Editing Howard Florey (section)

== Early life and education ==
Howard Walter Florey was born in [[Malvern, South Australia|Malvern]], a southern suburb of [[Adelaide]], [[South Australia]], on 24 September 1898.<ref name="ADB">{{cite AuDB |last=Fenner |first=Frank |author-link=Frank Fenner |title=Florey, Howard Walter (Baron Florey) (1898–1968) |id2=florey-howard-walter-10206 | volume=14 | pages=188–190 | year=1996 |access-date=10 October 2008 | publisher=Melbourne University Press}}</ref> His surname rhymes with "sorry".{{sfn|Macfarlane|1979|p=35}} He was the only son of Joseph Florey, a bootmaker from [[Oxfordshire]] in England,  who as a boy moved to London where Florey's grandfather established a bootmaking business. Joseph Florey's first wife was Charlotte Ames, with whom he had two daughters, Charlotte, who was born in 1880, and Anne, who was born in 1882. After his wife contracted [[pulmonary tuberculosis]], the family emigrated to South Australia, where it was hoped that the climate would be more congenial. Her health gradually declined and she died in April 1886. Joseph Florey established his own bootmaking business in Adelaide, and married Bertha Mary Waldham, the daughter of his housekeeper.<ref name="ADB" />{{sfn|Macfarlane|1979|pp=30–31}} Their first child together, [[Hilda Gardner|Hilda]], was born on 6 September 1890. She became a bacteriologist and a pioneer of laboratory medicine.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last1=Cohn |first1=Helen |title=Gardner, Hilda Josephine (1890–1953) |url=https://www.eoas.info/biogs/P005815b.htm |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Australian Science |access-date=12 October 2021 |archive-date=1 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220401172450/https://www.eoas.info/biogs/P005815b.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> A second daughter, Valetta, was born in 1891. Thus, Florey had two older sisters and two older half-sisters.{{sfn|Macfarlane|1979|pp=30–31}}

In 1906, the family moved to "Coreega", a mansion in the Adelaide suburb of [[Mitcham, South Australia|Mitcham]]. Florey attended [[Unley Park School]], a local [[private school]], taking the {{convert|2|mi|spell=in|adj=on}} trip to school each day in a [[horse-drawn tram]] with Mollie Clampett, a friend who lived in the [[rectory]] adjacent to Coreega. At school he acquired the lifelong nickname "Floss", this being, like "Florrie", a common diminutive form of "Florence". He transferred to [[Kyre College]], a private boys' school, in 1908.{{sfn|Macfarlane|1979|pp=33–35}} In 1911, he entered [[St Peter's College, Adelaide]],{{sfn|Macfarlane|1979|p=36}} where he excelled in chemistry, physics, mathematics and history.{{sfn|Lax|2015|pp=43–45 }}{{sfn|Macfarlane|1979|p=39}} He played various sports for the school: [[cricket]],<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article204683235 |title=College Cricket |newspaper=[[The News (Adelaide)|The Journal]] |volume=LI |issue=14193 |location=South Australia |date=11 December 1916 |access-date=27 January 2023 |page=1 |via=National Library of Australia |archive-date=25 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231025103708/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/204683235 |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Australian football]],<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article60608952 |title=College Football. |newspaper=[[South Australian Register|The Register]] |volume=LXXXI |issue=21,742 |location=South Australia |date=15 July 1916 |access-date=27 January 2023 |page=8 |via=National Library of Australia |archive-date=25 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231025103711/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/60608952 |url-status=live }}</ref> [[tennis]],<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article6455089 |title=Inter-Collegiate Tennis |newspaper=[[The Advertiser (Adelaide)|The Advertiser]] |volume=LIX |issue=18,093 |location=South Australia |date=9 October 1916 |access-date=27 January 2023 |page=11 |via=National Library of Australia |archive-date=25 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231025103710/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/6455089 |url-status=live }}</ref> and [[track and field]] athletics as a [[sprint (running)|sprinter]] and [[high jump]]er.{{sfn|Macfarlane|1979|p=39}} The cost of his education was covered by four scholarships.