Sir William Macewen, 1848-1924

Sir William Macewen was born at Rothesay in 1848. He graduated in medicine from Glasgow University in 1869 and gained the degree of M.D. in 1872. In 1875 he was appointed assistant surgeon to the Royal Infirmary at Glasgow, becoming a full Surgeon in 1877. On his appointment to the Infirmary he devoted himself to surgery and it was during this time that he made important advances in both brain and bone surgery. In 1881 he was appointed lecturer on Systematic Surgery at the Royal Infirmary School of Medicine where he stayed for eight years, and at the amalgamation of this school with St Mungo's College he was appointed Professor of Clinical Surgery. In 1883 he was appointed as Surgeon to the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Glasgow. In 1892 he became Regius Professor of Surgery at the University of Glasgow, transferring his surgical activities from the Royal to the Western Infirmary. He became a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow in 1874 and an Honorary Fellow in 1913. He was elected President of the Medico-Chirurgical Society of Glasgow in 1889 and in 1890 he was awarded the Honorary degree of Doctor of Laws (LL D) by Glasgow University. He was knighted in 1902.

His original works include studies on the growth and transplantation of bone; he performed the first excision of a lung; and undertook pioneer explorations of the brain for abscesses and tumours.

For obituaries of William Macewen, see British Medical Journal, 1924 (Volumes 1 and 2) and the Glasgow Medical Journal, 1924 (Volume 101).

From the guide to the Papers of Sir William Macewen, (1848-1924), surgeon, 1869-1974, (Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow)