Charles Kellaway was born at the parsonage attached to St James's Old Cathedral, Melbourne.
15 Facts About Charles Kellaway
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Charles Kellaway's father was an evangelical Anglican minister, and many of Kellaway's siblings were instilled with religious zeal.
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Charles Kellaway enlisted that November, serving as a captain in Egypt in 1916 with the Australian Army Medical Corps.
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Charles Kellaway moved back to Melbourne in August 1923 when invited to become the second director of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Research in Pathology and Medicine.
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An important contribution to public perceptions of medical research occurred in early 1928, when Charles Kellaway was invited by the Minister of Health to form a Royal Commission of inquiry into the Bundaberg tragedy, in which 12 children died following inoculation with diphtheria toxin-antitoxin.
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Charles Kellaway used the opportunity to negotiate with the Minister for Health one of the first ad-hoc grants for medical research in Australia, preceded only by a limited number of cancer investigations.
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Indeed, Charles Kellaway campaigned for the formation of such a body, extolling its necessity both in his orations and via practical examples.
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At a more prosaic level, Charles Kellaway was widely recognised for his encouragement of staff members and aspiring researchers, while his experience and the conspicuous success of the Hall Institute meant that he was consulted by other emerging facilities.
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In particular, the Kanematsu Memorial Institute of Pathology in Sydney sought his advice on the appointment of a new director, and Charles Kellaway championed the selection of the Australian neurophysiologist, Jack Eccles.
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An inaugural member of the Association of Physicians of Australasia and a foundation Fellow of its successor body, the Royal Australasian College of Physicians, Charles Kellaway rose to become Vice-President of the latter from 1942 to 1944: a high honour for a non-clinician.
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However, Charles Kellaway did not participate in the large-scale reorganisation and support of medical research in post-war Australia.
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Charles Kellaway remained in Australia until March 1944, by which time he had gained the rank of honorary Brigadier in the Army.
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Charles Kellaway furthermore continued to promote the efforts and training of Australian researchers where he could.
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Charles Kellaway had an enduring love for the Australian bush and spent many of his holidays away from Melbourne, enjoying rough living in remote terrain.
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On his death, Charles Kellaway attracted numerous glowing eulogies, reflecting not only his personal warmth and charm, but his good humour and willingness to help others.