William David Doherty, M.A., M.Ch., F.R.C.S., known as George Doherty was a medical superintendent of

Guy's Hospital Guy's Hospital is an NHS hospital in the borough of Southwark in central London. It is part of Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust and one of the institutions that comprise the King's Health Partners, an academic health science centre. ...

, London, and a former captain of the Ireland national rugby union team.

Early life

William David Doherty was born on 17 July 1893, in south London. He attended

Dulwich College Dulwich College is a 2–19 Independent school (United Kingdom), independent, Day school, day and boarding school for Single-sex education, boys in Dulwich, London, England. As a Public school (United Kingdom), public school, it began as the Col ...

where he played rugby and for three years represented his school at the Public Schools boxing championships. He proceeded to

King's College, Cambridge King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the cit ...

, to study medicine. Having broken his education to serve in the

first world war World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, he graduated B.A. in 1917. He immediately entered

Guy's Hospital Medical School GKT School of Medical Education (abbreviated: GKT) is the medical school of King's College London. The school has campuses at three institutions, Guy's Hospital (Southwark), King's College Hospital (Denmark Hill) and St Thomas' Hospital (Lambeth ...

, qualifying with the Conjoint diploma in 1920.

Rugby career

By the time George Doherty entered Guy's his reputation as a rugby forward was already well established. Whilst at Dulwich College he played in an unbeaten first XV in 1909 which contained five future internationals dubbed the 'Famous Five'. These five would all go on to play in the 1913

Varsity match A varsity match is a fixture (especially of a sporting event or team) between two university teams, particularly Oxford and Cambridge. The Scottish Varsity rugby match between the University of St Andrews and the University of Edinburgh at Murrayf ...

, (and also produced the captains of both

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

and

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

in 1919), and all served in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. They were

Eric Loudoun-Shand Eric Gordon Loudoun-Shand MC TD (born Eric Gordon Shand; 31 March 1893) was a Rugby Union international who played for Scotland and captained Oxford University's Rugby side in the 1919 Varsity Match. During what would have been the prime of hi ...

and Grahame Donald who both went on to play for Scotland, Doherty himself who went on to play for and captain Ireland, Jenny Greenwood who went on to play for and captain England and the record-breaking

Cyril Lowe Cyril Nelson "Kit" Lowe, (7 October 1891 – 6 February 1983) was an English rugby union footballer who held England's international try scoring record for over sixty years, a First World War flying ace credited with nine victories, and suppose ...

. From Dulwich College, Doherty went to

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III of England, Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world' ...

. He was selected for the 1913 varsity match. On his team were two of his former school teammates, CN Lowe and JE Greenwood, on the opposing side were Eric Loudoun-Shand and Graham Donald also from Dulwich. After the

Doherty was selected to play for

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. In addition, at Cambridge he was also awarded a half-Blue for water polo. Guy's benefited from having Doherty in their side, but he was not the lone international playing for the side. The Guy's side that he captained for three years, played in the post-war years in which Guy's was regarded as the amongst the finest, if not the finest, club side in the country. It also included many famous players from South Africa (at one point there were 14 South Africans and himself.11 June 1966, S.A. MEDICAL JOURNAL, p500) and Wales. Doherty's former school friend and fellow international, Eric Loudoun-Shand, said that Doherty was ''"the lightest and toughest forward, a player who was always on the ball, and a magnificent leader."'' This view was born out by the fact whilst captain of Guy's Doherty was also capped seven times for Ireland and captained them in 1921.Dulwich College Sporting Honours
/ref> In 1921 he was also the captain of the United Hospitals RFC. In one season, he captained Ireland, United Hospitals, Surrey and Guy's. After his playing days were over, Doherty maintained a strong relationship with Guy's Hospital Rugby and served as President from 1943 to 1951.

Medical career

Personal and later life

In 1922 George Doherty married Annie Ruth Margaret Barber and they had two sons and a daughter. When he retired in 1958 he continued to serve the hospital and in 1961 he was appointed a Governor and was Chairman of the Nursing and Nurses Education Committee. He was also a Governor of the Medical School. He was also a member of a number of medical dining clubs, one of which, the Cambridge Medical Graduates Club, he was president. After his retirement he was also an active mason and regularly visited South Africa. He died suddenly on 31 March 1966 a week after an operation on his hip.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Doherty, William David 1893 births 1966 deaths 20th-century English medical doctors Alumni of King's College, Cambridge English people of Irish descent Ireland international rugby union players People educated at Dulwich College Place of death missing Rugby union locks Rugby union players from the London Borough of Wandsworth Sportspeople from Wandsworth Surrey RFU players Military personnel from London British military personnel of World War I