Sir John Neish Ritchie

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 Literature, letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". ...

FZS PRCVS CB LLD (19 January 1904–28 September 1977) was a 20th-century Scottish veterinarian who rose to the top of his profession.

Life

He was born in

Turriff Turriff () is a town and civil parish in Aberdeenshire in Scotland. It lies on the River Deveron, about above sea level, and has a population of 5,708. In everyday speech it is often referred to by its Scots name ''Turra'', which is deriv ...

in north-east Scotland on 19 January 1904 the youngest son of Annie Watson and her husband, John Neish Ritchie, a general merchant. He was educated at Turriff Higher Grade School. He then studied at the Royal Dick Veterinary College in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

graduating in 1925, he then undertook postgraduate studies at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

, graduating with a BSc degree in 1927. After a period in private practice he joined the staff of the Department of Agriculture in 1938 and rose to be Chief Veterinary Officer in 1952. In 1957 he was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) 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 establis ...

. His proposers were Sir William Weipers,

Robert Garry Robert Campbell Garry, OBE, FRSE, (21 April 1900 – 16 April 1993) was a British physician and Professor of Medicine at the University of St Andrews and the University of Glasgow. During World War II, as an expert on human physiology, he ad ...

James Norman Davidson James Norman Davidson CBE PRSE FRS (5 March 1911 – 11 September 1972) was a British biochemist, pioneer molecular biologist and textbook author. The Davidson Building at the University of Glasgow is named for him. Life He was the only child o ...

and William McGregor Mitchell. He was created a Commander of the Order of the Bath in 1955 and knighted by

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

in the

1961 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1961 were appointments by many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were announced on 31 December 1960 in the ...

. He was President of the

Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) is the regulatory body for veterinary surgeons in the United Kingdom, established in 1844 by royal charter. It is responsible for monitoring the educational, ethical and clinical standards of the ...

in 1959. In 1965 he was appointed Principal of the

Royal Veterinary College The Royal Veterinary College (informally the RVC) is a veterinary school located in London and a member institution of the federal University of London. The RVC was founded in 1791 and joined the University of London in 1949. It is the oldest an ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

holding the post until retiral in 1970. He died in

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

on 28 September 1977.

Family

In 1930 he married Florina Margaret Drummond (d.1975).

References

1904 births 1977 deaths People from Turriff Scottish veterinarians Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Fellows_of_the_Zoological_Society_of_London {{Scotland-bio-stub