Eily Elaine Gurr

Eily Elaine Gurr (8 November 1896 – 12 December 1996) was a New Zealand medical doctor, medical administrator and advocate of general practice.

Early life and education Gurr was born in Wellington, New Zealand, on 8 November 1896, but grew up in Wellington and Dannevirke. She was educated at Woodford House and Wellington Girls' College.

Career Gurr's first position was as a house surgeon at Timaru Hospital. There she performed surgical, medical and maternity care, often attending calls to patients on horseback due to lack of roading in the rural areas. Her practice at 84 Symonds St was located close to many other medical practices and she remained there for 30 years. The house which served as her residence and consulting rooms was designed on commission by architect Malcolm Draffin and was built from 1935 to 1936. and designated as a historic place on the Auckland Unitary Plan. She returned to Europe for further postgraduate training in endocrinology after WWII.

Gurr was an advocate for general practice and for the role the general practitioner played in family welfare. She believed "that general practitioners are the guardians of families in New Zealand" and "that the general practitioner should be more than a medical advisor and be able to provide wide counsel and assistance in a diversity of areas". She became an honorary fellow of the Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners in 1983.

She was a supporter of St John Ambulance and had an interest in animal hospitals and veterinary work. She was a life member of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA).

Gurr died at her home in Torbay, Auckland on 12 December 1996, aged 100.

Legacy Gurr endowed two chairs in general practice to strengthen the discipline of general practice: one at the University of Otago in 1983 and one at the University of Auckland in 1988. She also endowed a ward at a Salvation Army rest home in Browns Bay, Auckland.