Tulloch, Alan Keith (1910–1986)

Alan Keith Tulloch was very highly regarded Adventist surgeon at the Sydney Sanitarium and Hospital (now Sydney Adventist Hospital).

Early Years

Alan Keith Tulloch was born on December 6, 1910, in Tolaga Bay, New Zealand,¹ a small seaside town to the north of Gisborne, New Zealand, with a mixed European and Maori population. The town was notable for a very long wharf, which juts out into the Pacific Ocean allowing bales of wool to be loaded onto small coastal ships. Tulloch’s father, William A. Tulloch, owned and operated the main shop in town. He married Matilda Lockwood, a woman of mixed Maori descent, who in 1900 had attended the Australasian Missionary College in Cooranbong, New South Wales, and had been baptized that year. Prior to her marriage, Matilda Tulloch was a secretary to Pastor Arthur Daniells for a short time.² A small gathering of members from within the community worshipped each Sabbath in Tolaga Bay. So, Alan Tulloch was born into an Adventist family and community with strong roots in the Adventist faith. He had one sister, Lena.³

Education

Early in life Tulloch showed an aptitude for study, earning three scholarships for university. Aiming to become a doctor, Tulloch attended medical school at Otago University in Dunedin. He graduated in 1935 with duel Bachelor degress in medicine and surgery (MB ChB) and remained at the university for a short time teaching anatomy.⁴

Marriage and Years of Service

On January 28, 1937, Tulloch married Thelma Louise Carter in the Dunedin, New Zealand, Seventh-day Adventist Church.⁵ Thelma Carter was been born on May 5, 1914⁶ in Taiaroa Heads, Otago, New Zealand.⁷

It was also in 1937 that the newly married couple moved to Warburton where Dr. Tulloch took over a private medical practice.⁸ It had previously belonged to Dr. Sherwin who was taking up a full-time appointment at the Warburton Sanitarium.⁹ The Tullochs remained in Warburton for just one year. On December 22, 1937, they left for England so that Tulloch could pursue a fellowship in surgery. He was ship’s surgeon on the journey.¹⁰ After two years of study, Tulloch was made a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons (FRCS).¹¹ In 1963, he gained qualifications as a Fellow of the Royal Australian College of Surgeons.¹² Tulloch’s skill as a surgeon became known in the wider community and many patients were directed to the hospital to receive his excellent services.

On returning from England, Tulloch accepted an appointment to the Sydney Sanitarium and Hospital in September 1940,¹³ where he was to remain until his retirement on July 6, 1974.¹⁴ From 1956 until 1968, he held the office of Medical Superintendent.¹⁵ During that time he also administered medical interests for the Church throughout the Pacific.¹⁶

Tulloch’s office lacked any display of his academic achievements. By nature, a quiet, somewhat reserved gentleman, he had tremendous pride in his work, both in the speed in which his surgical procedures were achieved and in the small scar that remained after healing. He believed his credibility was achieved through his skill in the operating theater rather than through the certificates hung on his wall.¹⁷

Students were in awe of their mentor, whether in the lecture theater or in the operating theater his very presence demanded respect. Yet this professional genius was not above participating in a game of cricket with the Fox Valley Cricket team under the auspices of the Beattie brothers.¹⁸

Alan Tulloch, through his surgical and administrative skills enhanced the reputation of the Sydney Sanitarium as a premier medical institution in Sydney. In 1983, he received a special citation of honor for his service to the hospital.¹⁹ The training which he imparted to student nurses resulted in highly qualified and motivated health professionals. His quiet Christian demeanor shed a spiritual aspect on health and healing, for he prayed with his patients before surgery. Tulloch accepted only a modest stipend, but gave the residue of his practice income to the Sydney Sanitarium and Hospital.²⁰

Dr. Alan Tulloch died in the Sydney Sanitarium and Hospital on August 5, 1986.²¹

At the time of the centenary celebrations for the Sydney Adventist Hospital, the clinical extension theater building was named the “A. K. Tulloch Theatre Block” in memory of Dr. Alan Tulloch. It was stated that “his skills in caring for patients for 34 years made a significant impact to the hospital’s expansion and development.”²² Mrs. Thelma Tulloch died on December 30, 2001, and is buried in the Avondale Adventist Cemetery.²³

Sources

“Australasian Division Secretary’s Report for the Year ended December 31, 1936.” Australasian Record, September 6, 1937.

Biographical Information Blank for Alan Keith Tulloch. South Pacific Division of the General Conference Archives.

Clifford, H. E. “Life Sketch of Dr. A. K. Tulloch.” South Pacific Record, October 25, 1986.

“Dr. Alan Tulloch…” Australasian Record, January 24, 1938.

“Dr. and Mrs. Alan Tulloch…” Australasian Record, April 5, 1937.

Fisher, G. S. “Report of the Sydney Sanitarium and Hospital Presented at the Union Conference Session.” Australasian Record, September 29, 1941.

Forbes, A. H. “Tulloch.” South Pacific Record, October 25, 1986.

