Kenelm Hutchinson Digby OBE FRCS (4 August 1884 - 23 February 1954) was a British surgeon who lived and worked for many years in Hong Kong, where he held various Professorships at

Hong Kong University The University of Hong Kong (HKU) is a public research university in Pokfulam, Hong Kong. It was founded in 1887 as the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese by the London Missionary Society and formally established as the University of ...

from 1913 - 1949. The ''K. H. Digby Memorial Scholarship'' was established in his honour at the University.

Life and career

Digby was born in Ealing, London, the son of William Digby, who was in the

Indian Civil Service The Indian Civil Service (ICS), officially known as the Imperial Civil Service, was the higher civil service of the British Empire in India during British Raj, British rule in the period between 1858 and 1947. Its members ruled over more than 3 ...

. He was the cousin of

Kenelm Hubert Digby Kenelm Hubert Digby MBE (10 March 1912, in London – 5 August 2001) was the proposer of the controversial 1933 "King and Country" debate in the Oxford Union who later became the Attorney General and a judge in Sarawak. Biography Digby was b ...

, the proposer of the notorious 1933 "King and Country" debate in the

Oxford Union The Oxford Union Society, commonly referred to as the Oxford Union, is a debating society in the city of Oxford, England, whose membership is drawn primarily from the University of Oxford. Founded in 1823, it is one of Britain's oldest unive ...

, and later Attorney General and judge in

Sarawak Sarawak ( , ) is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia. It is the largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia. Sarawak is located in East Malaysia in northwest Borneo, and is ...

. Digby was educated at Quernmore School, Bromley, and undertook his medical studies at

Guy's Hospital Guy's Hospital is an NHS hospital founded by philanthropist Thomas Guy in 1721, located in the borough of Southwark in central London. It is part of Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust and one of the institutions that comprise the Kin ...

, London, where he was a prize-winning student (holding the Michael Harris, Hilton and Beaney Prizes) and where he gained his MB, BS in 1907 and became a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons in 1910. He was House Surgeon and Resident Obstetric Attendant at the hospital. In 1913 he first went to work in Hong Kong. He worked at the University of Hong Kong, holding various Professorships, for many years. In 1939 he was awarded the OBE.

Posts held

* Surgical Registrar and Anæsthetist to Guy's Hospital, 1909–11 * Principal Medical Officer, Great Central Railway, 1912 * Professor of Anatomy, University of Hong Kong, 1913–23 * Professor of Surgery, University of Hong Kong, 1923–45 * Ho Tung Professor of Clinical Surgery, University of Hong Kong, 1915–45 * Honorary Consultant in Surgery to Government of Hong Kong, 1915–48 * Surgeon, Queen Mary Hospital, 1930–48 * engaged in research work, at Royal College of Surgeons of England, 1949 onwards * Emeritus Professor of Surgery, University of Hong Kong, 1950 Digby was interned in

Stanley internment camp Stanley Internment Camp () was a civilian internment camp in Hong Kong during the Second World War. Located in Stanley, Hong Kong, Stanley, on the southern end of Hong Kong Island, it was used by the Imperial Japanese Army, Japanese imperial fo ...

, Hong Kong during the war. He retired from Hong Kong to England in 1949. Digby married Selina Dorothy Law in 1913, and the couple had two daughters. In 1955, the year after his death, the ''K. H. Digby Memorial Fund'' was set up at the University of Hong Kong.

Professor Digby will be remembered for his excellent teaching, his enthusiasm in the wards, his infectious laugh and humour, and his stern discipline in the operation theatre. He was a big man in every sense of the word.

Publications

*1919 ''Immunity in Health: The Functions of the Tonsils and the Appendix'' 1919 **plus many papers in medical journals

Life and career

Posts held

Publications

References

Further reading