BJOG Editors‐in‐chief since 1902 : BJOG Editor‐in‐Chief number 2: Thomas Watts Eden (1904–6)

Abstract

Thomas Watts Eden (1863–1946) was born in May 1863 in Evesham, Worcestershire, and undertook his medical training at the University of Edinburgh. A brilliant scholar, in 1888 he was awarded the Ettles Scholarship as the most distinguished medical graduate of his year, and the James Scott Scholarship in midwifery and gynaecology. The following year he gained the Leckie Mactier research fellowship. Studies in London, Berlin, and Leipzig followed, and in 1891 he proceeded Doctor of Medicine (MD) with honours, subsequently becoming a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of London and a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. His first publication (in 1896) was ‘A study of the human placenta’. Initially appointed to the staff of the Chelsea Women's Hospital in London, he was soon also appointed to Queen Charlotte's Hospital and in 1898 to Charing Cross Hospital (both in London). He was a brilliant teacher, popular partly because of his modesty and kindly humour. He was remarkably productive: while acting as editor of our journal he also prepared his Manual of Midwifery (published in 1906), which went through seven editions. His Manual of Gynaecology (published in 1911) was followed in 1916 (despite his service in the 1914–18 war as a Major in the Royal Army Medical Corps) by Gynaecology for Students and Practitioners (1000 pages!), which went into four editions. Although only editor of our journal for 2 years, he remained for many years as Chairman of the Board. In 1929, Eden was a founding member of the College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (later the Royal College) and sat on its first council. He was President of the Sections of Obstetrics and Gynaecology of the British Medical Association and the Royal Society of Medicine, becoming President of the whole Society in 1930. In the same year he was elected an honorary fellow of the American Gynaecological Society. Eden worked tirelessly on the problem of maternal mortality in the UK, which had remained tragically high for more than a century. In the BMJ, in 1933, he highlighted the high rates of streptococcal infection in hospitals, and commented that ‘There is much to be said for the view that it is better for the average normal mother to have her baby at home, so long as the home conditions are decent and good medical and nursing attendants are available’. He advocated antisepsis and even suggested that ‘midwives should be trained to make blood pressure determination’ in order to detect toxaemia before fits occurred. He promoted midwifery training and commented that ‘the midwifery service of the country will gradually be built up; not, perhaps, as a formal national scheme – that is not the English way – but rather by progressively taking shape, as step follows step, until one day we shall realize that we are in possession of a national maternity service without knowing quite how we got it’. At the age of 37 years he married Mary Bain from Devon, but they remained childless. He played golf well into his retirement in his wife's county. Philip Steer is Emeritus Editor, BJOG. For full disclosure of interests please go to www.BJOG.org