# William James Stuart
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{{Short description|Scottish surgeon (1873–1958)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}}
thumb|William James Stuart
'''William James Stuart''' [CBE](/source/Order_of_the_British_Empire) [PRCSE](/source/Royal_College_of_Surgeons_of_Edinburgh) [FRSE](/source/FRSE) (1873-1958) was a 20th-century Scottish surgeon who served as President of the [Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh](/source/Royal_College_of_Surgeons_of_Edinburgh) from 1937 to 1939. He was affectionately known as '''Pussy Stuart'''.
==Life==
thumb|Northumberland Street, Edinburgh
thumb|The grave of William James Stuart, Dean Cemetery, Edinburgh
He was born the son of [Rev John Stuart](/source/John_Stuart_(Edinburgh_minister)) [DD](/source/Doctor_of_Divinity) (1816-1886) minister of St Andrews parish in Edinburgh (and Chaplain in Ordinary to [Queen Victoria](/source/Queen_Victoria)), and his wife, Jessie Duncan, daughter of [Dr John Duncan](/source/James_Duncan_(surgeon)) (an eminent surgeon and founder of the medical chemical company Duncan & Flockhart). The family lived at 7 Northumberland Street, a large terraced Georgian townhouse in [Edinburgh's Second New Town](/source/New_Town%2C_Edinburgh).[Edinburgh Post Office Directory 1873] He was educated at [Edinburgh Academy](/source/Edinburgh_Academy) close to his family home, then studied medicine at [Edinburgh University](/source/Edinburgh_University) graduating MB ChB in 1899.
He held various appointments at [Edinburgh Royal Infirmary](/source/Edinburgh_Royal_Infirmary) on Lauriston Place and was elected a Fellow of the [Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh](/source/Royal_College_of_Surgeons_of_Edinburgh) in 1903. In 1906 he was appointed Honorary Assistant Surgeon at the Deaconess Hospital in the south of the city. In 1908 he was given a parallel position at the Royal Infirmary. In the [First World War](/source/First_World_War) he served as a Major in the [Royal Army Medical Corps](/source/Royal_Army_Medical_Corps), serving in [Salonica](/source/Salonica) 1916 to 1918. Although going into semi-retirement in 1938 he was brought into full operational use in the [Second World War](/source/Second_World_War) when he was asked to run the surgical wards of [Edinburgh Royal Infirmary](/source/Edinburgh_Royal_Infirmary).[{{Cite web|title=William James Stuart (1873-1958) Sportsman and President|url=https://library.rcsed.ac.uk/media/1251/gd8-papers-of-william-j-stuart.pdf|website=Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh Library & Archive}}]
He lived most of his later life at 9 Chester Street in Edinburgh's West End.[Edinburgh Post Office Directory 1910-11]
In 1904 Stuart was elected a member of the [Harveian Society of Edinburgh](/source/Harveian_Society_of_Edinburgh) and served as President in 1936.[{{Cite book|title=Minute Books of the Harveian Society|url=http://archives.rcpe.ac.uk/calmView/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Catalog&id=DEP%2fHAR%2f1%2f1%2f1&pos=17|location= Library of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh}}] In 1928 he was elected a member of the [Aesculapian Club](/source/Aesculapian_Club) and served as honorary secretary from 1933 to 1949.[{{Cite book|title=Minute Books of the Aesculapian Club|url=http://archives.rcpe.ac.uk/calmView/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Catalog&id=DEP%2fAEC%2f1&pos=2|location= Library of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh}}] He published an official history of the Club in 1949.[{{Cite book|url=http://archives.rcpe.ac.uk/calmView/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Catalog&id=DEP%2fAEC%2f3&pos=29|location= Library of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh|title=History of the Aesculapian Club of Edinburgh|last=Stuart|first=William J|publisher=Darien Press Ltd, Edinburgh|language=en}}] In 1943 he was elected a Fellow of the [Royal Society of Edinburgh](/source/Royal_Society_of_Edinburgh). His proposers were [Douglas Guthrie](/source/Douglas_Guthrie), [Ernest Wedderburn](/source/Ernest_Wedderburn), James Watt and [James Pickering Kendall](/source/James_Pickering_Kendall).[{{cite book|title=Biographical Index of Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783–2002|date=July 2006|publisher=The Royal Society of Edinburgh|isbn=0-902-198-84-X|url=https://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/biographical_index/fells_indexp2.pdf|archive-date=4 March 2016|access-date=8 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304074135/https://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/biographical_index/fells_indexp2.pdf|url-status=dead}}]
He was created a Commander of the [Order of the British Empire](/source/Order_of_the_British_Empire) (CBE) by King [George VI](/source/George_VI) in 1952.
He died in Edinburgh on 23 February 1958. He is buried with his parents in [Dean Cemetery](/source/Dean_Cemetery) in western Edinburgh. The grave lies against the north wall of the original northern extension.
==Positions of Note==
*President of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh 1937 to 1939
*President of the Medico-Chirurgical Society of Edinburgh 1944/45
*Member of the Edinburgh Medical Missionary Society
*On the board of the Scottish [YMCA](/source/YMCA)
*Executive Member of the Scottish Blood Transfusion Service
*Church Elder at St Andrews Church, Edinburgh
==Hobbies==
He was a keen sportsman, playing both cricket and rugby and being a reserve for the Scottish International Rugby Team in 1901.