John Thompson Rowling

John Thompson Rowling (“JTR”) was a retired consultant surgeon. He worked in Sheffield at the Royal Hospital and later at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital. He was born in Leeds to a family whose medical connections dated back to Elizabethan times. His father, Herbert Samuel Thompson Rowling, was one of the old school family doctors with a special interest in anaesthesia. He was a pioneer in his specialty and worked with Lord Moynihan. His elder sister, Dorothy, was an orthopaedic surgeon.

Before entering medical school, Rowling obtained a bachelor of arts degree in natural sciences from the University of Cambridge. He undertook his clinical training in Leeds, taking his finals in Cambridge in 1946, graduating MA MB BChir.

His first jobs after qualifying were in the Leeds area. Subsequently he decided to enrol for national service. He writes “this could have been postponed or avoided, but having had a relatively safe war, it was just to accept it.”

He served valiantly in the Royal Army Medical Corps, reaching the …