Dr David Nott

Past Acton resident
Born: 1931 in Forrest, Canberra
Interview: December 2013

“My name is David Nott. I was born in Canberra in 1931 at the old Canberra Community Hospital - which is now incorporated into the buildings of the Australian National University. I have been in Canberra on and off ever since then. Acton has always been an important place for me. My father, Dr Lewis Nott (1888-1951) worked at the (first) Canberra Community Hospital and was Superintendent there for many years. During that time we lived in a lovely house in Balmain Crescent, right opposite Mr Charles Daley who was the assistant secretary of the Department of the Interior. In 1942 when the new hospital opened on what is now the Acton Peninsula, we moved down into the Medical Superintendent's house – which is still there today. I lived there from the age of 10 until I was 19 when I commenced my medical training at Sydney University.

I graduated in medicine in 1955, and then worked for several years in general practice in Hay before going to England to do a Fellowship in surgery. I worked in England for four years and America for a year then came back to Canberra, where I set up a practice. From 1962 I worked at the Royal Canberra Hospital (which was on Acton Peninsula) as a Chest Surgeon. I did that until the hospital was imploded, when I transferred my practice to Woden. I remained in practice there until the mid 1990s.”