Peter Britton Milsom
Peter Britton Milsom FRACS
General Surgeon
27 June 1944 - 25 February 2015
Peter Milsom, Surgeon, General Practitioner, Obstetrician, Gardener, Polymath, passed away at his home in Pakaraka on 25 February 2015 surrounded by family and friends.
Peter was born in Auckland in 1944, the son of Coates Milsom, an orthopaedic surgeon, and Patricia, an author. His grandfather, Britton, was also a surgeon and his great, great grandfather, John Coates, was secretary to Captain Hobson, a signatory to the Treaty of Waitangi. Peter had three siblings - Mary, Eleanor and Britton. His early childhood was spent in the United Kingdom where his father trained in orthopaedic surgery. The family returned to New Zealand in 1953 to live in Tauranga, where he attended Tauranga Primary School and Tauranga Boys High School. Study and swimming came with ease and he was also a competent athlete. In Tauranga Peter was exposed to a large rural community, especially Māori with whom he developed a lifelong rapport.
Peter commenced at the University of Otago in 1962, residing at Selwyn College. He gained entry to medical school, completing his final year in Auckland, and graduating MB ChB in 1967. He married Linda Pattullo that year, but they separated just a few years later. The next five years were spent in Auckland hospitals where he completed residencies, worked as an anatomy demonstrator and then a series of surgical registrarships, gaining his FRACS in 1972. He then took up the second surgeon post in NZ Surgical Team at Qui Nhon in South Vietnam in January 1973 and spent the next 18 months working alongside the veterans of the team, Jack Enwright, Margaret Neave and others, acquiring experience in war injuries and tropical diseases. There he also met his life partner, Gerry, an accountant, when she visited her father who was working for USAID. They married a year later.
Peter returned to New Zealand spending two years as a senior surgical registrar in Whāngarei and Auckland. In 1976 he elected to answer the call to be a country GP in a remote area rather than a surgeon in a major metropolis. He began general practice in Moerewa with Dr Graeme Fenton, relishing country living and general practice. Over time, with the closure of the maternity unit in Kaikohe and doctors retiring from obstetric practice, he experienced an increasing work load in obstetrics and was encouraged by successive Bay of Islands Hospital obstetrician superintendents, who provided tutelage, to join the roster. With their subsequent retirement he became the solitary obstetrician for the Bay of Islands, as well as part time general surgeon and, eventually in 1988, the superintendent for Bay of Islands Hospital.
These commitments progressively limited his general practice. Despite the deep satisfaction and an excellent record in obstetrics, he realised that solitary practice in a small hospital was untenable. The sudden death of Colin Skelton in 1994 lead to a request from the Whāngarei surgeons that Peter join their roster, amalgamating and streamlining the general surgical services for the two hospitals. He quickly adapted to the resumption of a fulltime surgical career, going to recognised units in major centres to update in plastic and general surgery including endoscopy. With a keen interest and enthusiasm for life and a natural teacher Peter was sought by senior and junior residents, nursing staff and patients. All these changes called on his strength of character for they coincided with the tragic death of his son, Toby, in a farming accident.
With the centralisation of surgical services on Whāngarei Hospital, Peter became Head of General Surgery and his wide experience and willingness to shoulder the wheel aided this process immensely. His work ethic was exemplary. Large operation lists were the norm at Kaitaia, but without compromise in standards and he frequently stayed overnight to ensure continuing senior surgical care. Always available, patient and ready to teach and give registrars the opportunity to operate he contributed significantly to Northland's popularity as a place to work amongst registrars and house officers. At the resident's annual review he always participated with an improvised song on piano or guitar.
Peter received a Royal Australasian College of Surgeons Community Services Award in 2014. The citation besides noting his surgical expertise and contribution states 'the award should be given for his deep sense of dedication to the public and patients especially the poor and Māori who make up much of the Northland population. He remembered their names, their families and became one of them'. He was honoured by the Maori community with his body lying in state on the Otiria Marae for the wider community for 48 hours with a continuous flow of people paying their respects.
The sobriquet of a polymath is apt, for Peters' knowledge in literature, history, music, gardening etc. was profound and he readily shared this with kindred spirits. Ngahuha, the 15 acre garden he and Gerry created (its early development occurring while Peter was tethered to the phone on obstetric call), is a rich heritage to Northland gardening. His daughter has placed it on line to view: www.ngahuhu.co.nz
"A man for all seasons, who like his trees in time grew in stature and with an abiding interest in his fellow man".
We extend our sympathies to his wife, Gerry, three sons, Hugh (engineer), Gaston (company manager) and Joseph (computer programmer) and two daughters, Lydia (painting conservator) and Alexandra (artist, nurse) and their respective families.
Bill Sugrue FRACS and family