Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Published Biographies

Blood Sweat and Fears: Medical Practitioners and Medical Students of South Australian who Served in World War 1, C Verco, A Summers, T Swain & M Jelly. July 2014

Who’s Who in Australia, 1921-1950 Kenneth Nugent Steele

Additional Biography

Early Life

Kenneth Nugent (Ken) Steele was born on the 17th of December 1889, the son of Robert Moore Steele and Theresa O’Leary. His siblings were Isabella Robertson (b 1877), Thomas (b 1878), Robert Moore (b 1880 – d 1880), Robert Moore (b 1881), Wilfred (b 1883), David MacDonald (b 1886), Arnold Lancelot (b 1887 – d 1916) and Donald MacDonald (b1892).

Don’s father was an Insurance Agent and the sole agent of the Liverpool and London and Globe Insurance Company in South Australia. The family lived at Jeffcott Street, North Adelaide.

Education

Ken attended Prince Alfred College from 1903 (aged 13) and excelled in all areas of school life, particularly on the sports field. He was a multi-talented sportsman with an outstanding record in football and cricket. He was captain of the school first XVIII in 1909 and was awarded the Best and Fairest in the Intercollegiate game against St Peter’s College.

He was active in the school cadets.

Ken was captain of the PAC football and cricket teams in 1909 and one of the two Honorary Secretaries of the PAC Sports and on the Inter-Collegiate Sports Committee in both 1908 and 1909.

In June 1908, he played in a football match for PAC against Roseworthy Agricultural College. During the 1905/1906 season Ken played B Grade Cricket for North Adelaide he then played B Grade cricket for PAC from 1907/08 to December 1909.

Ken passed four subjects (English Literature, Latin and Geometry) in the Junior Examinations in December 1905 and a further four subjects (Latin, French, Algebra and Inorganic Chemistry) in the Junior Examinations in December 1906. He went on to pass Senior Examinations in English Literature (December 1907), English Literature, Latin, French, Geometry and Inorganic Chemistry (December 1908) and Arithmetic and Algebra (December 1908).

University of Adelaide

Ken commenced studying medicine at the University of Adelaide in 1910 and he completed his MB BS in 1914.

Ken was the second of the Steele brothers to undertake a degree in medicine following in the footsteps of David MacDonald Steele (MB BS 1909). Their younger brother Donald MacDonald Steele gained his MB BS in 1919.

Ken’s older brother, David MacDonald Steele played lacrosse for the University of Adelaide for more than 10 years, competing in several Inter-Varsity competitions and gaining a Blue for lacrosse in 1908. He was the AU Lacrosse Club Captain in 1910 and represented the State in Lacrosse.

Ken was registered as a legally qualified medical practitioner in December 1914.

Adelaide University Sport

Football

Ken had played 10 games with the North Adelaide Football Club in 1909 and 1910. He made his debut against Sturt on the 14th of August 1909 at Unley Oval and his final game was against Port Adelaide on the 23rd of June 1910.

Ken was still playing league football for North Adelaide when he first represented Adelaide University at Inter-Varsity football in August 1910. He strained his ankle during the match which may not have please North Adelaide. He was awarded a Blue for Football in 1910 and went on to represent Adelaide University again in 1912 and 1913.

Ken along with many other league footballers, who were students, joined University on the formation of the Amateur League in 1911 and was a member of the first Amateur League premiership team. Ken also played for University in the 1912 season. He played in the ruck and was the strongest follower in the team in the 1912 season.

After having assisted the establishment of the University Football Club in the Amateur League, many of the former South Australian league players returned to their league clubs. Ken was expected to return to North Adelaide in 1913, but it appears that he retired from football at this stage. North Adelaide was also chasing his younger brother, Don, who had completed his schooling at PAC where he had been an excellent player. Don chose to spend the winter of 1913 travelling overseas.

During his University years, Ken also competed in PAC Past versus Present football matches.

Ken’s nephew, Robert Thornborough Steele (son of Robert Moore Steele) qualified MB BS in 1942. He played football for the Adelaide University Football Club and at Inter-Varsity. He gained a Blue for Football in 1939. He was a Vice President of the Club for many years and President from 1954-1959. He became an Honorary Life Member of the Club in 1960.

Cricket

Having completed his studies at PAC, Ken commenced playing A Grade cricket for the University of Adelaide in the second half of the 1909/10 season. He continued to play for University until the end of the 1914/15 season. He was the Club Secretary for the 1912/13 season and on the Club Committee for the 1913/14 season.

During his University years he played in PAC “Past versus Present” cricket matches.

