Thomas Baillie Johnston
Thomas Baillie Johnston
| Prof. Dr Thomas Baillie Johnston CBE MD | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | |||||||
| Born | 1883 | ||||||
| Died | 1960 | ||||||
| Residence | Medical School, Guys Hospital, London Bridge, SE1 | ||||||
| Occupation |
anatomist medical | ||||||
| |||||||
Contents
Notes
Office Notes
House Notes
1922.10.24 nominated; Proposed by J.C. Parsons, seconded by W. Wright
Notes From Elsewhere
THOMAS BAILLIE JOHNSTON, C.B.E., M.D.
Professor Emeritus T. B. Johnston died at Guy's Hospital on 8 October 1960 at the age of 77 years. The son of Major A. Johnston he was born and bred in Edinburgh, where he received his education at George Watson's College and the University of Edinburgh. His first attempt at the school-leaving certificate was not particularly
distinguished, but he ended in third place in the higher section. Though his family was keen that he should join the Indian Civil Service, he sat for and was awarded jointly the Vans Dunlop Scholarship and qualified M.B., Ch.B. with first-class honours in 1906. He obtained the M.D. degree in 1938. In 1907 Johnston was appointed a demonstrator and in 1911 a lecturer in Anatomy at Edinburgh. He moved to University College in 1914 to work under George Dancer Thane and was for a short time Sub-dean of the Medical Faculty. His work was interrupted by the First World War and from 1916 to 1918 he held a Temporary Commission in the R.A.M.C. and saw active service in France and Italy. He was mentioned in Dispatches in 1918.
In 1919 Johnston was appointed to the first Chair in Anatomy at Guy's Hospital Medical School. Here his administrative ability was quickly recognized and in 1920 he was appointed Dean of the School, a position which he held until 1937. When he took over the post of Dean the School premises were poor and inadequate, but the
number of students was swelled by ex-service men, of whom many were married and often in financial difficulty. It was with these students that T.B., as he was popularly known, made his mark as a teacher. During his tenure of the Deanship new buildings to house most of the Medical School departments were constructed, a new constitution for the School was drawn up and a Preliminary Clinical Period was introduced into the courses. As recreation T.B. spent much of his leisure time at Huntercombe Manor Golf Club where he was popularly known as 'the Dean' and where he formed a close friendship with Lord Nuffield who he was able to interest in the finances of Guy's Hospital. In 1938 Johnston, having resigned as Dean, took up the post of Superintendent of the hospital, a somewhat difficult and unenviable task at the time for it was deeply in debt. However, the onset of the Second World War and the take over by the Ministry of Health after the war resolved this difficulty.
As superintendent Johnston was the liaison between the medical staff and the governors and acted as spokesman for the staff. Whilst he held the post of superintendent T. B. Johnston's appointment as Professor was part-time. It was intended to have a second Chair of Anatomy but this was never filled and it was only in 1948 that he was succeeded in the Chair by the late James Whillis.
During the Second World War Johnston was Group Officer for No. 10 Sector with its headquarters at Orpington. At the end of the war he returned to Guy's to rebuild and reorganize a much-damaged hospital; the building of the new surgical block, which reached its final stages last year, was largely due to his efforts and it will remain as a memorial of his unceasing work on behalf of Guy's Hospital. On his retirement from the Chair he was elected Professor Emeritus and on his retirement from the post of superintendent a member of the new Board of governors. He was awarded the C.B.E. in 1948.
In the Anatomical Society Johnston was the second oldest member, having joined in 1912, in the same year as his old friend, T. B. Layton. He was a Vice-President of the Society and, after his retirement, a Life Member. He represented British anatomists at the International Congress in Milan in 1936 and was, until a year ago, a representative of the Society on the International Nomenclature Subcommittee. With A. F. Dixon and E. B. Jamieson he prepared and presented to the Society in 1933 the revised anatomical terminology, now known as the Birmingham Revision. Jointly with G. A. G. Mitchell, he was secretary of the International Nomenclature Committee which presented its report in 1955 at the International Anatomical Congress in Paris. He spent a great deal of time and energy in the preparation of these terminologies and it is surprising how he found time for all this in the midst of his manifold duties.
Johnston published several papers in the Journal, mainly on embryological topics but with excursions into neurology and comparative anatomy. However, it is as editor of anatomical textbooks that he will be best remembered. He was the author of Medical Applied Anatomy, published in 1915; A Manual of Surgical Anatomy,
with L. Beesly; and A Synopsis of Regional Anatomy, which reached its eighth edition in 1955. He was editor of Gray's Anatomy, at first alone, later with James Whillis and then with Francis Davies and myself. Overall, he was editor of Gray for nearly thirty years, a record which is unlikely to be surpassed. His one ambition was to edit the centenary (thirty-second) edition which appeared in 1958. Originally he was recommended to the publishers by F. G. Parsons for the post of editor to work with and succeed R. Howden. When Howden was in London for a G.M.C.
meeting in 1928, he met Johnston to discuss the proposition, but their discussions led to the unexpected resignation of Howden from the post of editor, leaving T.B. to produce the twenty-fourth edition on his own. This appeared in 1930 and in it Johnston had entirely rewritten the embryology section. As editor he worked with
four generations of the publishing firm of Longmans Green and with three generations of the printing firm of Maclehose. As a colleague, T.B. was all one could wish. He was helpful and tolerant of the inexperienced, but was insistent on a high standard of work and conservative in his outlook.
T.B. will be remembered not only as editor of Gray, but as a versatile teacher of generations of medical students and as a great administrator. His success in this sprang from his charm and ability to get on with his colleagues whilst maintaining the highest of standards. D. V. DAVIES
Publications
External Publications
A Synopsis of Regional Anatomy
1951
by Thomas Baillie Johnston
He was editor of Gray's Anatomy
Medical Applied Anatomy, published in 1915
A Manual of Surgical Anatomy, with L. Beesly