He was one of the leaders in the development of radiology as a distinct specialty in New Zealand, and with his brother, Neil, he wrote four books on the history of Fiordland.
[2] His father served throughout World War I, becoming the senior medical officer with the New Zealand Expeditionary Force, but contracted influenza and pneumonia and died at Twickenham, London, in February 1919.
[3] Begg was educated at John McGlashan College in Dunedin, and went on to study medicine at the University of Otago, graduating MB ChB in 1936.
[1] In 1956 Begg was appointed head of diagnostic radiology at Dunedin Hospital, and in 1971 he became an associate professor in that specialty at Otago Medical School, retiring in 1977.
He played an important role in the founding of the Neurological Association of New Zealand in 1957, and was actively involved in the Royal College of Radiologists of Australasia.