Ken was best known for his fast-bowling, taking 12 wickets at an average of 22.33 in 1910/11, 19 wickets at an average of 17.31 in 1911/12, 21 wickets at an average of 28.6 in 1912/13 and 23 wickets at an average of 18.95 in 1913/14. He topped the University Bowling averages in the 1911/12 season.

In March 1913, Ken travelled with the University team to play a match in the Barossa Valley against Angaston. In April 1914 he played a combined Northern team (Peterborough, Yongala, Terowie, Boolaroo Centre. Wilmington, Clare and Burra) at University Oval then headed to the Barossa Valley to play matches against Nuriootpa, Angaston and Gawler.

In his final season for the University team Ken took 18 wickets at an average of 16.0, missing one match “stewing” (swotting) for his final medical examinations.

First Class Cricket for South Australia

In December 1913 Ken was selected to play for South Australia in two Sheffield Shield matches alongside his younger brother, Don. In his first match against NSW (19-23 December) in Sydney he played despite having injured his leg in training the day before the game commenced. Ken scored 6 and 11 and bowled without success conceding 48 runs.

Ken’s second and final Sheffield Shield match was against Victoria (26th – 30th December) in Melbourne. Ken scored 1 and 0 and conceded 29 runs without taking a wicket. Ken also played for South Australia in a two-day match against Ballarat in January 1914 taking 4 for 37 and 1 for 47 and scoring a vigorous 57 before being stumped by Harris of the Bowling of Bradby.

Ken was selected to captain the SA Colts team in a match against Victoria in Melbourne in February 1914, but now in his final year of medicine, was unable to make the trip. He was selected to play a Sheffield Shield match against NSW in December 1914, however now having just graduated and starting his residency at the Adelaide Hospital he could not gain leave to play. His priority was now medicine and this along with the advent of World War 1 curtailed his cricket career.

Early Medical Career

Before embarking on his medical career, Ken was on vacation in mid-January 1915, staying at the Ozone Hotel, Kingscote, Kangaroo Island.

He was appointed to the role of resident medical officer at the Adelaide Hospital for 12 months from the 1st of February 1915. Before June 1915, Ken had acted as a locum in Burra for his brother Dr David MacDonald Steele on two occasions.
Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 – 1954) – 26 December 1914


In December 1914, Ken became engaged to Norah Taylor the daughter of Mr WJP Taylor of St Peters. Norah was born at Unley, South Australia on the 8th of June 1895 and was the sister of Benjamin Thomas (Ben) Taylor a medical student and who also played cricket for Adelaide University.

War service – World War I

On the 19th of May 1915, Ken volunteered for service and received his commissioned as a Captain in the Australian Army Medical Corps. Ken’s WWI record is well documented in the Blood Sweat and Fears biography above and his War Service Records can be accessed through the National Archives of Australia link:-

https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=8089321

In 1916 while serving in Egypt, Ken played in an AIF Cricket Team which defeated an English XI in a match played at the Gezira Sporting Club, Cairo.

In February 1917, Miss Norah Elizabeth Taylor left for London to join Ken in the UK. She married Kenneth Nugent Steele, the son of R.M. Steele of North Adelaide on the 5th of April 1917 at St Peter’s Church, Brighton, England. Later that year Ken was promoted to the rank of Major. Ken was said to have saved the lives of many Australian soldiers during the influenza outbreak in England during WWI.

On the 19th of April 1918, Ken was severely gassed and spent time in hospital in England before being repatriated back to Australia. At one stage his weight had dropped to 10 stone, which was ten pounds less than his enlistment weight.

It is unclear when Norah returned to Australia, but she was back in South Australia by August 1918. Ken returned to Australia on the HMAT D17 Malta arriving on the 28th of September 1918.

Having spent more time in hospital in Australia, he was discharged on the 18th of November 1918.

Post WWI Career and Family Life

On his return to civilian life, Ken commenced practicing at Murray Bridge and was appointed the Medical Officer for Mobilong on the 2nd of December 1918. He purchased a 25.6 Buick and soon became a Vice-President of the Murray Bridge Racing Club and later Honorary Surgeon to the Club.

Ken and Norah’s only child, a daughter (Mary Nugent Steele), was born at Quambi, South Terrace, Adelaide on the 11th of September 1919.

In March 1921, Ken purchased a Dodge motor vehicle. He ran a private hospital in Murray Bridge and in 1922, was a subscriber toward the building of the Murray Bridge Soldiers Memorial Hospital, which opened in August 1923.

In 1923 he was appointed Honorary Surgeon to the Karoonda Race Club.

In late October 1924, Ken commenced practicing at Glenelg, SA. He was in partnership with Dr Milo Sprod and from February 1925, the pair also practiced at the Verco Building, North Terrace, Adelaide. By 1927, Ken was the Medical Officer for Minda Homes, a position he held for many years.

