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Resource Name:
Resource Type:
External Resource
Metadata
Asset Name:
E008295 - Simpson, John Fergusson (1902 - 1995)
Title:
Simpson, John Fergusson (1902 - 1995)
Author:
Royal College of Surgeons of England
Identifier:
RCS: E008295
Publisher:
London : Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date:
2015-10-01
Description:
Obituary for Simpson, John Fergusson (1902 - 1995), Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England.
Language:
English
Source:
Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Full Name:
Simpson, John Fergusson
Date of Birth:
1902
Place of Birth:
Maidenhead
Date of Death:
12 September 1995
Occupation:
Titles/Qualifications:
MRCS 1926

FRCS 1929

LRCP 1926
Details:
John Simpson was born in Maidenhead in 1902, the son of a Colonel. He spent his early years in Reading but went up to St Mary's Hospital Medical School in Paddington for his entire medical education and remained with that hospital throughout his career. He qualified in 1926, immediately worked for the FRCS which he gained in 1929 and then dedicated himself to otolaryngology. After working as assistant to Lionel Colledge, the pioneer laryngeal surgeon, he gained his first consultant appointment at the Throat Hospital in Golden Square, but was soon afterwards elected ENT surgeon to St Mary's. Having joined the RAFVR before the war he was called back from holiday at the outbreak of hostilities, driving his Bentley at high speed from the south of France. He served throughout the war, mostly at RAF Halton, ending as squadron leader with a DSO. The war over, he married Winifred 'Pegs' Rood by whom he was to have a son and a daughter. Back at St Mary's he shouldered a heavy clinical load but was a stickler for prompt attendance at his clinics and operating lists, and greatly respected for it. He was best known for his innovative approach to cancer of the larynx and pharynx but he covered the whole field of his specialty, publishing his *Synopsis of otolaryngology* in 1957. He was a great admirer of Joseph Toynbee, the pioneer aural surgeon appointed to St Mary's at its foundation when it was the first hospital to include such a specialist department. At the Royal Society of Medicine, where he was President of the Section of Otology in 1962, he established the Toynbee Lecture, since delivered by many distinguished otolaryngologists. He enjoyed robust good health and lived to the age of 92 years. He died in his sleep on 12 September 1995.
Sources:
*BMJ* 1995 311 149
Rights:
Copyright (c) The Royal College of Surgeons of England
Collection:
Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format:
Obituary
Format:
Asset
Asset Path:
Root/Lives of the Fellows/E008000-E008999/E008200-E008299
Media Type:
Unknown