Dr John Michael Dewar MD

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This soci ...

FRCPE The Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (RCPE) is a medical royal college in Scotland. It is one of three organisations that sets the specialty training standards for physicians in the United Kingdom. It was established by Royal charter ...

(1883 – 24 May 1941) was a Scottish gynaecologist and ornithologist specialising in diving birds and waders. In publication he is usually referred to as J. M. Dewar.

Life

He was the son of Agnes Baillie Anderson and her husband, Dr Michael Dewar (1850–1925). His early education was at

George Watson's College George Watson's College is a co-educational Independent school (United Kingdom), independent day school in Scotland, situated on Colinton Road, in the Merchiston area of Edinburgh. It was first established as a Scottish education in the eight ...

. He studied medicine at the

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and graduated with an MB ChB in 1904, and gained an MD in 1914. He made complex studies and calculations of the dives of diving birds to discover the co-relation between length of dive and depth reached. In 1912 he published papers on the evolution of wading birds, and in 1915 an important paper on sense of direction in birds, of much relevance to migration. At this time he lived at 24 Lauriston Place, a flat opposite the

Edinburgh Royal Infirmary The Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, or RIE, often (but incorrectly) known as the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, or ERI, was established in 1729 and is the oldest voluntary hospital in Scotland. The new buildings of 1879 were claimed to be the largest v ...

next to

George Heriot’s School George Heriot's School is a Scottish independent primary and secondary day school on Lauriston Place in the Old Town of Edinburgh, Scotland. In the early 21st century, it has more than 1600 pupils, 155 teaching staff, and 80 non-teaching staf ...

. He was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established i ...

in 1938. His proposers were

Edwin Bramwell Edwin Bramwell FRSE PRCPE LLD (1873–1952) was a 20th-century Scottish neurologist. He was President of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh from 1933 to 1935. Life He was born in North Shields on 11 January 1873 the son of Martha ( ...

James Ritchie James Ritchie may refer to: * James Ritchie (rugby union) (1907–1942), Scottish international rugby union player * James Ritchie (naturalist) (1882–1958), President of the Royal Society of Edinburgh * James Ritchie (Massachusetts politician) (1 ...

Charles Henry O'Donoghue Charles Henry O'Donoghue FRSE FZS (23 September 1885 – 28 November 1961) was an English zoologist who studied molluscs, a malacologist. His publications mostly deal with sea slugs and he also named a number of Bryozoans. A collection of over 700 ...

, and

William Thomas Ritchie Professor William Thomas Ritchie FRSE PRCPE LLD OBE (3 November 1873 – 7 February 1945) was a Scottish cardiologist who served as President of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh from 1935 to 1937. Life He was born on 3 November 1 ...

. He served as a Civilian Medical Officer to the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

and at the outbreak of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

was co-opted as Assistant Physician to

. He died on 24 May 1941. He is buried with his parents and sister in Morningside Cemetery in southern Edinburgh. The grave lies on the southern edge, slightly east of the south entrance.

Publications

*''The Bird as a Diver'' (1924) *''Timing the Underwater Activity of Diving Birds''''British Birds'', vol. 33 *''Dictionary of the Habits and Behaviours of Birds'' (1941-unpublished)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dewar, John Michael 1883 births 1941 deaths People educated at George Watson's College Scottish ornithologists 20th-century Scottish scientists Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Alumni of the University of Edinburgh 20th-century British zoologists Scottish gynaecologists