# Bernard Knight

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{{short description|British forensic pathologist and writer (born 1931)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2021}}
{{Infobox writer <!-- For more information see [:Template:Infobox Writer/doc](/source/%3ATemplate%3AInfobox_Writer%2Fdoc). --> 
| honorific_prefix          = Professor
| name          = Bernard Knight
| honorific_suffix          = CBE
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| birth_date    = {{Birth date and age|1931|5|3|df=y}}
| birth_place   = [Cardiff](/source/Cardiff), Wales
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| occupation    = Doctor and Lawyer
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| genre         = Crime Fiction
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| awards        = [Commander of the Order of the British Empire](/source/Order_of_the_British_Empire)
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'''Bernard Henry Knight''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|CBE}} (born 3 May 1931) is a Welsh [forensic pathologist](/source/forensic_pathologist) and writer. He became a [Home Office](/source/Home_Office) [pathologist](/source/pathology) in 1965 and was appointed Professor of [Forensic Pathology](/source/Forensic_Pathology), [University of Wales College of Medicine](/source/University_of_Wales_College_of_Medicine), in 1980.

==Early life==
Knight was born on 3 May 1931 in [Cardiff](/source/Cardiff), Wales.<ref name="bio - Debrett's">{{cite web|title=Prof Bernard Knight, CBE, GSM|url=http://www.debretts.com/people/biographies/search/results/12668/Bernard%20Henry%20KNIGHT.aspx|work=People of Today Online|publisher=Debrett's|accessdate=3 January 2014|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140103211035/http://www.debretts.com/people/biographies/search/results/12668/Bernard%20Henry%20KNIGHT.aspx|archivedate=3 January 2014}}</ref><ref name="BBC - Forensic science simulator opened by Bernard Knight">{{cite news|title=Forensic science simulator opened by Bernard Knight|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/8565415.stm|access-date=3 January 2014|newspaper=BBC News|date=16 March 2010}}</ref> Upon failing to gain a place to study agriculture, he began work at the [Cardiff Royal Infirmary](/source/Cardiff_Royal_Infirmary) as a lab technician.<ref name="BBC - Pathologist Bernard Knight to stop crime writing">{{cite news|title=Pathologist Bernard Knight to stop crime writing|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/8571689.stm|access-date=3 January 2014|newspaper=BBC News|date=17 March 2010}}</ref> He studied medicine at the [Welsh National School of Medicine](/source/Welsh_National_School_of_Medicine), [University of Wales](/source/University_of_Wales). He graduated in 1954 [Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery](/source/Bachelor_of_Medicine%2C_Bachelor_of_Surgery).<ref name=CV>{{cite web|title=Professor Bernard Knight CBE|url=http://www.uc.pt/fmuc/DocumentosHomepage/2009/Maio/CVKnight|work=Curriculum Vitae|publisher=University of Coimbra|accessdate=3 January 2014|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304001035/http://www.uc.pt/fmuc/DocumentosHomepage/2009/Maio/CVKnight|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Career==
===Military service===
As part of [National Service](/source/Conscription_in_the_United_Kingdom), Knight was [commissioned](/source/commissioned_officer) into the [Royal Army Medical Corps](/source/Royal_Army_Medical_Corps) on 3 September 1956 as a [lieutenant](/source/Lieutenant_(British_Army_and_Royal_Marines)).<ref name="LG 21 September 1956">{{London Gazette |issue=40885 |date=21 September 1956 |page=5422 |supp=y }}</ref> On 12 September 1956, he transferred from the National Service List to the Regular Army and was given seniority in the rank of lieutenant from 29 August 1955.<ref name="LG 2 October 1956">{{London Gazette |issue=40893 |date= 2 October 1956 |page=5621 |supp=y }}</ref> He was promoted to [captain](/source/Captain_(British_Army_and_Royal_Marines)) on 12 September 1956 with seniority from 29 August 1956.<ref name="LG 2 October 1956" /> He served as a [medical officer](/source/Physician) in [Malaya](/source/Federation_of_Malaya) during the [Malayan Emergency](/source/Malayan_Emergency).<ref name="bio - Debrett's" />

On 12 September 1959, he transferred to the Regular Army Reserve of Officers, signalling the end of his military service.<ref name="LG 11 September 1959">{{London Gazette |issue=41814 |date=11 September 1959 |page=5788 |supp=y }}</ref> He ceased to belong to the reserve on 12 September 1964.<ref name="LG 6 November 1964">{{London Gazette |issue=43483 |date=6 November 1964 |page=9505 |supp=y }}</ref>

===Medical and legal career===
Having graduated in 1954, Knight became a [pre-registration house officer](/source/pre-registration_house_officer). He undertook one six-month job in medicine and one in surgery. He was then a [Senior House Officer](/source/Senior_House_Officer) specialising in [pathology](/source/pathology) from 1955 to 1956.<ref name=CV /> He served in the [British Army](/source/British_Army) as a medical officer specialising in pathology from 1956 to 1959.<ref name="bio - Debrett's" />

