| Description Of Item | Amongst the collection of Samuel Kinnier Wilson was a considerable amount of papers relating to the life and work of his son Alexander. Presumably Alexander had care of his father's papers before their deposit at the Cairns Library in Oxford and his papers became mixed with them at that time.
Alexander Kinnier Wilson (1917-1978) was educated at Emmanuel College, Cambridge and qualified in medicine at King's College Hospital in 1941. He joined the Royal Army Medical Corps and rose to rank of major as a specialist in medicine and neurology and saw service in India and Burma. After the war he continued his neurological training at the National Hospital where his father had worked. He decided to specialise in medical engineering and worked on breathing machines for patients with poliomyelitis. He worked at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital and was made director of the Medical Research Council powered limbs unit at Hendon in 1958. As a consultant to the biomechanical research and development unit at Roehampton he was particularly concerned with the needs of patients with thalidomide syndrome. Finally in 1972 he moved to the Clinical Research Centre at Northwick Park Hospital. [Source: obituary, British Medical Journal] |