Ken and Norah purchased a house at 32 Moseley Street, Glenelg and in December 1924, they spent a month on holidays in Melbourne and Sydney. When Ken moved to Moseley Street, the Glenelg Cricket Club was hopeful that he would return to playing district cricket. Aged 35 with a medical practice to run and a wife and young daughter, he did not return to play cricket, but became a Vice President of the Club in 1928 and was a great supporter of the Club for the remainder of his life.

Bodyline

During the Adelaide Oval match (January 1933) of the infamous “Bodyline Series”, Australia’s wicketkeeper “Bert” Oldfield was staying with Ken and Norah at Glenelg. When Bert was struck down by ball bowled by Larwood, he was taken by ambulance to Ken’s home suffering from concussion.

In late 1934, Ken’s partnership with Dr Milo Sprod was dissolved. Sadly, Dr Sprod passed away shortly after on the 31st of December 1934.

Norah was a keen tennis player, and they had a tennis court at the family home at Glenelg. In 1937, Ken was appointed Honorary Surgeon for the Glenelg Life Saving Club.

Ken and Norah’s daughter, Mary, had been a student at Stalwell, a private school for girls near the Mount Lofty summit, but left school aged 18 years. She had played tennis and basketball while at school. In 1937 she was taking dressmaking and dancing lessons. She was fond of ballet and ballroom dancing and enjoyed swimming, surfing and holidays at Victor Harbor. She was a debutante in 1937.

Ken, Norah and Mary took a three-month holiday to Japan and the East in late September 1937. This was “plucky” at the time with “dark old war clouds hanging over China and Japan”.
Mary became engaged to Mr. George Fowle Ingersoll, second son of Mr. and Mrs. R. Sturgis Ingersoll, of Philadelphia, U.S.A in March 1938 and the couple married on the 23rd of April 1938 at Christ Church, North Adelaide. George and Mary lived in the Penlyn. Pennsylvania, USA.

Ken and Norah travelled to the USA in late January 1939, returning to Glenelg in mid June 1939. During their time in the USA their first grandchild, Mary Steele Ingersoll, was born on the 22nd of April 1939.

World War II

Ken continued to practice at Glenelg throughout WWII. He was in charge of the first aid depot during a blackout and air raid exercise in late October 1940. Ken and Norah owned a wire-haired fox terrier, which they showed at the annual Terrier Club championships in 1944.

During WWII, Mary and George had two more children, George Fowle Ingersoll (Jnr), born in April 1941 and Norah Taylor Ingersoll, born in April 1945.

Post World War II

In July 1946, Norah travelled to Sydney and joined the Mariposa sailing to America, where she spent several months with Mary, George and their children. While she was in America she attended baby Norah’s christening. Norah returned to Australia in about December 1946.

While Norah was overseas, Ken had the misfortune to have his car stolen from outside his surgery. “Instruments and drugs worth £30 were in the car, a fawn-colored (sic) coupe”.

Mary Ingersoll and her three children travelled to Sydney in early May 1947, leaving from San Francisco. Mary met the Ken and Norah in Sydney and travelled with them to Adelaide arriving home on the 3rd of June 1947. Originally the family were to stay until September, but their plans were pushed forward. They left Australia, via Sydney, by plane on the 22nd of August 1947. In late January 1948, Mary and George’s fourth child, a daughter, Pamela was born.

In September 1948, Ken and Norah holidayed in Sydney for a month, staying at the Hotel Australia. The couple frequently attended the theatre and were photographed among the first night audience of “Fly Away Peter” at the
Theatre Royal in August 1949.

Ken retired from private practice in 1949 and purchased a smaller home at Pier Street, Glenelg. The family home at 32 Moseley Street, Glenelg was put up for sale in June 1950. The house was passed in at auction at £9000 having not met the reserve of £9500. Ken and Norah were staying at the Pier Hotel, Largs Bay prior to settling into their new home in December 1950.

Ken continued in his role as medical superintendent of Minda Home and in conjunction with the head school teacher, had “undertaken individual treatment and training appropriate to each student.”

Death

Kenneth Nugent Steele died at Glenelg, South Australia on the 19th of December 1956, aged 67 and was buried at the Mitcham Anglican Cemetery.

Norah Elizabeth Steele died in 1983, aged 88 and was buried with Ken at the Mitcham Anglican Cemetery.

Mary Steele Ingersoll passed away in the USA in 2006. She was the Mother of four, Grandmother of eleven and Great Grandmother of 12. She was also survived by her cousins in Australia.

Authors: EE (Beth) Filmer & Rob O'Shannassy

For the complete profile including photographs, newspaper articles, documents and sources prepared for the AUFC/AUCC WWI Memorial Project (in the period 2015-2019) please see the document attached.