John Springthorpe came to Australia when very young and was educated in Sydney and Melbourne. He studied medicine at the University of Melbourne, where he was a brilliant student. After graduating, he went to England, and in 1881 became the first Australian graduate admitted to the Royal College of Physicians. In 1883 Springthorpe returned to Melbourne and obtained posts at the Alfred Hospital and Melbourne Hospital. In 1887 he became a university lecturer in therapeutics, dietetics and hygiene. He wrote numerous articles and papers, and published a two-volume textbook, Therapeutics, Dietetics, and Hygiene (1914).
During the First World War he was a senior physician, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel, in the Australian Army Medical Corps. In 1919 he returned to Australia, recommencing private practice and his many organisational activities in the health field. He was known as a distinguished physician with a wide range of activities and achievements.
Source : Australian Dictionary of Biography Online
