Charles Bridges-Webb was born on 15 October 1934 in Castlemaine, Victoria. A country doctor’s son, he graduated from the University of Melbourne in 1957 and went on to become an international figure in general practice research.
Charles commenced his research, which he called “organised curiosity”,1 while a rural general practitioner in Traralgon, in south-eastern Victoria. He was appointed foundation Professor of Community Medicine (later renamed General Practice) at the University of Sydney in 1975, and was Head of Department until his retirement in 1994.
Charles was an international leader in the development of morbidity surveys, and his publication on morbidity in general practice2 is one of the most important research publications from Australian general practice, offering an understanding of health and disease in the community.
In retirement, Charles was Director of the RACGP research unit and Chair of the Australian General Practice Statistics and Classification Centre (home of the BEACH [Bettering the Evaluation and Care of Health] program). He also spent time enjoying his extensive garden, working as a lay preacher and writing his autobiography.3
