John Dowie Borthwick (1867–1936) was a veterinary surgeon in the

Cape Colony The Cape Colony ( nl, Kaapkolonie), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British Empire, British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope, which existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when i ...

, South Africa

Early life

Borthwick was born in

Kirkliston Kirkliston is a small town and parish to the west of Edinburgh, Scotland, historically within the county of West Lothian but now within the City of Edinburgh council limits. It lies on high ground immediately north of a northward loop of the Al ...

, Scotland to John Borthwick (also a vet) and Janet Dowie. He studied veterinary medicine at the Edinburgh College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine.

Personal life

Borthwick married a descendant of the

1820 Settlers The 1820 Settlers were several groups of British colonists from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, settled by the government of the United Kingdom and the Cape Colony authorities in the Eastern Cape of South Africa in 1820. Origins After th ...

, Elizabeth Edith Walton in

Grahamstown Makhanda, also known as Grahamstown, is a town of about 140,000 people in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is situated about northeast of Port Elizabeth and southwest of East London, Eastern Cape, East London. Makhanda is the lar ...

on 17 Mar 1893, The bacteriologist Alexander Edington who was his close colleague witnessed the marriage. He died at his Arcadia North home in

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends ...

on 18 June 1936.

Veterinary work

Borthwick began his career in South Africa on 27 March 1889 as the first assistant to Duncan Hutcheon, Colonial Veterinary Surgeon to the

Cape of Good Hope The Cape of Good Hope ( af, Kaap die Goeie Hoop ) ;''Kaap'' in isolation: pt, Cabo da Boa Esperança is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is t ...

Jotello Festiri Soga Jotello Festiri Soga (1865 – 6 December 1906) was South Africa's first black veterinary surgeon who played a leading role in eradicating rinderpest. The library at the University of Pretoria Faculty of Veterinary Science, Faculty of Veterinary ...

the first black South African vet worked with him as Hutcheon's second assistant. In 1892 he joined Alexander Edington in his laboratory (previously buildings in the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...

yard) in

. Borthwick served as Edington's assistant in the study of animal diseases until 1893 when he was succeeded by

Thomas Bowhill Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the ...

Later he served as Assistant Veterinary Surgeon in various parts of the

. In July 1906 he was promoted to the post of Chief Veterinary Surgeon vacated by Hutcheon when the latter was promoted to the post of Director of Agriculture. He then had 16 Assistant Veterinary Surgeons under his control in the Cape. Borthwick did important work in finding a prophylaxis for '' lamsiekte'' in cattle. He found feeding cattle bonemeal prevented the disease. His work was quoted as recently as 2012 by Bigalke.

Military service

During the

Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sou ...

he served in the Town Guards and District Mounted Troops.

Notes and references

* * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Borthwick, John Dowie 1867 births 1936 deaths South African veterinarians People in health professions from Edinburgh Scottish emigrants to South Africa Alumni of the University of Edinburgh People of the Boer Wars