John William Watson Stephens, 1865-1946

Abstract

John William Watson Stephens was born at Ferryside, near Carmarthen, on 2 March 1865, the second of three sons of John Stephens, barrister-at-law, and Martha, daughter of Captain David Davies, R.M., Transmawr, Carmarthenshire. The family was an old Carmarthenshire one with many branches living in the neighbourhood, and Stephens after retirement lived and died in the house in which he was born. His early boyhood was spent at Ferryside where he went to a small preparatory school. Later he was sent for a term to Christ’s College, Brecon, and then to Dulwich College, where he distinguished himself by winning prizes in successive years for mathematics and Greek in 1879, chemistry 1880-1882, as also two prizes in this subject in 1883, together with one in physics and one in physiology in the same year. Having decided to embark on a medical career, he entered Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, in October 1884, taking his B.A. and Natural Science Tripos in 1887. He received his medical education at St Bartholomew’s Hospital, taking his M.B., B.C. in 1893, followed by the D.P.H. in 1894. After qualifying he continued to work during 1895 and 1896 at St Bartholomew’s as Sir Trevor Lawrence Research Student in Pathology and Bacteriology, publishing several papers on bacteriological Subjects. He was President of the Abernethian Society in 1896. His main recreation at this time was Rugby football and he played forward for Barts when they won the Hospital Cup. He also played at times for Carmarthen. In 1896-1897 he continued to work on pathology at Cambridge as John Lucas Walker Student in Pathology under A. A. Kanthack, then Professor of Pathology, Cambridge University. He used frequently to refer to Kanthack for whom he evidently had a high respect and affection, and whose influence in turning his attention to research he often acknowledged. At this time he was greatly interested in the study of snake venoms and on the testing of the isotonic point, now usually referred to as the fragility test, of the red blood corpuscles, a technique he later applied to the investigation of blackwater fever.