Upon returning to the United Kingdom and leaving the army, he began lecturing. From 1959 to 1962, he was a lecturer in forensic medicine at the [University of London](/source/University_of_London).<ref name="bio - Debrett's" /> He was a [senior lecturer](/source/senior_lecturer) at the [University of Newcastle](/source/Newcastle_University) from 1965 to 1968, during which time he also became a barrister.<ref name="bio - Debrett's" /> He then returned to his [alma mater](/source/alma_mater), the University of Wales, as a senior lecturer. He was promoted to [reader](/source/Reader_(academic_rank)) in 1976 and to Professor of Forensic Pathology in 1980. He retired in 1996 becoming [Emeritus Professor](/source/Emeritus_Professor) of the university.<ref name="bio - Debrett's" />

He served as a [Home Office](/source/Home_Office) pathologist from 1965 to 1996.<ref name=CV /> In his thirty-one years in that role, he conducted over 25,000 [autopsies](/source/autopsies).<ref name="BBC - Forensic science simulator opened by Bernard Knight" /> He was involved in a number of high-profile cases, including that of the serial killers [Fred](/source/Fred_West) and [Rosemary West](/source/Rosemary_West), and the first use of DNA to confirm the identity of a body, that of [Karen Price](/source/Murder_of_Karen_Price) in 1989.<ref name="BBC - Pathologist Bernard Knight to stop crime writing" />

===Author===
He has been writing since before 1963, when his first crime novel was published. Since then, he has written about thirty books, including contemporary crime fiction, historical novels about Wales, biography, non-fiction popular works on forensic medicine, twelve medico-legal textbooks and the [Crowner John Mysteries](/source/Crowner_John_Mysteries) series of 12th-century historical mysteries featuring one of the earliest (fictional) coroners in England.

In addition, he has written scripts for radio and television dramas and documentaries, including the forensic series ''[The Expert](/source/The_Expert_(TV_series))'' starring [Marius Goring](/source/Marius_Goring), in the 1970s. He has contributed to many other textbooks and has edited several medical journals - he was Managing Editor of Elsevier's ''Forensic Science International'', the leading international publication in the field.

He is a founder member of The Medieval Murderers, a select group of historical crime-writers within the [Crime Writers' Association](/source/Crime_Writers'_Association), who give presentations at literary festivals, libraries and bookshops, to promote their work amongst the public. He is also one of the non-fiction judges for the annual 'Dagger' Awards of the Crime Writers' Association and a regular reviewer of crime books for the Internet site [http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20020917195925/http://www.twbooks.co.uk/ Tangled Web].

==Honours and decorations==
In the 1993 [Queen's Birthday Honours](/source/Queen's_Birthday_Honours), Knight was appointed [Commander of the Order of the British Empire](/source/Commander_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire) (CBE).<ref name="LG 11 June 1993">{{London Gazette |issue=53332 |date=11 June 1993 |pages=8–9  |supp=y }}</ref> He received the [General Service Medal](/source/General_Service_Medal_(1918)) with Malaya [clasp](/source/medal_clasp) for his service during the [Malayan Emergency](/source/Malayan_Emergency).<ref name="bio - Debrett's" />

==Bibliography==

===Crowner John Mysteries===
{{main|Crowner John Mysteries}}

===Wye Valley Series / Dr Richard Pryor===
* ''Where Death Delights'' (2010)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://bernardknight.homestead.com/ |title=Website Disabled |publisher=Bernardknight.homestead.com |accessdate=2013-11-03}}</ref>
* ''According to the Evidence'' (2010)
* ''Grounds for Appeal'' (2011)

===Tom Howden Series===
* ''Dead in the Dog'' (2012)

===Other===
* ''Lion Rampant'' (1972)
* ''Madoc'' (1977)
* ''Brennan'' (2003)

===Novels written under pseudonym Bernard Picton===
#''The Lately Deceased'' (1963)
#''The Thread of Evidence'' (1965)
#''Mistress Murder'' (1966)
#''Russian Roulette'' (1968)
#''Policeman's Progress'' (1969)
#''Tiger at Bay'' (1970)
#''The Expert'' (1976)

===Non-Fiction===
* ''Murder, Suicide, or Accident: The Forensic Pathologist at Work'' (1971) (published under pseudonym Bernard Picton)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/p/bernard-picton/ |title=Bernard Picton |publisher=Fantasticfiction.co.uk |accessdate=2013-11-03 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140401024912/http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/p/bernard-picton/ |archivedate=1 April 2014 }}</ref>

==References==
<References/>

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20051210061019/http://www.britannia.com/history/coroner1.html History of the Medieval English Coroner System] by Prof. Bernard Knight,
* The [http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/special-collections/explore/collection/bernard-knight-literary-papers Bernard Knight literary archive] is housed at Special Collections and Archives, Cardiff University.

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Knight, Bernard}}
Category:Welsh mystery writers
Category:Welsh crime novelists
Category:Welsh historical novelists
Category:Royal Army Medical Corps officers
Category:Writers of historical mysteries
Category:Writers of historical fiction set in the Middle Ages
Category:British Army personnel of the Malayan Emergency
Category:Living people
Category:Scientists from Cardiff
Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
Category:1931 births
Category:Forensic pathologists
Category:Academics of the University of Wales
Category:Welsh pathologists
Category:Military personnel from Cardiff

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Bernard Knight](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Knight) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Knight?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.