rhodes scholar for 1922. At New College, Oxford, 'Blue' Ride as he was known, became captain of boats and steward of the junior common-room. With only mediocre academic results, authorities were nevertheless impressed to the point that they rated him 'a good Rhodes Scholar' and a 'first rate fellow'.[1]
Becoming a surgeon
He worked at
Marriage
On 30 June 1925, in Church of Scotland tradition, Ride married Canadian Mary Margaret Louise Fenety at St Columba's Church, Chelsea, London.[1]
Life in Hong Kong
Perhaps because of his natural ability for medical research, he was appointed professor of physiology at the
WWII and the Battle of Hong Kong
Ride sent his wife and children to Australia in 1938 in anticipation of a
On 9 January 1942, with the help of
Life as Vice Chancellor
Ride was appointed vice-chancellor to a dilapidated, post-war University of Hong Kong in April 1949. 22 new buildings were erected and student numbers increased threefold in the 15 years after his appointment. He had been described as decisive, genial and authoritarian all at the same time. Ride enjoyed unwavering support among older staff but his paternalistic tendencies failed to endear him to staff who were appointed in later years.[1] His HKU papers are available at the University of Hong Kong Archives.[3]
Honours and public duties
- Appointed OBE in 1942
- Made CBE in 1944
- Knight Bachelor in 1962
Education
- Honorary doctorates in The University of Hong Kong
Singing
- Honorary Member of the Royal Academy of Music, London (1962)
- President and conductor of the Hong Kong Singers
- He was chairman of the Hong Kong Music Society
Military
- Honorary Colonel of the Hong Kong Regiment
Others
In 1967, Ride was a member of the 1967 commission of inquiry into the
Personal life
Ride's marriage to his first wife Mary ended because of WWII. He married for the second time on 12 November 1954 at the Union Church in Hong Kong. Violet May Witchell, his second wife, had been his secretary before the war and had been interned in Stanley camp in Hong Kong during the war.[4]
Death
Sir Lindsay died on 17 October 1977 in Hong Kong and was cremated. He was survived by his widow, and his children (two sons and two daughters) from his first marriage.[1]
His son was the noted zoologist William David Lindsay Ride. His grandson is the writer, curator, and academic Peter Ride.[citation needed]
The Ming-Ai (London) Institute interviewed Ride's daughter as part of the British Chinese Armed Forces Heritage project.[citation needed]
Notes
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Ride, Sir Lindsay Tasman (1898 - 1977)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. 2002. Retrieved 9 October 2007.
- ^ Macintyre, Stuart – Ormond College Centenary Essays. MUP, 1984, Melbourne, p.126
- ^ "University of Hong Kong Archives | Sir Lindsay Ride Collection". archivesspace.uarchives.hku.hk. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
- ^ St Stephen's Chapel, Hong Kong. Accessed 23 January 2023.