David Waterston OBE

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". ...

(25 August 1871–4 September 1942) was a 20th-century Scottish surgeon and anatomist. He was the Bute Professor of Anatomy at the

University of St Andrews The University of St Andrews (, ; abbreviated as St And in post-nominals) is a public university in St Andrews, Scotland. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest of the four ancient universities of Scotland and, f ...

. He was one of the first to debunk the Piltdown Man hoax, correctly pointing out that the jaw and skull did not match correctly.

Life

Waterston was born in

Govan Govan ( ; Cumbric: ''Gwovan''; Scots language, Scots: ''Gouan''; Scottish Gaelic: ''Baile a' Ghobhainn'') is a district, parish, and former burgh now part of southwest Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated west of Glasgow city centre, on the sout ...

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

on 25 August 1871 the son of Isabella Anderson and her husband Rev Richard Waterston (1830-1892) of Union Church on Morrison Street. The family lived at 2 Park Grove on the Paisley Road. His father moved to St Paul's Church in

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

in 1878. The family later lived at 2 Park Place in Dundee. He studied for a general degree 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 ...

, the home town of his parents, graduating with an MA around 1890. He then studied medicine under Sir William Turner graduating with an

MB ChB A Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (; MBBS, also abbreviated as BM BS, MB ChB, MB BCh, or MB BChir) is a medical degree granted by medical schools or universities in countries that adhere to the United Kingdom's higher education tradi ...

in 1895. He then began lecturing in anatomy at the university alongside

David Hepburn David Hepburn Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George, CMG FRSE (1859-1931) was a Scottish physician and anatomist. He served as president of the Anatomical Society 1916 to 1918. Life He was born in Milnathort on 30 October 1858, ...

. He gained his doctorate (MD) in 1898, and won the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh's Gold Medal in 1900. In 1900 he was living at 16 Merchiston Terrace in west Edinburgh. In 1901 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 Turner,

Ramsay Heatley Traquair Ramsay Heatley Traquair FRSE FRS (30 July 1840 – 22 November 1912) was a Scottish naturalist and palaeontologist who became a leading expert on fossil fish. Traquair trained as a medical doctor, but his thesis was on aspects of fish anatomy ...

, Robert Munro, and

. In 1905 he published the ''Edinburgh Stereoscopic Atlas of Anatomy''. As its name suggests, this work used stereographic photographs to provide a three-dimensional view of anatomical preparations. It was widely used by Scottish medical schools. In 1909 he was still working in Edinburgh and lived at 1 Coates Place in the West End of the city, a large terraced townhouse in the West End of the City. He was Professor of Anatomy at

King's College, London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

from around 1910. During this period he came to national fame in 1913 as the first person to discredit the Piltdown Man hoax which had been made public in December 1912. In 1914 he became the Bute Professor of Anatomy at the

, succeeding Professor James Musgrove. He died on 4 September 1942. When he died there was an inter-regnum in the Bute chair due to the

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He was eventually succeeded in 1946 by Professor Robert Walmsley.

Family

He was married to Isabel Amy Simsom. Their children included Brigadier Surgeon Richard E. Waterston FRCS and David James Waterston FRCSE.

References

Selected bibliography

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* * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Waterston, David 1871 births 1942 deaths People from Govan Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Academics of the University of St Andrews Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Scottish anatomists Officers_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire