John Weir

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For the figure skater, see Johnny Weir.

Sir John Weir, GCVO, Royal Victorian Chain (19 October 1879 – 17 April 1971), MB ChB Glasgow 1907, FFHom 1943, Physician Royal to several twentieth century monarchs.

Born in Paisley Renfrewshire Scotland, Dr Weir was to become Physician Royal to King George V (reigned 1910-36; Weir his physician from 1918), King Edward VIII (reigned 1936), King George VI (reigned 1936-52), Queen Elizabeth II (physician 1952-68), and King Haakon VII (1872-1957) of Norway, whose wife Maud (1869-1938) was the youngest daughter of King Edward VII (1841-1910).

Weir received his medical education first at Glasgow University MB ChB 1907, and then on a sabbatical year in Chicago under the tutelage of Dr James Tyler Kent of Hering Medical College during 1908-9, along with Drs Harold Fergie Woods (1883-1961) and Douglas Borland (1885-1961).

Weir returned to the London Homeopathic Hospital as Consultant Physician in 1910, and was appointed the Compton-Burnett Professor of Materia Medica in 1911. He rose to become President of the Faculty of Homeopathy in 1923.

Weir reputedly first learned of homeopathy through his contact with Dr Robert Gibson Miller (1862-1919) head of the Glasgow Homeopathic Hospital, who had an important influence on the future Physician Royal, who he treated for boils and converted to homeopathy [Bodman, 1971]. "It was Dr Gibson Miller who advised Sir John Weir to go to the USA." [Stewart, 1967, p.260] This influence tended to get passed on: Dr Douglas Gibson (1888-1977) “became interested in homeopathy in 1936 through a meeting with Sir John Weir,” [Gibson obit, 1977, 225].

Weir spoke on homeopathy before the Royal Society of Medicine in 1932, and was knighted by King George V that same year. The renovated Manchester Homoeopathic Institute and Dispensary was opened in Oxford Street by Sir John Weir in May 1939. Weir said in an “address: homeopathy…is no religion, no sect, no fad, no humbug…remedies do not act directly on disease; they merely stimulate the vital reactions of the patient, and this causes him to cure himself.” [Sir John Weir, 1931, 200-201] Having advanced through all levels of the Royal Victorian Order he was, as a rare distinction, awarded the Royal Victorian Chain in 1947, possibly as a mark of the medical care he gave to the ailing King George VI.

[edit] Publications

Homeopathy and its Importance in Treatment of Chronic Disease, (1915)
The Trend of Modern Medicine, (1922)
The Science and Art of Homeopathy, Brit Homeo Jnl (1925)
The Present Day Attitude of the Medical Profession Towards Homeopathy, Brit Homeo Jnl XVI, 1926, p.212ff
Homeopathy: a System of Therapeutics (1928)
Sir John Weir, The Hahnemann Convalescent Home, Bournemouth, Brit Homeo Jnl 20, 1931, 200-201
Homeopathy an Explanation of its Principles (1932)
British Homeopathy During the Last 100 Years, Brit Homeo Jnl 23, 1932: II, pp.603-5
Samuel Hahnemann and his Influence on Medical Thought, Trans. Roy. Soc. Med., (1933)
Hahnemann on Homeopathic Philosophy (1935)
Sir John Weir, Dr Margaret Tyler Obituary, Brit. Homeo. Jnl 33, 1943, 92-93
Presidential Address, Brit Homeo Jnl 34 1944, p.8
Presidential Report Brit Homeo Jnl 34, 1944, p.194
Examination Results Brit Homeo Jnl 34, 1944, p.195

[edit] Sources

The Medical Directory 1948
Nisbet's Medical Directory, 1913
T Fergus Stewart, Dr Tom Paterson, Brit Homeo Jnl, 56, 1967, pp.257-60
Obituary, The Times 19-4-1971
Dr Margery Blackie, Obituary to Sir John Weir, Brit Homeo Jnl 60, 1971, pp.103-4
Dr Frank Bodman, Obituary to Sir John Weir, Brit Homeo Jnl 60:1, 1971, pp.224-8
Anonymous, Obituary to Dr Douglas Gibson, Brit. Homeo. Jnl 66, 1977, p.225
Weir's entry in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography