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Thomas Keith (surgeon)
Thomas Keith FRCSEd (27 May 1827 – 9 October 1895 ) was a Victorian surgeon and amateur photographer from Scotland. He developed and improved the wax paper process and his photographs are recognised for their composition and use of shade. He was an early practitioner of the operation of ovariotomy (ovarian cystectomy) where his published results were amongst the best in the world.
Thomas Keith was born in St Cyrus, Kincardineshire in 1827, one of seven sons of Rev. Dr. Alexander Keith, a Church of Scotland minister, one of the 450 who broke away to form the Free Church of Scotland, an event known as the Disruption of 1843. Rev Keith took an early interest in photography travelling with his elder son George Skene Keith (1819–1910) to the Holy Land in 1844 where he took daguerreotype views of notable places in Syria. This early family interest in photography when it was still in its infancy was undoubtedly a major stimulus to the photographic career of Thomas Keith which began some eight years after the expedition of his father and brother to the Holy Land. Keith's mother, Jane Blaikie (1793–1837), was the sister of Sir Thomas Blaikie, the Scottish magistrate. Three of Thomas Keith's brothers entered the medical profession.
Thomas Keith was educated at Aberdeen Grammar School and the Royal High School, Edinburgh then studied at Marischal College, Aberdeen where he qualified MA. His medical training took place entirely in Edinburgh.
In 1848, at the age of 21 he graduated MD from the University of Edinburgh and was appointed house surgeon in the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh to James Syme (1799–1870), the Professor of Surgery. This appointment was to last for fifteen months and it was during this time that he learned from Syme the principles of surgery which were to form the basis of his future success. It was from Syme that he came to appreciate the importance of absolute cleanliness in the surgical wound and meticulous attention to detail, particularly with haemostasis. Their respect was mutual. When Syme's wife became ill, Syme, who could have chosen any surgeon in the land to attend her, chose Keith. Keith was succeeded as house surgeon by the young Joseph Lister, and the two remained friends for life.
Before starting in practice in Edinburgh, Keith spent two years in Turin as a surgeon to a family friend, the Hon Ralph Abercromby, British resident minister (ambassador) at the Court of Victor Emmanuel II, the King of Sardinia (and later first King of a united Italy).
On return to Edinburgh, Keith passed the necessary examination and was elected a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. (FRCSEd) He then went into medical practice with his brother George Skene Keith (1819–1910) in Great Stuart Street. George had studied medicine in Aberdeen and Edinburgh, qualified MD in 1841 and become FRCPE in 1845. In that year he became assistant to Professor James Young Simpson, Professor of Midwifery at the University of Edinburgh. On 4 November 1847, Simpson with George Keith and his other assistant James Mathews Duncan (1826–1890), (another photographic enthusiast), conducted the famous experiment at 52 Queen Street, Edinburgh during which the trio discovered the anaesthetic effects of chloroform. In 1875 he was elected a member of the Harveian Society of Edinburgh.
Thomas Keith came to specialise in gynaecology and in 1862 performed his first ovariotomy (excision of ovarian cyst) but in the years 1853–56 he devoted much of his time to photography.
The leading pioneers of photography in Scotland included David Octavius Hill and Robert Adamson whose many calotypes included a portrait of Thomas Keith's father, Rev. Alexander Keith. This early contact with them, and with the other photographic pioneers Sir David Brewster and Dr James Brewster, had stimulated Rev. Keith and his son George to learn how to produce daguerreotypes. This in turn initiated Thomas Keith's interest.
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Thomas Keith (surgeon)
Thomas Keith FRCSEd (27 May 1827 – 9 October 1895 ) was a Victorian surgeon and amateur photographer from Scotland. He developed and improved the wax paper process and his photographs are recognised for their composition and use of shade. He was an early practitioner of the operation of ovariotomy (ovarian cystectomy) where his published results were amongst the best in the world.
Thomas Keith was born in St Cyrus, Kincardineshire in 1827, one of seven sons of Rev. Dr. Alexander Keith, a Church of Scotland minister, one of the 450 who broke away to form the Free Church of Scotland, an event known as the Disruption of 1843. Rev Keith took an early interest in photography travelling with his elder son George Skene Keith (1819–1910) to the Holy Land in 1844 where he took daguerreotype views of notable places in Syria. This early family interest in photography when it was still in its infancy was undoubtedly a major stimulus to the photographic career of Thomas Keith which began some eight years after the expedition of his father and brother to the Holy Land. Keith's mother, Jane Blaikie (1793–1837), was the sister of Sir Thomas Blaikie, the Scottish magistrate. Three of Thomas Keith's brothers entered the medical profession.
Thomas Keith was educated at Aberdeen Grammar School and the Royal High School, Edinburgh then studied at Marischal College, Aberdeen where he qualified MA. His medical training took place entirely in Edinburgh.
In 1848, at the age of 21 he graduated MD from the University of Edinburgh and was appointed house surgeon in the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh to James Syme (1799–1870), the Professor of Surgery. This appointment was to last for fifteen months and it was during this time that he learned from Syme the principles of surgery which were to form the basis of his future success. It was from Syme that he came to appreciate the importance of absolute cleanliness in the surgical wound and meticulous attention to detail, particularly with haemostasis. Their respect was mutual. When Syme's wife became ill, Syme, who could have chosen any surgeon in the land to attend her, chose Keith. Keith was succeeded as house surgeon by the young Joseph Lister, and the two remained friends for life.
Before starting in practice in Edinburgh, Keith spent two years in Turin as a surgeon to a family friend, the Hon Ralph Abercromby, British resident minister (ambassador) at the Court of Victor Emmanuel II, the King of Sardinia (and later first King of a united Italy).
On return to Edinburgh, Keith passed the necessary examination and was elected a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. (FRCSEd) He then went into medical practice with his brother George Skene Keith (1819–1910) in Great Stuart Street. George had studied medicine in Aberdeen and Edinburgh, qualified MD in 1841 and become FRCPE in 1845. In that year he became assistant to Professor James Young Simpson, Professor of Midwifery at the University of Edinburgh. On 4 November 1847, Simpson with George Keith and his other assistant James Mathews Duncan (1826–1890), (another photographic enthusiast), conducted the famous experiment at 52 Queen Street, Edinburgh during which the trio discovered the anaesthetic effects of chloroform. In 1875 he was elected a member of the Harveian Society of Edinburgh.
Thomas Keith came to specialise in gynaecology and in 1862 performed his first ovariotomy (excision of ovarian cyst) but in the years 1853–56 he devoted much of his time to photography.
The leading pioneers of photography in Scotland included David Octavius Hill and Robert Adamson whose many calotypes included a portrait of Thomas Keith's father, Rev. Alexander Keith. This early contact with them, and with the other photographic pioneers Sir David Brewster and Dr James Brewster, had stimulated Rev. Keith and his son George to learn how to produce daguerreotypes. This in turn initiated Thomas Keith's interest.