| Description Of Item | Oil on canvas, 63.5 x 53.3 cm
Born in Stranraer, Wigtonshire, Charles McNeil was the son of Dr William McNeil, a general practitioner. He was educated at George Watson's College and Edinburgh University, where he graduated with an MA in 1901, MB (First Class Honours) in 1905 and MD in 1908.
He was appointed a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh in 1913. From 1915 to 1918 he was in charge of Scottish Hospital in Rouen and was mentioned in despatches. Previous to the First World War, Dr Charles McNeil held the appointment of assistant physician in the Royal Edinburgh Hospital for Sick Children and paediatrician to the Royal Maternity Hospital. When the new Chair of Child Life and Health was founded in 1931 Dr McNeil was appointed and the title of the chair is indicative of the change in outlook from treatment of disease to prevention in its widest sense. He realised the value of special clinics and personally conducted one started by John Thomson, to help the mothers of handicapped children.
Artist: Murray McNeel Caird Urquhart |