John Hedley Cule (7 February 1920 10 April 2015) was a Welsh physician who worked as a

general practitioner A general practitioner (GP) is a doctor who is a Consultant (medicine), consultant in general practice. GPs have distinct expertise and experience in providing whole person medical care, whilst managing the complexity, uncertainty and risk ass ...

and later as a

psychiatrist A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry. Psychiatrists are physicians who evaluate patients to determine whether their symptoms are the result of a physical illness, a combination of physical and mental ailments or strictly ...

. In 2005, he was awarded a MBE for his work in mental health in West Wales. His interest in the history of medicine led him to become the editor of the journal ''Vesalius'', lecturer in the history of medicine at the

Welsh National School of Medicine The Cardiff University School of Medicine () is the medical school of Cardiff University and is located in Cardiff, Wales, UK. Founded in 1893 as part of the University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire, it is the oldest of the three med ...

and the president of the

British Society for the History of Medicine The British Society for the History of Medicine (BSHM) is an umbrella organisation of History of medicine societies throughout the United Kingdom, with particular representation to the International Society for the History of Medicine. It has gro ...

, the

Osler Club of London The Osler Club of London, founded in 1928, is a medical society with the purpose of encouraging the study of history of medicine, particularly amongst medical students, and to keep "green the memory of Sir William Osler". Membership in the clu ...

, the

International Society for the History of Medicine The International Society for the History of Medicine is a non profit international society devoted to the academic study of the history of medicine, including the organization of international congresses. The Society was founded in 1920 in Belgi ...

and the Welsh Society of the History of Medicine.

Early life

John Cule was born on 7 February 1920 in

Ton Pentre Ton Pentre () is a village in the Rhondda, Rhondda Valley in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. Historic counties of Wales, Historically part of Glamorgan, Ton Pentre, a former industrial coal mining village, is a district of the comm ...

in the

Rhondda Valley Rhondda , or the Rhondda Valley ( ), is a former coal mining, coalmining area in South Wales, historically in the county of Glamorgan. It takes its name from the River Rhondda, and embraces two valleys – the larger Rhondda Fawr valley (, 'la ...

, to Walter Edwards Cule, a

draper Draper was originally a term for a retailer or wholesaler of cloth that was mainly for clothing. A draper may additionally operate as a cloth merchant or a haberdasher. History Drapers were an important trade guild during the medieval period ...

. The eldest of his siblings, he attended the Rhondda Intermediate School for Boys, and then became the

chorister A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

in the local chapel at

Porth County School Porth () is a town and Community (Wales), community in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, within the Historic counties of Wales, historic county boundaries of Glamorgan, Wales. Lying in the Rhondda Valley, it is regarded as the gateway co ...

. Subsequently, he attended the

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

Kingswood School Kingswood School is a private day and boarding school in Bath, Somerset, England. The school is coeducational and educates over 1,000 pupils aged 9 months to 18 years. It was founded by John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, in 1748, and is the ...

in Bath. Here he was inspired into medicine and its history by the headmaster, A. Barrett Sackett, and as a result in 1938 gained admission to Trinity Hall at the University of Cambridge. He transferred to

King's College Hospital Medical School King's College London GKT School of Medical Education (often referred to simply as GKT) is the medical school of King's College London. The school has campuses at three institutions, Guy's Hospital (London Borough of Southwark, Southwark), Kin ...

for his clinical training.

Second World War

During the Second World War he attended to the injured during

The Blitz The Blitz (English: "flash") was a Nazi Germany, German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom, for eight months, from 7 September 1940 to 11 May 1941, during the Second World War. Towards the end of the Battle of Britain in 1940, a co ...

and in 1942 he became house physician and casualty officer one year earlier than usual due to the effects of the war. After gaining his medical degree in 1943,''The Medical Register 1944'', published for the

General Medical Council The General Medical Council (GMC) is a public body that maintains the official register of physician, medical practitioners within the United Kingdom. Its chief responsibility is to "protect, promote and maintain the health and safety of the pu ...

, London, p. 365 he was commissioned as first lieutenant 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 ...

on 8 January 1944. He was posted to the

Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders (Princess Louise's) is a light infantry company (military unit), company (designated as Balaklava Company, 5th Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland) and was a line infantry regiment of the British Army tha ...

Crotone Crotone (; ; or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Calabria, Italy. Founded as the Achaean colony of Kroton ( or ; ), it became a great Greek city, home of the renowned mathematician-philosopher Pythagoras amongst other famous citizens, and one ...

in Calabria, Italy. He was forced to learn Italian as his

batman Batman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on M ...

, an Italian prisoner of war Marcello Fillini, spoke no English. In 1944, he was promoted to captain and

mentioned in dispatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face of t ...

after treating a Royal Army Service Corps driver for a

pneumothorax A pneumothorax is collection of air in the pleural space between the lung and the chest wall. Symptoms typically include sudden onset of sharp, one-sided chest pain and dyspnea, shortness of breath. In a minority of cases, a one-way valve is ...

(collapsed lung). In 1945, he was posted to Austria as part of Operation Henpeck.

