John Halliday Croom

Many innovations in obstetrics in the 19th and 20th centuries originated in Scotland, the introduction of chloroform anaesthesia by Sir James Young Simpson and the introduction of diagnostic ultrasound into clinical practice by Professor Ian Donald being two of the most famous examples. Other obstetricians made their mark through the brilliance of their teaching, but none more so that John Halliday Croom. Croom’s natural aptitude for eloquence and his memorable aphorisms delivered with a cultured sense of humour, combined to endear him to the undergraduate and postgraduate students of the Edinburgh Medical School in much the same way as Lister had been revered as a teacher a decade or so earlier. Contemporaries regarded him as the best teacher of his generation in the Edinburgh Medical School.

John Halliday Croom was born in Sanquhar, Dumfriesshire where his father was the United Presbyterian minister and, throughout his life, Croom was to remain deeply committed to that faith. When the family moved to Edinburgh he went to school at the Royal High School and Edinburgh University. After graduation he travelled to London and Paris for postgraduate study and then set up in practice as a general practitioner, finally establishing his practice in Charlotte Square. In later life he was to look back on his time in general practice as a particularly valuable experience.

As an undergraduate he had been inspired by James Syme and Sir James Young Simpson and increasingly his practice became devoted to surgery and particularly to obstetrics and gynaecology. The departure of Dr Thomas Keith (q.v.) to London allowed him to develop a large and successful practice in midwifery and gynaecology. Professor (later Sir) Alexander Simpson, who had recently been appointed to the Chair of Midwifery and Gynaecology in the University, appointed him as his assistant and this gave him the opportunity to begin lecturing in the Extramural School in Minto House in Chambers Street. He instantly established himself as a brilliant lecturer and teacher, and for the next 25 years, until his appointment as Professor, his lectures on obstetrics and gynaecology were packed.

Croom’s skills as a teacher were so outstanding in the Edinburgh Medical School that several of his contemporaries and pupils analysed the qualities which made him so successful. His preparation was painstaking. He would write out each lecture in full on the right side of the page and on the left side would write a few key words so that his lectures always appeared spontaneous. Whenever he lectured he changed into a black swallow tailed coat and, wearing this, the suave, courteous and sensitive physician became an animated, enthusiastic orator. His lectures were laced with humour, with memorable aphorisms, and with teaching points which would be remembered for life delivered with never to be forgotten phrases. A visiting American postgraduate who attended a lecture on extra-uterine pregnancy was asked about the lecture. “I guess”, he replied, “he makes you feel that the welfare of your mortal soul depends on your knowledge of extra-uterine pregnancy.” At the end of each lecture John Croom appeared physically drained yet mentally exhilarated.

In 1905 when Sir Alexander Simpson retired, Croom succeeded him as Professor of Midwifery in the University.

The papers which he wrote throughout his life were devoted to clinical and practical topics, rather than to research. His book on “Minor Gynaecological Operations” ran to several editions both in Britain and America, and it gave him particular pleasure to hear that a synopsis of his systematic lectures had been translated into Chinese.

His work was recognised with many honours. He was President of the British Gynaecological Society and an Honorary Fellow of the American and Belgian Societies. During his Presidency of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh he was knighted. Dublin University conferred an Honorary MD and Edinburgh University an LLD. He was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

Later in his career he became the first Chairman of the Central Midwives Support for Scotland and was influential in the movement which led to the passage of the Midwives’ Act for Scotland.

Contemporaries write of his courtesy, his charm and his sensitivity, which perhaps originated in his deeply held religious beliefs. He retired in 1921 and for the first time in 50 years was no longer teaching. It seemed, wrote a contemporary, as though his major motivating force had expired and he died within two years of retirement.