History of West Australia/Daniel Kenny

by Warren Bert Kimberly

DR. DANIEL KENNY, L.R.C.S., L.K.Q.C.P.I.

IN a country like Western Australia there are possibilities for all sorts and conditions of men, and in the ranks of those who have appreciated this is Dr. Daniel Kenny. He participated in the early recent prosperity of the country, and few men of his age would have had the foresight to realise that in the almost stagnant colony of twelve years ago there was such a glorious future as the present dawning predicts. Dr. Kenny is one of the glad-hearted sons of the Emerald Isle, and has all the quick perceptive faculties of his countrymen. He was quick at school, and upon entering his college career fulfilled the anticipations of his parents. He was born in 1860, in Gorey, County Wexford, and studied at the Medical School of the Catholic University, where he won the gold medal, and was first prizeman in various subjects. He passed each successive examination with first-class honours, and duly took his diplomas. Before settling down to the practice of his profession, he wisely determined to complete his education by travel. With the first-class qualifications that he possessed, it was not hard for him to carry his desires into execution; for, on approaching a shipping firm, he instantly received an appointment as surgeon of the passenger ship Glen Avon, engaged in the Western Australian trade. The doctor remained in this and other vessels for two years, and then decided to settle in a regular practice. Although the colony of Western Australia was in a very backward position in those days, the young medical man saw in her expanse of territory the makings of a country rich in all the products valued by mankind. He settled in Perth in 1885. His undoubted ability soon brought him to the front, and in a very short time he had an extensive practice, which is still steadily growing. Dr. Kenny is a member of the Medical Board of Western Australia, and one of the members of the first Board of Management of the Perth Public Hospital, and shortly after the senior physician, a position he holds at the present time. He has been for years chief medical examiner for the Equitable Life Assurance Company in the colony, but has recently relinquished this post in order to take the appointment which was offered him of chief medical officer for the Australian Mutual Provident Society.

Dr. Kenny is not only clever in medicine; he is also clever in business. He has been particularly fortunate in his speculations in land, and in conjunction with Dr. Jamieson, who is at present in Rome, invested largely in the Cottesloe and Buckland Hill district.

Although only thirty-six years of age, Dr. Kenny has, by his energy and ability, worked his way up the ladder of fortune, and occupies a most enviable position. Courteous, quick-witted, and sincere, he has at the same time a gentlemanly reserve.