List of Presidents

This page lists the Presidents of the Belfast Medical Society, the Belfast Clinical and Pathological Society, the Ulster Medical Protective Association, and the Ulster Medical Society.

Each link leads to a file with various details including, for deceased presidents, the full name, the years of birth and death, and a photograph.

An asterisk ('*') in the file name indicates that a presidential address is available. A biographical or other note may be provided in place of the address and this is indicated by a double dagger (‡).

We would welcome offers of missing photographs and addresses.

Most errors of transcription have been removed from the addresses. Original spelling largely remains unaltered.

We are grateful to Professor R S J Clarke for his permission to use the years of birth and death given in his invaluable book A Directory of Ulster Doctors; to the Medical Library, Queen's University of Belfast, for allowing access to their copies of the Transactions of the Ulster Medical Society; to Dr S A Hawkins, Honorary Archivist, Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast, for providing a number of photographs; to Mr D Crawford and Mr S Greenberg, the National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, USA for providing an address; to Dr P Darragh, Dun's Librarian, and Ms H Wheelock, Keeper of Collections, Dun's Library, Royal College of Physicians of Ireland, for providing an address; and to the British Library, findmypast.co.uk and ancestry.co.uk for making old newspapers available.

NOTE: The presidential addresses are presented for historical interest only. Do not rely on old statements regarding diagnosis and treatment as these almost certainly will not reflect modern medical practice.

Belfast Medical Society

The first minute book of the Belfast Medical Society is missing and while the names of the early Presidents are known, the years of holding office are not. Since there are four names for the first eight years it is possible that each held office for two years but this is not certain so that this list is speculative.

1806/08  Samuel Smith Thomson ‡ 1808/10  William Haliday
1810/12William Drennan 1812/14Robert McCluney

The Society faltered and failed in or after 1814 owing to disagreements among the members. On its revival in 1822, it did not appoint any Presidents until 1850. Instead the chair of each meeting was taken by the fifth person to enter the room (who also fulfilled the quorum). The following is the list of Presidents from 1850 to 1861.

1850/51  Robert Stephenson * 1851/52  Robert Stephenson
1852/53Robert Stephenson 1853/54William McGee
1854/55Thomas Read 1855/56Alexander Gordon ‡
1856/57Robert Stewart 1857/58Samuel Browne *
1858/59John Miller Pirrie 1859/60James Patterson *

1860/61Henry Murney 1861/62Henry MacCormac *

Belfast Clinical and Pathological Society

1853/54  Thomas Henry Purdon 1854/55  John Creery Ferguson **
1855/56Andrew George Malcolm ** 1856/57William McGee **
1857/58James Moore ** 1858/59Samuel Browne **
1859/60James Seaton Reid * 1860/61Alexander Gordon ‡
1861/62Henry Murney *

Ulster Medical Protective Association

1859/61  William McGee 1861/62  Robert Stewart

Ulster Medical Society

1862/63  John Creery Ferguson * 1863/64  James Patterson *
1864/65Robert Stewart 1865/66James Moore *
1866/67John Swanwick Drennan * 1867/68James Seaton Reid
1868/69James Cuming * 1869/70James William Thomas Smith

1870/71William MacCormac 1871/72Henry Murney
1872/73Henry Martyn Johnston 1873/74John Moore
1874/75Charles Nicholas Delacherois Purdon * 1875/76Thomas Kennedy Wheeler
1876/77Richard Ross * 1877/78George Frederick Wales *
1878/79Alexander Harkin * 1879/80Robert Foster Dill **

1880/81John Walton Browne * 1881/82James Cuming
1882/83William Alexander McKeown * 1883/84Robert Foster Dill *
1884/85John Fagan * 1885/86John Fagan
1886/87William Whitla * 1887/88Robert Esler *
1888/89Henry Burden * 1889/90Andrew McConnell *

1890/91Alexander Dempsey * 1891/92Henry O'Neill *
1892/93Henry Whitaker 1893/94John William Byers *
1894/95Francis Edward McFarland * 1895/96Thomas Sinclair *
1896/97Johnson Symington * 1897/98James Alexander Lindsay *
1898/99Joseph Nelson * 1899/00James Graham

1900/01William Henry Thompson * 1901/02William Whitla *
1902/03John Campbell * 1903/04John Campbell *
1904/05James Lorrain Smith ‡ / William Calwell * 1905/06William Calwell *
1906/07David Peter Gaussen * 1907/08John McCaw *
1908/09Thomas Sinclair Kirk * 1909/10John Johnston Austin *

