William Osborne Greenwood

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 ...

(1873–1947) was a curious (and perhaps unique) Briton qualified both as a surgeon and a minister of religion. He wrote on both subjects. Issues covering both fields included debates on the agony of childbirth. His book Biology and Christian Belief ran to several editions.

Life

He was born in

Halifax, West Yorkshire Halifax () is a minster and market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale in West Yorkshire, England. It is the commercial, cultural and administrative centre of the borough, and the headquarters of Calderdale Council. In the 15th cen ...

. He attended Skipton Grammar School then the

University of Leeds , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

before studying medicine at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

, graduating MB BS in 1903. In 1922 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 ...

. His proposers were John William Ballantyne, James Haig Ferguson, Sir

John Halliday Croom John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

and

Alexander Hugh Freeland Barbour Alexander Hugh Freeland Barbour LLD FRSE FRCPE (7 January 1856 – 11 June 1927) was a Scottish gynaecologist and noted medical author. He was President of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh and co-author of the world-acclaimed ''M ...

. In 1930 he began a completely new career and was ordained as a deacon in the Church of England. He became curate of

Spofforth, North Yorkshire Spofforth is a village in the civil parish of Spofforth with Stockeld in the Harrogate district of North Yorkshire, England, about north west of Wetherby and south of Harrogate on the River Crimple, a tributary of the River Nidd. History Sp ...

. He died on 8 January 1947.

Publications

*''A Study in Twilight Sleep'' (1916) *''Scopolamine-morphine: Semi-Narcosis During Labour'' (1919) *''Biology and Christian Belief'' (1938) *''Christianity and the Mechanists'' (1941)

References

Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh British surgeons Alumni of the University of London 1873 births 1947 deaths Alumni of the University of Leeds {{UK-med-bio-stub