John Crispin Townsend
BMJ 2017; 358 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.j3526 (Published 20 July 2017) Cite this as: BMJ 2017;358:j3526
- Elaine Carter,
- Mary Macintosh
John Crispin Townsend (“Cris”) was born in Rutland, a special place to him all his life. He started work as a laboratory technician, serving Northampton, but realised his future lay in medicine. As a mature student he entered the 1st MB year at Sheffield University Medical School, and after qualifying he trained as a chemical pathologist. He worked as a senior registrar in UK and New Zealand and as a consultant in Canberra, Australia. On returning to the UK in 1990, he retrained as a general practitioner in Lewisham, London, and subsequently became a partner in Gravesend and then Wellingborough. He had a particular interest in teaching, and continued to train GP registrars even after his diagnosis of terminal bowel cancer, fitting in the training between his chemotherapy sessions. His many interests included cars, steam engines, repairing clocks, history, and travel. He was a deeply thoughtful, kind, humorous, loyal, and determined person. He was deeply committed to his patients and dedicated to the teaching of junior doctors.
Cris had a goonish sense of humour, and—typical of him—chose the words on his gravestone: “Here lies Dr John Crispin Townsend, survived by some of his patients,” but he will also be survived, and sadly missed, by his many friends and family, who loved him dearly.
General practitioner Wellingborough (b 1949; q Sheffield 1980; MRCPath, MRCGP), d 6 June 2017