{{sfn|Macfarlane|1979|p=39}} He served in the [[Australian Army Cadets|Senior Cadets]], in which he was commissioned as a [[second lieutenant]] in August 1916.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article164670635 |title=Military Appointments |newspaper=[[The Observer (Adelaide)|Observer]] |volume=LXXIII |issue=5,607 |location=South Australia |date=19 August 1916 |access-date=27 January 2023 |page=37 |via=National Library of Australia |archive-date=25 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231025103709/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/164670635 |url-status=live }}</ref> After the [[First World War]] broke out in 1914, he wished to enlist, but parental permission was required and was not forthcoming. He was [[head boy]] in his final year at school,{{sfn|Macfarlane|1979|pp=41–43}} and was ranked twelfth in the state in his final examinations.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article5543286 |title=University of Adelaide |newspaper=[[The Advertiser (Adelaide)|The Advertiser]] |volume=LIX |issue=18,147 |location=South Australia |date=11 December 1916 |access-date=27 January 2023 |page=11 |via=National Library of Australia |archive-date=25 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231025103708/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/5543286 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Rather than become a businessman like his father, Florey elected to follow in the footsteps of his sister Hilda, who studied medicine. He entered the [[University of Adelaide]] in March 1917, his fees paid entirely by a state scholarship.{{sfn|Lax|2015|pp=43–45 }}{{sfn|Macfarlane|1979|pp=41–43}}<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article124852630 |title=Government Bursaries |newspaper=[[The Herald (Adelaide)|Daily Herald]] |volume=7 |issue=2112 |location=South Australia |date=27 December 1916 |access-date=27 January 2023 |page=3 |via=National Library of Australia |archive-date=25 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231025103709/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/124852630 |url-status=live }}</ref> This allowed him to continue his studies after his father died from a [[heart attack]] on 15 September 1918, and the shoe company was found to be [[Insolvency|insolvent]] and went into [[liquidation]]. Coreega and other properties had to be sold, and in 1920, the family moved into a bungalow in [[Glen Osmond, South Australia|Glen Osmond]].{{sfn|Macfarlane|1979|pp=41–43}}{{sfn|Williams|1984|p=8}}<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article5591019 |title=Personal |newspaper=[[The Advertiser (Adelaide)|The Advertiser]] |volume=LXI |issue=18,698 |location=South Australia |date=17 September 1918 |access-date=27 January 2023 |page=6 |via=National Library of Australia |archive-date=25 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231025103708/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/5591019 |url-status=live }}</ref> Florey participated in university athletics and tennis.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article63417614 |title=University Sports |newspaper=[[South Australian Register|The Register]] |volume=LXXXVI |issue=25,250 |location=South Australia |date=14 May 1921 |access-date=28 January 2023 |page=10 |via=National Library of Australia |archive-date=25 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231025103710/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/63417614 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article63038600 |title=Lawn Tennis |newspaper=[[South Australian Register|The Register]] |volume=LXXXVI |issue=25,221 |location=South Australia |date=11 April 1921 |access-date=28 January 2023 |page=5 |via=National Library of Australia |archive-date=25 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231025104250/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/63038600 |url-status=live }}</ref> He was an editor of the Medical Students' Society's ''Review'' and the ''Adelaide University Magazine''. It was through the latter that he met [[Mary Ethel Florey|Mary Ethel Hayter Reed]], a fellow medical student, when he asked her to contribute an article on ''Women in Medicine''.<ref>{{cite AuDB |title=Florey, Mary Ethel Hayter (1900–1966) |last=Fenner |first=Frank |author-link=Frank Fenner |year=1996  |volume=14 |id2=florey-mary-ethel-hayter-10695}}</ref>