Gilmore, Laurence, “Sydney Adventist Hospital Delves into Its Past,” Australasian Record, August 20, 1983.

Goldstone, S. Ross. “New Zealand” in Seventh-day Adventists in the South Pacific: 1885-1984, ed. Noel P. Clapham (Warburton, Victoria, Australia: Signs Publishing Co., 1986), 32.

Hook, Milton, People of Ao-te-Aroa: The Advent Mission to Maoris. Seventh-day Adventist Heritage Series, booklet 14 Wahroonga, New South Wales, Australia: South Pacific Division Department of Education, n.d. Accessed June 10, 2019. https://heritage.adventistconnect.org/uploaded_assets/427642-People_of_Ao-Te-Aroa.pdf?thumbnail=original&1431991661.

“Hospital Celebrates Centenary Homecoming.” Record [South Pacific Division], July 26, 2003.

Moulds, H. G. “Alan Keith Tulloch obituary.” Australasian Record, July 27, 1942.

“News Notes.” Australasian Record, July 17, 1939.

Pascoe, J. “Tulloch–Carter.” Australasian Record, April 5, 1937.

Patrick, Arthur N. The San: 100 years of Christian Caring, 1903 - 2003. Warburton, Victoria, Australia, Signs Publishing Company, 2003.

Personal Service Records for Alan Keith Tulloch. South Pacific Division of the General Conference Archives.

Tulloch, Alan K. Alan K Tulloch to S.R. Goldstone. July 15, 1981. Private letter. Personal collection of the author.

Notes

1. Biographical Information Blank for Alan Keith Tulloch, South Pacific Division of the General Conference Archives, folder: “Tulloch, Alan Keith,” document: “Biographical Information Blank, Alan Keith Tulloch,”↩

2. Alan K. Tulloch to S. R. Goldstone July 15, 1981, held in the personal collection of the author; Ross Goldstone, “New Zealand” in Seventh-day Adventists in the South Pacific: 1885 - 1984, ed. Noel P. Clapham (Warburton, Victoria, Australia: Signs Publishing Co., 1986), 32; Hook, Milton, People of Ao-te-Aroa: The Advent Mission to Maoris. Seventh-day Adventist Heritage Series, booklet 14 (Wahroonga, New South Wales, Australia: South Pacific Division Department of Education, n.d.), 2, accessed June 10, 2019, https://heritage.adventistconnect.org/uploaded_assets/427642-People_of_Ao-Te-Aroa.pdf?thumbnail=original&1431991661.↩

3. H. G. Moulds, “Alan Keith Tulloch obituary,” Australasian Record, July 27, 1942, 7.↩

4. According to NZ University Graduates 1870-1961, Tulloch graduated in 1935. The Royal College of Surgeons, on information supplied by the Sydney Adventist Hospital, states his graduation took place in 1934. I have accepted 1935 as the correct date.↩

5. J. Pascoe, “Tulloch–Carter,” Australasian Record, April 5, 1937, 6.↩

6. Personal Service Records for Alan Keith Tulloch, South Pacific Division of the General Conference Archives, folder: “Tulloch, Alan Keith,” document: “Alan Keith Tulloch.”↩

7. Biographical Information Blank for Alan Keith Tulloch.↩

8. “Australasian Division Secretary’s Report for the Year ended December 31, 1936,” Australasian Record, September 6, 1937, 2.↩

9. “Dr. and Mrs. Alan Tulloch…,” Australasian Record, April 5, 1937, 8.↩

10. “Dr. Alan Tulloch…,” Australasian Record, January 24, 1938, 8.↩

11. “News Notes,” Australasian Record, July 17, 1939, 8.↩

12. Arthur N. Patrick, The San:100 Years of Christian Caring,1903 - 2003 (Warburton, Victoria, Australia: Signs Publishing Co., 2003), 102.↩

13. G. S. Fisher, “Report of the Sydney Sanitarium and Hospital Presented at the Union Conference Session,” Australasian Record, September 29, 1941, 1.↩

14. Personal Service Records for Alan Keith Tulloch, South Pacific Division of the General Conference Archives, folder: “Tulloch, Alan Keith,” document: “Dr A. K. Tulloch, Sydney Adventist Hospital.”↩

15. Laurence Gilmore, “Sydney Adventist Hospital Delves into Its Past,” Australasian Record, August 20, 1983, 9.↩

16. Alan K. Tulloch, “Report of the Medical Department,” Australasian Record, December 13, 1954. 24.↩

17. Patrick, The San, 110.↩

18. Ibid., 108.↩

19. Gilmore, “Sydney Adventist Hospital,” 9.↩

20. Patrick, The San, 111.↩

21. H. E. Clifford, “Life-Sketch of Dr A. K. Tulloch,” South Pacific Record, October 25, 1986. 11; also A. H. Forbes, “Tulloch,” South Pacific Record, October 25, 1986, 15.↩

22. “Hospital Celebrates Centenary Homecoming,” Record [South Pacific Division], July 26, 2003, 5.↩

23. Thelma Louise Tulloch Gravestone, Avondale Adventist Cemetery, Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia.↩