Executive Council
May 28, 2014
The following statement was given today in the House of Assembly by the Honourable Tom Marshall, Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador:
Premier Honours Dr. William H. Newhook
Mr. Speaker, as we continue to advance the Honour 100 initiative in commemoration of those who served so valiantly in the Great War, I rise today to celebrate the legacy of a medical pioneer, magistrate and soldier, whose contributions to the community and the lives of his patients continue to ripple out today, more than 50 years after his passing.
Dr. William H. Newhook was born in Harbour Breton in 1892, the youngest of 11 children. He attended school at the Methodist College in St. John’s and then became a teacher in Bonne Bay, but his true calling was in medicine.
Dr. Newhook did pre-medical studies at Mount Allison University in New Brunswick before moving to McGill to study medicine.
But then came the Great War. Like so many other Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, William Newhook stepped forward to serve. Interrupting his medical studies, he enlisted with the Canadian Army Medical Corps and served as a sergeant overseas.
When the war ended, he returned to McGill, finished his medical degree in 1919, and then came back home. He practised medicine in Hearts Content, Hermitage and Old Perlican before serving as the first medical officer at the Markland Cottage Hospital. For 29 years, he was a pioneer of medicine in the Whitbourne area.
When not practising medicine, he was dispensing justice as a magistrate. He played the organ and sang at church. He served in community organizations and established a scholarship to help promising young students pursue their own dreams.
It was not easy to practise medicine in those days. His practice covered a vast area. He frequently took the speed car on the rail lines to Old Perlican, pumping the handle the entire way – and after seeing to the needs of his patients, repeating the grueling process to get back home. He regularly made house calls, taking the government boat to get to patients isolated from medical care on small islands.
Then came the Second World War. This time, with years of medical expertise and his own battlefield experience to draw upon, he trained Newfoundlanders and Labradorians in the skills they would need to serve in the Medical Brigades overseas, treating the wounded as he had done a quarter-century before. How many lives was Dr. Newhook responsible for saving? No one knows.
What we do know is this: whether in war or in peace, he never ceased to serve. By the time 1963 arrived, Dr. Newhook had dedicated 44 years of his life to medical practice in this province. On the 29th of March, he was again at work at the hospital, ready – as always – to meet the needs of others; and that’s when and where his long life of service came to a sudden end.
But it was not the end of his influence. In 1982, when the Markland Cottage Hospital was designated a teaching clinic for Memorial University’s Medical School, the facility was renamed in his honour as the Dr. W. H. Newhook Community Health Centre. That rustic building continued to serve as the hospital until 1986, when the old facility was closed and a new clinic was opened, also bearing his name.
William inspired his son, Lawrence, to follow in his footsteps by becoming a medical doctor. Lawrence, in turn, inspired his own son, Timothy, to do the same. Today, we are privileged to welcome to our gallery – along with his wife, Judy – Dr. Lawrence Newhook, Dr. Timothy Newhook and Timothy’s wife, Dr. Alexandra Newhook, all of whom are practising medicine in the United States.
They have come here to honour William’s legacy. So, Mr. Speaker, I ask that all of us as Members of this House join with the family – on behalf of the Newfoundlanders and Labradorians we collectively represent – in celebrating the life of Dr. William Newhook.
2014 05 28 2:20 p.m.