Sir John Simon Rawson Golding OJ

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

FRCS Fellowship of the Royal Colleges of Surgeons (FRCS) is a professional certification, professional qualification to practise as a senior surgeon in Republic of Ireland, Ireland or the United Kingdom. It is bestowed on an wikt:intercollegiate, ...

(15 April 1921 – 23 March 1996) was a British orthopaedic surgeon known for his work in Jamaica. He moved to the country in 1953 and was a long-serving professor at the

University of West Indies The University of the West Indies (UWI), originally University College of the West Indies, is a public university system established to serve the Tertiary education, higher education needs of the residents of 18 English-speaking Country, cou ...

in Mona. He specialised in

rehabilitation medicine Physical medicine and rehabilitation (PM&R), also known as physiatry, and outside the United States as physical and rehabilitation medicine (PRM), is a branch of medicine that aims to enhance and restore functional ability and quality of life ...

and was a pioneer of that field in Jamaica.

Early life

Golding was born in London on 15 April 1921. His parents were

Lithuanian Jew {{Infobox ethnic group , group = Litvaks , image = , caption = , poptime = , region1 = {{flag, Lithuania , pop1 = 2,800 , region2 = {{flag, South Africa , pop2 = 6 ...

s who arrived in the United Kingdom in the 1890s. He was educated at

Marlborough College Marlborough College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English private boarding school) for pupils aged 13 to 18 in Marlborough, Wiltshire, England. It was founded as Marlborough School in 1843 by the Dean of Manchester, George ...

before going on to

Caius College, Cambridge Gonville and Caius College, commonly known as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348 by Edmund Gonville, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges an ...

. He graduated

MBBS 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 1944.

Medical career

Golding completed his

medical residency Residency or postgraduate training is a stage of graduate medical education. It refers to a qualified physician (one who holds the degree of MD, DO, MBBS/MBChB), veterinarian ( DVM/VMD, BVSc/BVMS), dentist ( DDS or DMD), podiatrist ( DPM), o ...

Middlesex Hospital Middlesex Hospital was a teaching hospital located in the Fitzrovia area of London, England. First opened as the Middlesex Infirmary in 1745 on Windmill Street, it was moved in 1757 to Mortimer Street where it remained until it was finally clos ...

and subsequently undertook his

national service National service is a system of compulsory or voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act ...

in the

Royal Army Medical Corps The Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) was a specialist corps in the British Army which provided medical services to all Army personnel and their families, in war and in peace. On 15 November 2024, the corps was amalgamated with the Royal Army De ...

. In 1946 he was posted to

Tobruk Tobruk ( ; ; ) is a port city on Libya's eastern Mediterranean coast, near the border with Egypt. It is the capital of the Butnan District (formerly Tobruk District) and has a population of 120,000 (2011 est.)."Tobruk" (history), ''Encyclop� ...

under the British Military Administration of Libya. After returning to England he trained in orthopaedics at Middlesex Hospital and the

Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital The Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital (RNOH) is a specialist orthopaedic hospital located in Stanmore in the London Borough of Harrow, run by the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust. It provides the most comprehensive range of neuro- ...

Jamaica

In 1953, Golding accepted the position of senior lecturer in orthopaedic surgery at the University College Hospital of the West Indies in

Mona, Jamaica Mona is a neighbourhood in southeastern Saint Andrew Parish, Jamaica, Saint Andrew Parish, approximately eight kilometres from Kingston, Jamaica, Kingston, Jamaica. A former sugarcane Sugar plantations in the Caribbean, plantation, it is the sit ...

. He was promoted to chair of orthopaedic surgery in 1965 and lectured in a number of North American countries, making 16 visits to

Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...

. He was regarded as an expert in tropical orthopaedic medicine. Golding was a founding member of World Orthopaedic Concern, an organisation devoted to furthering orthopaedic education in developing countries, and was elected as the organisation's inaugural secretary-general at its first meeting in Nigeria in 1977. In 1994 he was elected chairman of the Commonwealth Caribbean Medical Research Council. Following a

poliomyelitis Poliomyelitis ( ), commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 75% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe ...

epidemic which affected around 1,500 people, Golding established the Mona Rehabilitation Centre as a rehabilitation facility for the English-speaking Caribbean. The organisation was later renamed the Sir John Golding Rehabilitation Centre (SJGRC) in his honour. He also established the Hope Valley Experimental School to provide education and training for disabled individuals and Monex, a disability enterprise employing handicapped people. He helped organise the

1966 Commonwealth Paraplegic Games The second Commonwealth Paraplegic Games were held in Kingston, Jamaica from 14 to 20 August 1966. There were 133 athletes from 10 countries. The Games were opened by Prince Philip. Participating nations The following nations participated at ...

in Jamaica. Golding was also an advocate for road safety in Jamaica, advocating for seatbelt and crash helmet regulations and helping establish the National Road Safety Council of Jamaica.

Personal life

In 1961, Golding married Patricia Levy, the daughter of a Jamaican doctor. The couple had two children, including

Mark Golding Mark Jefferson Golding (born 19 July 1965) is a Jamaican politician who has been Opposition Leader of Jamaica and President of the People's National Party since November 2020, following the 2020 Jamaican general election, 2020 general election. ...

who entered politics. Elected as a

Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons Fellowship of the Royal Colleges of Surgeons (FRCS) is a professional certification, professional qualification to practise as a senior surgeon in Republic of Ireland, Ireland or the United Kingdom. It is bestowed on an wikt:intercollegiate, ...

in 1949, Golding was appointed

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(OBE) in 1959 and received the

Order of Jamaica The Order of Jamaica is the fifth of the six orders in the Jamaican honours system. The Order was established in 1969, and it is considered the equivalent of a knighthood in the British honours system. Membership in the Order can be conferred upon ...

in 1974. He was knighted in 1986 on the recommendation of the Jamaican government.

References

{{reflist 1921 births 1996 deaths Health professionals from London Jamaican orthopaedic surgeons British orthopaedic surgeons British emigrants to Jamaica English people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent Jamaican people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent Alumni of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Rehabilitation physicians Members of the Order of Jamaica 20th-century Jamaican physicians People educated at Marlborough College Jamaican Knights Bachelor Fellows of the Royal College of Surgeons of England Officers of the Order of the British Empire