Herbert Watt Torrance was born in Tiberias in 1892 , the third son of Dr David Watt Torrance, a missionary who had worked in Palestine, Egypt, Damascus, Nazareth and opened a hospital in Tiberias in 1885, with the specific purpose of being open to any race or religion. Herbert Watt Torrance studied at the University of Glasgow between 1911-1916, graduating with an MB ChB in 1916 . During his time at University he received a medal for Surgery (1914-1915), first class certificates for Physics, Surgery, Clinical Surgery, Diseases of the Ear, Diseases of the Throat and Nose and Practical Pathology. He also received Second Class certificates in Zoology, Anatomy, Practical Botany, Systematic Botany, Pathology, Systematic Embryology, Clinical Medicine and Midwifery . He served in France and Serbia with the Royal Army Medical Corps and was awarded the military cross. After demobilisation he returned to the University of Glasgow as demonstrator and lecturer and to study for the Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons. He was awarded an MD in 1921 and received a commendation for his thesis on Tay-Sachs' Disease. He returned to Tiberias and in 1923 became superintendent of the hospital. He was made an honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons and was awarded an OBE for services rendered during the British Mandate in Palestine.
Following the declaration of the State of Israel in 1949 the hospital became a maternity hospital responsible for midwifery and gynaecology under the Israeil Department of Health. The hopsital closed in 1959 and Herbert Watt Torrance returned to Scotland in 1961, working as a GP in Dundee. Herbert Watt Torrance married twice and had two daughters. He died in 1977 . The work of the Torrance family for both Arabs and Jews is commemorated in Tiberias by Torrance Square which bears a dedication to Dr David and Herbert Torrance. SOURCE: GB 0254, Dundee University Archives, MS 38, Papers of Torrance family and GUAS student records.
From the guide to the Papers of Herbert Watt Torrance, 1892-1977, medical graduate and medical missionary, University of Glasgow, c 1910-1975, (Glasgow University Archive Services)
