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 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 ...

from 1935 to 1937.

Life

He was born on 3 November 1873 in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

, the son of Robert Brown Ritchie (1829-1906) and his wife Alicia Julia Scarth. The family lived at 13 Danube Street in the Stockbridge district. He was educated at

Edinburgh Academy The Edinburgh Academy is an independent day school in Edinburgh, Scotland, which was opened in 1824. The original building, on Henderson Row in the city's New Town, is now part of the Senior School. The Junior School is located on Arboretum Ro ...

1884 to 1890 then studied medicine at 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 ChB Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery ( la, Medicinae Baccalaureus, Baccalaureus Chirurgiae; abbreviated most commonly MBBS), is the primary medical degree awarded by medical schools in countries that follow the tradition of the United King ...

in 1896. He did further postgraduate study in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. He gained his MD in 1899. He had a 40-year career in Edinburgh mainly at 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 ...

and Deaconess Hospital. In 1905 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. His proposers were

George Alexander Gibson George Alexander Gibson FRSE FRCPE (27 January 1854 – 18 January 1913) was a Scottish physician, medical author and amateur geologist. As an author he wrote on the diverse fields of both geology and heart disease. The Gibson Memorial Lecture ...

Diarmid Noel Paton Diarmid Noël Paton, (19 March 1859 – 30 September 1928), known as Noël Paton, was a Scottish physician and academic. From 1906 to 1928, he was the Regius Professor of Physiology at the University of Glasgow. Personal life and education P ...

Daniel John Cunningham Daniel John Cunningham M.D., D.C.L., LL. D. F.R.S., F.R.S.E. F.R.A.I. (15 April 1850 – 23 July 1909) was a Scottish physician, zoologist, and anatomist, famous for ''Cunningham's Text-book of Anatomy'' and ''Cunningham's Manual of Pra ...

and

Edward Albert Sharpey-Schafer Sir Edward Albert Sharpey-Schafer FRS FRSE FRCP LLD (2 June 1850 – 29 March 1935) was an English physiologist. He is regarded as a founder of endocrinology: in 1894 he discovered and demonstrated the existence of adrenaline together with G ...

. 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 served as Medical Officer attached to the 1/3rd

Scottish Horse The Scottish Horse was a Yeomanry regiment of the British Army's Territorial Army raised in 1900 for service in the Second Boer War. It saw heavy fighting in both the First World War, as the 13th Battalion, Black Watch, and in the Second World Wa ...

and then oversaw the 27th General Hospital in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

. He was awarded an OBE for his war services and attached to

Bangour Hospital Bangour Village Hospital was a psychiatric hospital located west of Dechmont in West Lothian, Scotland. During the First World War it formed part of the much larger Edinburgh War Hospital. History The hospital was modelled on the village system ...

for post-war services. In 1923 he gave the Gibson Memorial Lecture. In 1928 he succeeded Professor Lovell Gulland as Professor of Clinical Medicine at the

. He died at his home on Barnshot Road in

Colinton Colinton ( gd, Baile Cholgain) is a suburb of Edinburgh, Scotland situated south-west of the city centre. Up until the late 18th century it appears on maps as Collington. It is bordered by Dreghorn to the south and Craiglockhart to the north ...

on 7 February 1945.

Family

In 1921 he was married to Madeline Tyrie (1887-1962).

Publications

*''Diseases of the Heart'' (with Dr John Cowan) *''Medical Diagnosis'' (with J J Graham Brown)

References

1873 births 1945 deaths Medical doctors from Edinburgh Scottish merchants Burials at the Dean Cemetery Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Alumni of the University of Edinburgh {{Scotland-med-bio-stub