Career

In 1947, Cule began his surgical training at

Addenbrookes Hospital Addenbrooke's Hospital is a large teaching hospital and research centre in Cambridge, England, with strong affiliations to the University of Cambridge. Addenbrooke's Hospital is located on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus. It is run by Cambrid ...

and the following year, his medical training at

King's Cross Hospital King's Cross Hospital, often shortened to King's Cross is a hospital in Dundee, Scotland. It is managed by NHS Tayside. History King's Cross opened in November 1889 at a site in Clepington Road, Dundee. It was the city's first permanent fever ho ...

. Between 1948 and 1971, he worked in

general practice General practice is personal, family, and community-orientated comprehensive primary care that includes diagnosis, continues over time and is anticipatory as well as responsive. Definitions A general practitioner (GP) is a doctor who is a consu ...

Camberley Camberley is a town in north-west Surrey, England, around south-west of central London. It is in the Surrey Heath, Borough of Surrey Heath and is close to the county boundaries with Hampshire and Berkshire. Known originally as "Cambridge Tow ...

, Surrey. Cule retired from general practice in 1972, began to fish on the

River Teifi The River Teifi ( ; , ), formerly anglicised as Tivy, forms the boundary for most of its length between the Welsh counties of Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire, and for the final of its total length of , the boundary between Ceredigion and Pembr ...

and moved to Capel Dewi in Ceredigion, West Wales. Here he trained as a psychiatrist and worked at St David's Hospital, Carmarthen, and the psychiatric unit of the West Wales General Hospital. He remained in this role until 1986. In 2005 he was awarded an MBE for his work in mental health in West Wales.

History of medicine

In 1962, Cule joined the

Worshipful Society of Apothecaries The Worshipful Society of Apothecaries of London is one of the livery companies of the City of London. It is one of the largest livery companies (with over 1,600 members in 2012) and ranks 58th in their order of precedence. The society is a me ...

as a

liveryman A livery company is a type of guild or professional association that originated in medieval times in London, England. Livery companies comprise London's ancient and modern trade associations and guilds, almost all of which are styled the "Wors ...

, and two years later became a freeman of the

City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...

. In the late 1970s, he became lecturer in the history of medicine at the

and a fellow of the Faculty of the History of Medicine and Pharmacy at the Society of Apothecaries. He became a member of the international committee of the

and edited its chief journal ''Vesalius'' and became its world president in 1998. He became president of the

in 1986."British Society for the History of Medicine"
''

British Medical Journal ''The BMJ'' is a fortnightly peer-reviewed medical journal, published by BMJ Publishing Group Ltd, which in turn is wholly-owned by the British Medical Association (BMA). ''The BMJ'' has editorial freedom from the BMA. It is one of the world ...

'', 11 January 1986, Vol. 292, p. 144. In addition, he was president of the

, the

and the Welsh Society of the History of Medicine.

Family and personal

Cule married nurse Joyce Leslie Bonser in 1944 and they had two sons, Simon and Peter, and a daughter Myfanwy. He sent his sons to the same school that he had attended for sixth form, in Bath. His hobbies included fishing, and later, driving ponies. In 1979, he qualified for the

scurry driving Driving means guiding a horse in harness to pull a load such as a horse-drawn vehicle, a farm implement, or other load. Horses, ponies, donkeys, mules, and other animals can be driven. Typical horse-drawn vehicles are wagons, carriages, ...

at the

Horse of the Year Show The Horse of the Year Show - also known as HOYS (pronounced /hois/)- was founded to be a culmination of the British equestrian events year. The Show was the idea of Captain Tony Collings and was realised by the then Chairman of BSJA (now Britis ...

Death

Cule died on 10 April 2015, at the age of 95 and six years after his wife. At the time of his death, he resided at Abereinon, Capel Dewi, Llandysul,

Ceredigion Ceredigion (), historically Cardiganshire (, ), is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the West Wales, west of Wales. It borders Gwynedd across the River Dyfi, Dyfi estuary to the north, Powys to the east, Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire t ...

Selected publications

* ''Wreath on The Crown: The Story Of Sarah Jacob, The Welsh Fasting Girl''. Gomerian Press Llandysul, 1967. * ''Wales and Medicine''. Gomer Press, 1975. (Editor) * ''A Doctor for the People: 2000 Years of General Practice in Britain''. Update Books, London, 1980. * ''Wales and Medicine: Source List for Printed Books and Papers Showing the History of Medicine in Relation to Wales and Welshmen''. National Library of Wales, 1980. * ''Child Care Through the Centuries: An Historical Survey from Papers Given at the Tenth British Congress on the History of Medicine''. STS Publications, Cardiff, 1986. * ''Russia and Wales: Essays on the History of State Involvement in Health Care''. History of Medicine Society of Wales. (Editor with J. M. Lancaster)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cule, John 1920 births 2015 deaths British medical writers 20th-century Welsh medical doctors People from Pentre Royal Army Medical Corps officers Members of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Kingswood School, Bath British Army personnel of World War II British general practitioners Fellows of the Royal College of General Practitioners Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh Alumni of the University of Cambridge British medical historians Presidents of learned societies Welsh psychiatrists