Arthur Logan Turner

Since 1800 the College has had 92 Presidents and it is interesting to note that there are amongst them five pairs of fathers and sons*. The McLagans (David, PRCSEd 1826-1828) and Andrew, PRCSEd 1859-1861) are unique in that both also were elected Presidents of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh but three of the other four pairs were of scarcely lesser distinction.

An illustrious member of this remarkable group was Arthur Logan Turner, the second son of Sir William Turner KCB (PRCSEd 1882-1883), who was born in Edinburgh in 1865 at which time his famous father was Professor of Anatomy in Edinburgh University. He was educated at Fettes and in 1884 entered the Medical Faculty of Edinburgh University from which he graduated MB CM in 1889. After serving first as house surgeon and then as assistant to Professor Thomas Annandale, he obtained the Fellowship of the College in 1891 and the degree of Doctor of Medicine (MD) from the University three years later but the effects of an accidental hand injury dissuaded him from his original intention of becoming a general surgeon. He decided instead to make his career in ear, nose and throat surgery and received his early training in this specialty from Dr Peter MacBride, Edinburgh’s first specialist Otolaryngologist.

Logan Turner’s first appointment in his chosen specialty was to the Church of Scotland Deaconess Hospital and in 1906 he became surgeon for diseases of the ear, nose and throat in the Royal Infirmary. When he retired from this post in 1924 he had the unusual distinction of being invited to continue in his department as Honorary Surgeon Consultant. Throughout World War I he served in the RAMC as consultant otolaryngologist to the 2nd Scottish General Hospital with the rank of Captain but he was not posted overseas.

Before the War he had built up a large private practice and this grew substantially in the immediate post war period but, in addition to this, he established an impressive national reputation in his specialty which was recognised by his election to Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) and the award by his alma mater of its Honorary Doctorate of Laws (LLD). He was awarded honorary or corresponding membership of many otolaryngology societies in Europe and North America and nearer home he became President of the Otology Section of the Royal Society of Medicine in 1921 and of its Laryngology Section in 1921 and 1924. There is, however, no doubt that the honour which gave him greatest pride and pleasure was the Presidency of the College to which he was elected in 1925, as the first of two ear, nose and throat surgeons who have held this highest office. The distinction of his Presidency and of his professional reputation received further recognition by his appointment in 1927 as President of the Otolaryngology section of the British Medical Association and, in the same year, by his admission to the Honorary Fellowship of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

Logan Turner made many important clinical and scientific contributions to the advancement of his specialty in which through his writings he became a figure of international stature. In addition to numerous papers and articles, these included important monographs on the nasal accessory sinuses and on intra-cranial pyogenic diseases. His reputation was further enhanced in 1924 when, together with five Edinburgh colleagues, he produced the famous "Manual of Diseases of the Nose, Throat and Ear” which became an international best-seller and ran to four editions under his editorship.

For nine years (1921-1929) he was joint editor of the Journal of Laryngology and during that period the Journal, which had languished and faded during the first World War, was revitalised and restored to its former eminence. When Logan Turner retired from the editorial chair the success of his stewardship was recognised by a substantial presentation contributed by a large number of the Journal’s subscribers. At his request this money was used to establish a prize to be awarded every five years for outstanding original work in otolaryngology.

Logan Turner was, from 1923 -1927, a highly successful editor of the University of Edinburgh Journal, a periodical published by the Edinburgh University Graduates Association of which he was President from 1931-1933.

After retirement he devoted himself to history with the same dedication, energy and enthusiasm which had characterised his professional practice and indeed his reputation as a historian is scarcely less than his fame as an otolaryngologist. Among his historical publications, the most notable are his biography of his father “The Life of Sir William Turner KCB FRS - A Chapter in Medical History”, his “History of the University of Edinburgh 1883 - 1933” and his great magnum opus “The Story of a Great Hospital - the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh 1729 - 1929”. In addition, on behalf of the Lister Centenary Committee of the BMA, he edited “Joseph Baron Lister - A Centenary Volume 1827 -1927”.

In 1956 the original College Council chamber was converted into a handsome reception room which was designated “the President’s” Room. This conversion and refurbishment was funded from a legacy bequeathed to the College for such purposes by Arthur Logan Turner who died in 1939 and it was decided that the room should also be known as “the Logan Turner Room”.

It is a worthy monument to a distinguished Fellow and President whose career and achievements can stand comparison with those of his famous father.

* (William Wood, PRCSEd 1828-1830 and Andrew Wood, PRCSEd 1855-1857; John Argyll Robertson, PRCSEd 1848-1849 and Douglas Argyll Robertson, PRCSEd 1885 - 1887; Sir William Turner, PRCSEd 1882-1823 and Arthur Logan Turner, PRCSEd 1925-1927; Sir John Struthers, PRCSEd 1895-1897 and John W Struthers, PRCSEd 1941-1942)