Peter Delamothe

Sir Peter Roylance Delamothe OBE (29 June 190426 October 1973) was an ophthalmological surgeon and member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly.

Early years Born Peter Roylance de la Mothe at Spring Hill, Brisbane, to parents Charles Joseph de la Mothe, a chemist who had moved to Australia from France, and his wife Anna Mary (née Oliver), he was educated at St Francis School in Hughenden, and then Mount Carmel College in Charters Towers. Awarded an open scholarship after coming third in the state for his final examinations, Delamothe entered the University of Sydney where he obtained M.B. and B.S. degrees. Between 1927 and 1930, he served as a junior, then senior, resident medical officer at Sydney Hospital, where he also practiced ophthalmological surgery before entering into private practice. It was around this time that he anglicized his name to Delamothe. as a probationary flight lieutenant and was based at several different hospitals and medical receiving stations. By October 1944 he had been promoted to the rank of temporary wing commander and was transferred to the reserves. Her father was Henry Lytton Bussell a miller who established the business H.L. Bussell & Co in Chippendale and manufactured flour products under the White Wings brand. Her brother was Leading Aircraftman Kent Bligh Bussell who died in an RAAF air collision in Temora in 1942. Delamothe and his first wife had four sons. Following their divorce his former wife lived by the name of Myrta Clifton-Bligh returning to her family home Eisnath in Ashfield. She brought up their four sons on her own and died aged 100 in 2005. Their sons Colonel John Clifton-Bligh of the 14th/20th King's Hussars died aged 71 in 2011, Rupert Peter Clifton-Bligh died aged 83 in 2016 and Lawerence Robert Clifton-Bligh died aged 89 in 2024. Their youngest son Phillip Clifton-Bligh is a retired endocrinologist and still lives in Sydney. Delamothe married Joan Patricia Milner at the Australian Inland Mission Hall in Broome, Western Australia on 17 May 1947. This union was to produce a son and two daughters.

In 1959 he was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE), and he was knighted in June 1973. Delamothe died of cancer at St Mary's Hospital in Paddington, London in October 1973. He was cremated and his ashes scattered on Bowen harbour.