Obstetrics Collection of Dr James Willocks

Material relating to William Smellie’s ‘Practice of Midwifery’ and Anatomical Tables, c. 1960’s; material relating to Morison’s work on Smellie including correspondence, 1952-1966; typescript of talk about Smellie given at the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, 1963; photographic prints, 1960’s; printed works, 1876-1971, including articles about William Smellie by S J Cameron and Dr J Willocks; glass negatives of obstetrics cases made by Dr John Hewitt c.1958.

James Willocks qualified in medicine from the University of Glasgow in 1951 and gained his MD in 1963. In 1958 he joined Professor Ian Donald’s team at the Western Infirmary, Glasgow where Donald was undertaking his pioneering work in ultrasound scanning. Willocks’ main contribution to ultrasound was in establishing foetal cephalometry for clinical purposes. In 1966 he published an article in Surgo entitled “William Smellie and the Birth of Modern Obstetrics” (Vol XXXIII No 2, 1966) and in the course of his research for the article acquired the papers of Charles Rutherford Morison, Fellow of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, who had also been undertaking work on Smellie.

The glass negatives formerly belonged to Dr John Hewitt FRCOG, part author of the Glasgow Manual of Obstetrics who was visiting surgeon to the Royal Maternity and Women’s Hospital and the Royal Samaritan Hospital, Glasgow.

Access to some items may be restricted. Please contact Heritage staff at the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow.

Descriptive list available at the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow.