Graduation, 1886 (photograph) from Truby King The Man

1948

Medical WZ 100 K54 1948

London: George Allen & Unwin

‘It is a great test for a nervous man to sit in a large hall with a hundred other students and be forced to think calmly or be plucked.’ So wrote Truby King to his father about his first experiences at Edinburgh University’s Medical School. Founded in 1726, the School was recognised as one of the best in Europe. King was not plucked; he succeeded beyond expectations. He passed all subjects taken and graduated MB, CM (1st class) with distinction on 1st August 1886. In addition to winning the famed Ettles Scholarship, he also enrolled in a BSc in Public Health. King carried these qualifications with him when he arrived in Wellington in early February 1888. Here is King seated (left) in his graduation robes, 1886.