John Wheeler Dowden,
FRCSEd (1 October 1866 – 8 March 1936) was a surgeon, born in Ireland, who worked for most of his career at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh. He was president of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh from 1931 to 1933.
Early life and education
Dowden was born in
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...
, Ireland in 1866, where his father
John Dowden was a
Church of Ireland
The Church of Ireland ( ga, Eaglais na hÉireann, ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Kirk o Airlann, ) is a Christian church in Ireland and an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the secon ...
clergyman. In 1874 Rev Dowden was appointed Professor of Theology at the Scottish Episcopal church's
Trinity College, Glenalmond
Glenalmond College is a co-educational independent boarding school in Perth and Kinross, Scotland, for children aged between 12 and 18 years. It is situated on the River Almond near the village of Methven, about west of the city of Perth. T ...
, Scotland, moving there with his wife Louisa (née Jones) and their six children. The following year when the College relocated to Edinburgh, the family moved to live there.
Dowden was educated at
Merchiston Castle School
Merchiston Castle School is an independent boarding school for boys in the suburb of Colinton in Edinburgh, Scotland. It has around 470 pupils and is open to boys between the ages of 7 and 18 as either boarding or day pupils; it was modelled ...
, Edinburgh where he played for the school cricket and rugby teams and for many years after leaving school played for the Merchistonian and
Edinburgh Wanderers
Edinburgh Wanderers is a former rugby union club, founded in 1868. It was latterly a tenant of the Scottish Rugby Union, playing home fixtures at Murrayfield Stadium for nearly 75 years. In 1997 it merged with Murrayfield RFC to form Murrayfie ...
Rugby Clubs.
He studied medicine at the Faculty of Medicine of the
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...
graduating
MB, CM in 1890.
Career
His career began at the
Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh (RIE) as house physician under Dr David Brackenridge and house surgeon under
Professor Thomas Annandale and then at the
Royal Edinburgh Hospital for Sick Children as house surgeon under
Joseph Bell
Joseph Bell FRCSE (2 December 1837 – 4 October 1911) was a Scottish surgeon and lecturer at the medical school of the University of Edinburgh in the 19th century. He is best known as an inspiration for the literary character Sherlock Hol ...
.
For a short time he served as assistant to Dr Thomas Burn Murdoch in general practice in Morningside, Edinburgh. After completing the diploma of Fellowship of the
Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh
The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (RCSEd) is a professional organisation of surgeons. The College has seven active faculties, covering a broad spectrum of surgical, dental, and other medical practices. Its main campus is located o ...
(
FRCSEd) in 1894 he became assistant surgeon to the Hospital for Sick Children, and tutor in Clinical Surgery in the
School of Medicine of the Royal Colleges of Edinburgh
Extramural medical education in Edinburgh began over 200 years before the university medical faculty was founded in 1726 and extramural teaching continued thereafter for a further 200 years. Extramural is academic education which is conducted o ...
based at
Surgeons’ Hall. After a period as surgical tutor and private assistant to Professor Annandale he was appointed assistant surgeon to the RIE and in 1912 became surgeon in charge of wards. After retiring from the RIE in 1924 he became surgeon to
Chalmers' Hospital, Edinburgh for five years.
During World War I Dowden was commissioned as a captain in the
Royal Army Medical Corps (R.A.M.C). serving at the Second Scottish General Hospital at Craigleith, (later the
Western General Hospital). Here he served alongside a fellow surgeon
Montagu Cotterill, whose father, Like Dowden's had been Bishop of Edinburgh and who, like Dowden would go on to become President of the RCSEd.He also saw service at Edinburgh War Hospital at
Bangour.
In 1921 he was elected a member of the
Aesculapian Club
The Aesculapian Club of Edinburgh is one of the oldest medical dining clubs in the world. It was founded in April 1773 by Dr. Andrew Duncan. Membership of the Club is limited to 11 Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh ...
.
He was elected
President of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in 1931.
in 1933, when the University of Edinburgh celebrated its 350th anniversary, he received the honorary degree of LL.D.
Dowden took a lifelong interest in Merchiston Castle School and during his time as chairman of the Governing Board, he was actively involved in the relocation of the school to Colinton.
Family
In 1886 his father Rev John Dowden was consecrated as Episcopalian
Bishop of Edinburgh
The Bishop of Edinburgh, or sometimes the Lord Bishop of Edinburgh is the ordinary of the Scottish Episcopal Diocese of Edinburgh.
Prior to the Reformation, Edinburgh was part of the Diocese of St Andrews, under the Archbishop of St Andrews ...
and served in
St Mary's Episcopal Cathedral, Edinburgh.
In 1907 he married Edith Georgina Oswald, daughter of H. R. Oswald, an Edinburgh medical graduate who had served as surgeon -general in the Indian Army.
Dowden died in Edinburgh on 8 March 1936.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dowden, John Wheeler
1866 births
1936 deaths
People educated at Merchiston Castle School
Alumni of the University of Edinburgh
Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Medical School
British Army personnel of World War I
Royal Army Medical Corps officers
Fellows of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh
Presidents of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh