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Kirk, John
Full NameKIRK, John
Date of Birth27 November 1881Date of Death26 September 1959Biography
Educated at George Watson's College and at Edinburgh University, where he graduated M.B., Ch.B. in July 1904. During his student career he was twice awarded medals in practical anatomy and prizes in systematic and clinical surgery.
After graduation he held the appointment of House Surgeon at the Mildmay Mission Hospital, Bethnal Green, London September 1904 to May 1906 Dr Kirk had been a fellow student of Medical Missionary Dr Joseph Ings.
On hearing of Dr Ings' death at Canton in August 1906 he volunteered for Mission service.
After visiting and touring New Zealand left for Canton, 10 October 1908.
Doctor at Ko Tong Mission Hospital then at Kong Chuen Mission Hospital from 1916.
While on leave 1913-1914 he was admitted as a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh; also attending the University course on Diseases of Tropical Climates, gaining the class medal.
Appointed Lecturer in Operative and Clinical Surgery at the Kung Yee Medical College, Canton 1914.
On 1 December 1919 he was set free from Kong Chuen Hospital and became a Lecturer in Human Anatomy at the Kung Yee Medical College, Canton, becoming heavily involved with the Union Medical Education Scheme.
Convener of the Canton Missionary Conference Medical Committee 1920, the Committee to organize medical mission work in the Province and co-ordinate it.
During furlough in 1921-1922 he worked as a full-time Demonstrator in Anatomy in the University of Birmingham.
Placed in charge of the new Dept of Anatomy at Kung Yee Medical College in 1924, the first of its kind in China. Some years later it became the Medical Faculty of the National University of South China.
A member of the Council on Medical Education of the Chinese Medical Association for 6 years and President from 1923 to 1925.
Chairman of the Joint Conference on Medical Education arranged by the Chinese Medical Association and the Hong Kong and China Branch of the British Medical Association, 1925.
Resigned 31 October 1929 for family reasons and returned to England.
His contribution to the medical work of the Canton Villages Mission was significant.
Appointed full-time demonstrator in anatomy at University College, London, becoming senior demonstrator in 1930. Later became sub-dean of the faculty of medical science at the college, and senior tutor in the faculties of medicine, science, and engineering, and lecturer in anatomy to the Slade School of Fine Art.
In 1937 appointed to the S.A. Courtauld chair of Anatomy at Middlesex Hospital Medical School, occupying the chair until retirement in 1949.
The outbreak of war left him shouldering a heavy burden, the pre-clinical side of the Medical School having to be evacuated first to Bristol then later to Leeds.
The title of Professor Emeritus was then conferred upon him.
From 1943 to 1945 secretary of the board of studies in human anatomy and morphology, and chairman of the board from 1945 to 1947.
In the service of medical education, he was chairman of the committee of anatomical supply for the London area from 1937 to 1947 and had been chairman of the committee of licensed teachers of anatomy in Great Britain.
Vice-President of the Anatomical Society of Great Britain and Ireland from 1947 to 1949.
Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England in 1952.
A member of the British Medical Association for over 50 years, serving as President of the Section of Anatomy and physiology at its annual meeting in Harrogate in 1949.
In retirement, he responded to the invitation of the General Medical Council to act as their Visitor, spending some years inspecting in turn every department of anatomy in Great Britain and Ireland.
"He was a Christian, simple - in the finest sense of that word, steadfast, and strong for everything that seemed to him worthy and of good report... Amongst the people of China he will be remembered as a beloved Physician and a skilled Surgeon, who came to them in that far country with a message of hope and good cheer. In our Medical School and University [at Middlesex] we remember a magnificent Teacher, a splendid administrator, a wise counsellor; yet in our hearts and minds he will live for qualities which are finer by far; kindness - for he was generous as the day, and full of wholesome laughter; honesty – he was guileless as a little child; humility - for he took pride in the achievements of others; fearlessness - for he shared the life which had overcome darkness. His interest in his students travelled far beyond the classroom and laboratory, and his influence will go with them for the rest of their lives. His serenity and strength stemmed from an unswerving reliance on the Christian faith and standing by his side for more than fifty years, he had in Mrs Kirk one as true and dauntless as himself."
(Taken from an address by Professor EW Walls, Professor John Kirk's sucessor, at the Memorial Service in the Middlesex Hospital Chapel on 29 October 1959)
Date of Birth27 November 1881Date of Death26 September 1959Biography- born 27 November 1881 Edinburgh, Scotland.
