Alec Birrell

{{short description|Australian rules footballer, born 1885}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2015}}

{{Use Australian English|date=September 2015}}

{{Infobox AFL biography

| name = Alec Birrell

| image =

| fullname = William Alexander Hamilton Birrell

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1885|1|24|df=y}}

| birth_place = Laen, Victoria

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1948|05|11|1885|1|24|df=y}}

| death_place = Heidelberg, Victoria

| originalteam = Geelong College

| height =

| weight =

| position =

| statsend = 1911

| years1 = 1911

| club1 = University

| games_goals1 = 1 (0)

| careerhighlights =

}}

William Alexander Hamilton Birrell (24 January 1885 – 11 May 1948) was a doctor and an Australian rules footballer who played for University in the Victorian Football League (VFL).{{Ref AFL Encyc|4th|47}}

The oldest son of Albert Veit Birrell and Christina Matheson, Alec Birrell was born in Laen (near Donald, Victoria) and was educated at Geelong College where he was a prominent member of the school football team.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article175405330 |title=GEELONG COLLEGE FOOTBALL TEAM, 1904. |newspaper=Punch |location=Victoria, Australia |date=6 October 1904 |page=17}}

He proceeded to study medicine at the University of Melbourne{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article10194588 |title=UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE. |newspaper=The Argus |location=Victoria, Australia |date=20 November 1908 |page=7}} and during his student years Birrell was promoted from the seconds to play one VFL match for University against South Melbourne in the first round of the 1911 VFL season.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article10898567 |title=SOUTH MELBOURNE IN FORM. |newspaper=The Argus |location=Victoria, Australia |date=1 May 1911 |page=5}}

After graduating as a doctor in 1914, he served with the 20th Light Horse and British Royal Army Medical Corps in World War I.{{cite book |author=Cullen, Barbara |title=Harder than football : league players at war |year=2015 |page=117 |publication-date=2015 |location=Richmond, Victoria | publisher=Slattery Media Group | isbn=978-0-9923791-4-8}} Upon his return to Australia, Birrell practiced in Nathalia for several years.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article179141304 |title=NATHALIA. |newspaper=Shepparton Advertiser |location=Victoria, Australia |date=7 May 1923 |page=4 }} Birrell was also Vice President of the Nathalia Football Club in 1923.{{cite web |title=1923 - Nathalia FC - AGM |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/186425142 |via=Trove Newspapers |work=Numurkah Leader |access-date=23 April 2020 |date=7 March 1923|page=2}}

Birrell later brought into a medical practice in Cheltenham, Victoria in 1927.{{cite web |title=1927 - Dr. Alec Birrell |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/186432511 |via=Trove Newspapers |publisher=Numurkah Leader |access-date=23 April 2020 |date=30 March 1927|page=2}}

In 1920, he married Mary Adela Lane{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article4581686 |title=Family Notices |newspaper=The Argus |location=Victoria, Australia |date=25 September 1920 |page=13}} and they had three children together. He died in the Repatriation Hospital in Heidelberg on 11 May 1948.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article22545244 |title=Family Notices |newspaper=The Argus |location=Victoria, Australia |date=14 May 1948 |page=2}}