1910/11Peter Reilly O'Connell * 1911/12Henry Lawrence McKisack *
1912/13Richard Whytock Leslie * 1913/14Arthur Brownlow Mitchell *
1914/15John Smyth Morrow * 1915/16Alexander Gardner Robb *
1916/17Robert Campbell * 1917/18William Dunlop Donnan *
1918/19James Colville * 1919/20Andrew Fullerton *

1920/21Thomas Houston * 1921/22Robert Hall *
1922/23Robert James Johnstone * 1923/24William St. Clair Symmers *
1924/25John Singleton Darling * 1925/26James Andrew Craig *
1926/27Michael James Nolan * 1927/28John Campbell Rankin *
1928/29Thomas Hugh Milroy * 1929/30Howard Stevenson

1930/31Henry Hanna 1931/32Samuel Thompson Irwin *
1932/33Charles Gibson Lowry * 1933/34William James Wilson *
1934/35Samuel Robert Hunter * 1935/36Foster Coates *
1936/37Percival Templeton Crymble * 1937/38William Willis Dalziel Thomson *
1938/39John Moorcroft McCloy * 1939/40Thomas Sydney Shaw Holmes *

1940/41Thomas Sydney Shaw Holmes * 1941/42George Gibson Lyttle
1942/43Robert Marshall * 1943/44William Dickey *
1944/45William Arthur Anderson * 1945/46Henry Potter Hall *
1946/47John Richard Gillespie * 1947/48George Raphael Buick Purce *
1948/49Samuel Barron * 1949/50Alexander Joseph Dempsey *

1950/51Robert (Robin) Hall * 1951/52Joseph Greenfield Johnston *
1952/53John Charles Robb * 1953/54William George Frackelton *
1954/55John Andrew Smyth * 1955/56Frederick Martin Brice Allen *
1956/57George Dickson Fisher McFadden * 1957/58Olive Margery Anderson *
1958/59Charles Horner Greer Macafee * 1959/60John Coulter Smyth *

1960/61Joseph Alexander Love Johnston * 1961/62Francis Alexander MacLaughlin *
1962/63Cecil William Kidd * 1963/64James Reid Wheeler *
1964/65Kathleen Margaret Cathcart * 1965/66James Stevenson Loughridge *
1966/67James Alexander Price * 1967/68Ian James Fraser *
1968/69Robert William Magill Strain * 1969/70Richard Sydney Allison *

1970/71Kirk Forsythe * 1971/72John Henry Biggart *
1972/73John Alexander McVicker * 1973/74David Hanna Craig *
1974/75John Edgar Morison * 1975/76Desmond Alan Dill Montgomery *
1976/77George Trevor Cupples Hamilton * 1977/78Herbert William Gallagher *
1978/79David Millar Bell * 1979/80Edmund John Miller *

1980/81  Margaret Haire * 1981/82Thomas Terence Fulton *
1982/83M F Russell * 1983/84James MacDougal Graham Harley *
1984/85John Andrew Weaver * 1985/86Mary Graham McGeown *
1986/87William George Irwin * 1987/88Derek Stanley Gordon *
1988/89Alexander German McKnight * 1989/90John Francis O'Sullivan *

1990/91Herbert Baird * 1991/92Charles James Hume Logan *
1992/93J F McKenna * 1993/94R G Shanks *
1994/95P M Reilly * 1995/96David Robert Hadden *
1996/97R L Miller * 1997/98James William Calderwood *
1998/99J R Hayes * 1999/00R W Stout *

2000/01Robert Wallace Harland * 2001/02A A J Adgey *
2002/03H Campbell * 2003/04E E Mayne *
2004/05D C MacAuley * 2005/06S A Hawkins *
2006/07G E McVeigh * 2007/08J B White *
2008/09J P H Fee * 2009/10A B Atkinson *

2010/11M E Cupples *2011/12 Patrick Gerard Johnston
2012/13R A J Spence * 2013/14E J Mackle *
2014/15C W Mathews * 2015/16M O McBride
2016/17P J Morrison * 2017/18A M Carragher
2018/19R G P Watson * 2019/20M F McMullin *

2020/21M F McMullin 2021/22J J A McAleer *
2022/23N Hart 2023/24A Thiraviaraj