- son of the Rev John KIRK of Edinburgh, brother of Dr Edward KIRK
- married. 2 October 1908 (Hong Kong) Norah E. HUGHES, born 11 August 1881, died 18 February 1962 Edgware, London
- "As a qualified Nurse trained at Mildmay, London, she travelled to China in October 1908 to be married to Dr John Kirk. …With devoted zeal she worked with her husband in the opening of medical work in our mission district, with its medical headquarters in the primitive-makeshift hospital in the Ko Tong Market. There she played a significant part in the establishment of the Nurses' Training School"
- died 26 September 1959, peacefully in his sleep, at home, Stanmore, Middlesex, England, aged 77 years.
Educated at George Watson's College and at Edinburgh University, where he graduated M.B., Ch.B. in July 1904. During his student career he was twice awarded medals in practical anatomy and prizes in systematic and clinical surgery.
After graduation he held the appointment of House Surgeon at the Mildmay Mission Hospital, Bethnal Green, London September 1904 to May 1906 Dr Kirk had been a fellow student of Medical Missionary Dr Joseph Ings.
On hearing of Dr Ings' death at Canton in August 1906 he volunteered for Mission service.
After visiting and touring New Zealand left for Canton, 10 October 1908.
Doctor at Ko Tong Mission Hospital then at Kong Chuen Mission Hospital from 1916.
While on leave 1913-1914 he was admitted as a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh; also attending the University course on Diseases of Tropical Climates, gaining the class medal.
Appointed Lecturer in Operative and Clinical Surgery at the Kung Yee Medical College, Canton 1914.
On 1 December 1919 he was set free from Kong Chuen Hospital and became a Lecturer in Human Anatomy at the Kung Yee Medical College, Canton, becoming heavily involved with the Union Medical Education Scheme.
Convener of the Canton Missionary Conference Medical Committee 1920, the Committee to organize medical mission work in the Province and co-ordinate it.
During furlough in 1921-1922 he worked as a full-time Demonstrator in Anatomy in the University of Birmingham.
Placed in charge of the new Dept of Anatomy at Kung Yee Medical College in 1924, the first of its kind in China. Some years later it became the Medical Faculty of the National University of South China.
A member of the Council on Medical Education of the Chinese Medical Association for 6 years and President from 1923 to 1925.
Chairman of the Joint Conference on Medical Education arranged by the Chinese Medical Association and the Hong Kong and China Branch of the British Medical Association, 1925.
Resigned 31 October 1929 for family reasons and returned to England.
His contribution to the medical work of the Canton Villages Mission was significant.
Appointed full-time demonstrator in anatomy at University College, London, becoming senior demonstrator in 1930. Later became sub-dean of the faculty of medical science at the college, and senior tutor in the faculties of medicine, science, and engineering, and lecturer in anatomy to the Slade School of Fine Art.
In 1937 appointed to the S.A. Courtauld chair of Anatomy at Middlesex Hospital Medical School, occupying the chair until retirement in 1949.
The outbreak of war left him shouldering a heavy burden, the pre-clinical side of the Medical School having to be evacuated first to Bristol then later to Leeds.
The title of Professor Emeritus was then conferred upon him.
From 1943 to 1945 secretary of the board of studies in human anatomy and morphology, and chairman of the board from 1945 to 1947.
In the service of medical education, he was chairman of the committee of anatomical supply for the London area from 1937 to 1947 and had been chairman of the committee of licensed teachers of anatomy in Great Britain.
Vice-President of the Anatomical Society of Great Britain and Ireland from 1947 to 1949.
Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England in 1952.
A member of the British Medical Association for over 50 years, serving as President of the Section of Anatomy and physiology at its annual meeting in Harrogate in 1949.
In retirement, he responded to the invitation of the General Medical Council to act as their Visitor, spending some years inspecting in turn every department of anatomy in Great Britain and Ireland.
"He was a Christian, simple - in the finest sense of that word, steadfast, and strong for everything that seemed to him worthy and of good report... Amongst the people of China he will be remembered as a beloved Physician and a skilled Surgeon, who came to them in that far country with a message of hope and good cheer. In our Medical School and University [at Middlesex] we remember a magnificent Teacher, a splendid administrator, a wise counsellor; yet in our hearts and minds he will live for qualities which are finer by far; kindness - for he was generous as the day, and full of wholesome laughter; honesty – he was guileless as a little child; humility - for he took pride in the achievements of others; fearlessness - for he shared the life which had overcome darkness. His interest in his students travelled far beyond the classroom and laboratory, and his influence will go with them for the rest of their lives. His serenity and strength stemmed from an unswerving reliance on the Christian faith and standing by his side for more than fifty years, he had in Mrs Kirk one as true and dauntless as himself."
(Taken from an address by Professor EW Walls, Professor John Kirk's sucessor, at the Memorial Service in the Middlesex Hospital Chapel on 29 October 1959)
Kirk, John. Presbyterian Research Centre, accessed 19/04/2025, https://pcanzarchives.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/112525
