William Ernest O'Hara (9 January 1879 – 3 May 1941) was an Australian rules footballer who played with St Kilda in the Victorian Football League (VFL).Holmesby & Main (2014), p.670.

Family The son of eminent surgeon Henry Michael O'Hara (1853–1921),Deaths: O'Hara, The Argus, (Friday, 8 April 1921), p.1.The Medical Faculty: Representative Melbourne Medicos: No.35. Dr. Henry O'Hara, Table Talk, (Thursday, 25 August 1904), p.11.Death of Dr. O'Hara, The Argus, (Friday, 8 April 1921), p.6; Death of Dr. H.M. O'Hara, The Age, (Friday, 8 April 1921), p.7; Dr. O'Hara's Death: Brilliant Career Ends, The Herald, (Friday, 8 April 1921), p.7.Mitchell, A.M., "O'Hara, Henry Michael (1853–1921)", in G. Serle (ed.), Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 11: Nes-Smi, Melbourne University Press, (Carlton), 1988. and his first wife, Ernestine Ellen O'Hara (1857–1883), née Klingender,Marriages: O'Hara—Klingender, The Argus, (Wednesday, 20 September 1876), p.1.Deaths: O'Hara, The Argus, (Monday, 15 October 1883), p.1. William Ernest O'Hara was born in St Kilda on 9 January 1879.Births: O'Hara, The Age, (Friday, 10 January 1879), p.1.

Education Educated at Brighton Grammar School,The Matriculation Lists, The Australasian, (Saturday, 8 June 1985), p.33. and at the University of Melbourne,Melbourne University: Annual Examination—December, 1899: Second Year Medicine, The Australasian, (Saturday, 30 December 1899) p.36. he moved to Edinburgh in 1901 to continue his medical studies and, on 15 December 1905 "William Ernest O'Hara, L.R.S.C.E." was admitted as a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh.Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, The Dublin Journal of Medical Science, Vol.121, No.409, (1 January 1906), p.70.

Football St Kilda (VFL) Recruited from Collegians Football Club in the Metropolitan Junior Football Association (MJFA) in 1900,Football, The Herald, (Friday, 11 May 1900), p.3. he played his first match for St Kilda, against Melbourne, at the Junction Oval on 5 May 1900.A Draw or a Win?, The Age, (Monday, 7 May 1900), p.6. He played well all season and, in all, played 13 games and scored 3 goals.

Although he would otherwise have continued to play, he was not available to St Kilda in the next season (1901), due to his move to Edinburgh to continue his medical studies.The Prahran Telegraph, Saturday, 4 May 1901.

Ulverstone (NWFA) He joined the Ulverstone Football Club in Tasmania's North Western Football Association (NWFA).

In 1907 he was part of a representative North West Coast team that was thrashed 23.19 (157) to 3.4 (22) by the Melbourne Football Club on its 1907 Tasmanian tour, at Latrobe, on 6 June 1907.Football: Coast v. Melbourne, The North West Post, (Thursday, 6 June 1907), p.3; Match v. N.W. Coast, The North Western Advocate and the Emu Bay Times, (Friday, 7 June 1907), p.2.

Medicine Having worked in various U.K. hospitals for a time after his qualification to gain additional experience, he returned to Australia in 1906, and moved to Ulverstone, Tasmania where he practised with Sir John McCall. In addition to his registration in Victoria,Personal Items, The Ballarat Star, (Monday, 15 January 1906), p.6. on his move to Ulverstone he was also registered in Tasmania: THE GAZETTEThe "Gazette" of the 5th inst. contains the following notifications:—Court of Medical Examiners. — William Ernest O'Hara, L.R.C.P. Edin., 1903, L.R.C.S. Edin. 1903, L.F.P.S. Glasg. 1903,In other words, he acquired the "Triple Qualification" in 1903. F.R.C.S. Edin. 1905, has been registered as a legally-qualified medical practitioner in Tasmania. (Address, Ulverstone.) — The Mercury, 6 June 1906.The Gazette, The Mercury, (Wednesday, 6 June 1906), p.5.

He left his practice Ulverstone in June 1907,Dr. O'Hara's Departure: An Ulverstone Farewell, The North Western Advocate and the Emu Bay Times, (Monday, 17 June 1907), p.4. and moved to Leonora in the West Australian goldfields.Personal, The West Australian, (Tuesday, 30 July 1907), p.5. In 1911, he left Leonora, and returned to Melbourne in order to take charge of his father's Collins Street practice.Perth Prattle, The (Perth) Sunday Times, (Sunday, 8 January 1911), p.26; Personal Pars., The Black Range Courier and Sandstone Observer, (Thursday, 9 February 1911), p.3."Mr. Henry O'Hara will be away from Melbourne until the end of the year. During his absence Dr W.E. O'Hara will attend to the practice. Cromwell House, 8th October, 1913." Special Advertisements, The Herald, (Friday, 10 October 1913), p.6. In 1912, he was appointed honorary clinical assistant to the out-patient surgeon at The Alfred Hospital.About People, The Age, (Saturday, 9 March 1912), p.13.

After World War I, he conducted a medical practice in Shanghai for more than twenty years.In Far Shanghai: Australians Pay Homage To Their War Dead, The (Sydney) Sunday Times, (Sunday, 26 April 1925), p.7.Melbourne Man Compensated, The Barrier Miner, (Wednesday, 10 July 1940), p,3.

Military service He enlisted in the First AIF on 4 August 1915, and served overseas in the Australian Army Medical Corps.

Death He died in Shanghai, China on 3 May 1941.Deaths: O'Hara, The Age, (Tuesday, 6 May 1941), p.1.Died in Shanghai, The Argus, (Tuesday, 6 May 1941), p.5; Obituary: Late Dr. W. E. O'Hara, The (Burnie) Advocate, (Saturday, 10 May 1941), p.2.

Footnotes

References First World War Nominal Roll: Captain William Ernest O'Hara, Australian War Memorial. First World War Embarkation Roll: Captain William Ernest O'Hara, Australian War Memorial. World War One Service Record: Captain William Ernest O'Hara, National Archives of Australia. Holmesby, Russell & Main, Jim (2014). The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers: every AFL/VFL player since 1897 (10th ed.), Melbourne, Victoria: Bas Publishing. .

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