Robert Walmsley

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". ...

FRCPE FRCSE TD (24 August 1906 – 24 August 1998) was a 20th-century Scottish anatomist who served as 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 ...

Early life

He was born in

Greenock Greenock (; ; , ) is a town in Inverclyde, Scotland, located in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. The town is the administrative centre of Inverclyde Council. It is a former burgh within the historic county of Renfrewshire, and forms ...

on 24 August 1906, the son of Thomas Walmsley, a marine engineer living at 59 South Street. He was educated at

Greenock Academy The Greenock Academy was a mixed non-denominational school in the west end of Greenock, Scotland. It was founded in 1855 and was originally independent, later a grammar school with a primary department, and finally a Comprehensive school only fo ...

and 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

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 1930.

Career

After graduation Walmsley was appointed a demonstrator in Anatomy under Professor James Couper Brash and subsequently Lecturer, then Senior Lecturer. In 1937, his MD, for a thesis concerning the vascular system of the foetal whale, was awarded with gold medal. He carried out this research as a Rockefeller scholar at the Carnegie Institute of Embryology in Baltimore, supervised by George L. Streeter, and on the Pacific coast of Canada. He also undertook post-doctoral research in Berlin. He joined the Territorial Army branch of the RAMC in 1938. In the

Second World War 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 served as a pathologist with 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 the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

, rising to the rank of Major. In 1945 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

James Couper Brash James Couper Brash, MC, FRCSE, FRSE (24 October 1886 in Cathcart – 19 January 1958 in Edinburgh) was a leading anatomist and embryologist in Britain. Early life and family James Couper Brash was born in Cathcart in Scotland, the son of ...

Alexander Murray Drennan Alexander Murray Drennan FRSE FRCPE (4 January 1884 – 29 February 1984) was a Scottish pathologist. In the First World War, he promoted the widespread use of Edinburgh University Solution (sold under the brand name of Eusol). A keen yachts ...

, Guy Frederic Marrian, John Gaddum and Thomas Mackie. He remained in the Territorial Army after the war and received the

Territorial Decoration __NOTOC__ The Territorial Decoration (TD) was a military medal of the United Kingdom awarded for long service in the Territorial Force and its successor, the Army Reserve (United Kingdom), Territorial Army. This award superseded the Volunteer O ...

(TD) for 40 years service in 1984. In 1946, Walmsley was appointed to the Bute Chair of Anatomy at

St Andrews St Andrews (; ; , pronounced ʰʲɪʎˈrˠiː.ɪɲ is a town on the east coast of Fife in Scotland, southeast of Dundee and northeast of Edinburgh. St Andrews had a recorded population of 16,800 , making it Fife's fourth-largest settleme ...

. This followed a three-year inter-regnum through the war, following the death in office of Prof David Waterston in 1942. He remained at St Andrews until his retirement in 1973, acting as Visiting Professor to

George Washington University The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally-chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Originally named Columbian College, it was chartered in 1821 by ...

(USA) in 1960 and Auckland University (NZ) in 1968. On his retirement, he was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Science (DSc) by the University of St Andrews and appointed Professor Emeritus. In 1978, with Hamish Watson of Dundee, he published ''The Clinical Anatomy of the Heart''. In 1951 Walmsley was elected a member of the

Harveian Society of Edinburgh The Harveian Society of Edinburgh was founded in April 1782 by Andrew Duncan (physician, born 1744), Andrew Duncan. The Society holds an annual Festival in honour of the life and works of William Harvey, the physician who first correctly des ...

and served as its President in 1964.

Personal life

In 1939, he married Dr Isabel Mary Mathieson and they had two sons. Their elder son, Vice Admiral Sir Robert Walmsley, was a Royal Navy officer and Chief of Defence Procurement at the UK Ministry of Defence from 1996 to 2003. He was the younger brother of Thomas Walmsley

. He died in

Kirkcaldy Kirkcaldy ( ; ; ) is a town and former royal burgh in Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. It is about north of Edinburgh and south-southwest of Dundee. The town had a recorded population of 49,460 in 2011, making it Fife's second-largest s ...

Fife Fife ( , ; ; ) is a council areas of Scotland, council area and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in Scotland. A peninsula, it is bordered by the Firth of Tay to the north, the North Sea to the east, the Firth of Forth to the s ...

on his 92nd birthday, 24 August 1998.

References

1906 births 1998 deaths People from Greenock People educated at Greenock Academy Academics of the University of Edinburgh Academics of the University of St Andrews Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Medical School Scottish anatomists Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Walmsley family Office bearers of the Harveian Society of Edinburgh Members of the Harveian Society of Edinburgh {{Scotland-scientist-stub