Hard-working doctor loved beautiful things and loved life
Thousands of babies were brought into the world by Dr Harry Bashford, a man with a genuine interest in his patients, who loved life and surrounded himself with beauty.
The leading Christchurch obstetrician and gynaecologist delivered an estimated 7000 or more children during his lengthy career, including the first test tube baby born in New Zealand in 1981.
‘‘He was a wonderful mentor and friend who has touched many of our lives both within the medical community and those of countless woman and their families,’’ former colleague and friend Dr Janet Whineray said.
Others remember Harry as a consummate gentleman, a bit of a Renaissance man who would come home from surgery and immediately start working in his beloved garden still dressed in a suit.
Donald Harry Bashford – known as Harry – died on January 9, 2018, in Christchurch aged 76. He was born on January 22, 1941, and grew up on a small farm in the rural settlement of Brightwater, near Nelson.
Harry attended Nelson College, where he played tennis, rugby and cricket. John Dobson met Harry on the first day of school in 1954, and said his life-long friend was always competitive, both academically and on the sports field.
‘‘He was a very, very hard working person. His defining feature throughout his life was his ability to knuckle down and really work hard – and he did,’’ Dobson said.
After school, Harry chose to pursue a career in medicine. He studied at Otago Medical School, spent two years in Christchurch as a house surgeon after graduating in 1966, then headed to the West Coast to work as a GP.
While working in Whataroa – something son Andrew Bashford thinks cemented his love of South Island landscapes – Harry delivered dozens of babies and decided to specialise in obstetrics and gynaecology.
He went to Christchurch Women’s Hospital for specialist training, then to Australia and England to take up other positions. He returned to the hospital in 1975 as a tutor specialist.
Several different roles followed, as did a move into private practice where he delivered up to 450 babies a year. In 1988, Harry became clinical director of the obstetrics and gynaecology department at Christchurch Women’s, a role he held for 15 years.
‘‘His unrelenting cheerfulness and willingness to help will be remembered and he will be greatly missed. Harry was always helpful and supportive. Totally old school, professional and had a great sense of humour and style,’’ Whineray said.
Harry was also a dedicated family man. He married Susie in 1967 and the couple had three children: Andrew, Anna and Charlotte. Andrew said his father was a caring and empathetic person whose profession was an integral part of his life.
His daughter, Dr Anna Bashford, remembers a family holiday to Hanmer Springs, when Harry rushed back in the middle of the night to attend a birth, taking the suitcases with him and leaving Susie to find plastic bags to carry their luggage for the bus ride back to Christchurch.
Harry and Susie shared a love of gardening and art. Over three decades they created beautiful, English-style gardens at their former home on Fendalton Rd – which was demolished after the earthquakes.
The couple used to host garden tours and Harry was a perfectionist. Andrew remembers dozens of daffodils his father had planted along the driveway failed to bloom before one tour, so he went out and bought flowers to sellotape them to the stems.
Harry was also a keen collector of contemporary New Zealand art. An astute art investor, he always attended exhibition openings at a gallery Susie started with his friend John Dobson’s wife, Pip, and enjoyed meeting and talking to the artists.
‘‘He always loved beautiful things and he just loved life,’’ Andrew said of his father.
‘‘His legacy is the enduring and positive impact he had on many people throughout his life, his patients and colleagues, his friends and family.’’
Harry Bashford is survived by his wife, Susie, three children – Andrew Bashford, Dr Anna Bashford and Charlotte Gray – and nine grandchildren.