Douglas Hamilton Ritchie

Douglas Archibald Hamilton Ritchie (14 February 1918 – 1999) was a Rhodesian dentist and politician. Born in the Colony of Jamaica to British parents, his family moved to the United Kingdom in his youth. After serving in the Royal Air Force during World War II, he moved to Southern Rhodesia and practised dentistry. He soon became one of the leading dentists in Rhodesia, and was elected to the Medical Council of Rhodesia in 1958. He entered politics in the 1960s, joining Rhodesian Front and representing the Salisbury suburb of Borrowdale as a member of parliament from 1965 to 1979. In the years following Zimbabwe's independence and the demise of Rhodesia, he emigrated to South Africa and engaged in general practice, dying there in 1999.

Early life and education Douglas Archibald Hamilton Ritchie was born on 14 February 1918 in Crossroads, Saint Andrew Parish in the Colony of Jamaica. His parents, originally from the United Kingdom, were Blanch Louise Reid and Archibald Hamilton Ritchie, a University of Glasgow alumnus. His family moved back to Britain in his youth. Hamilton Ritchie went on to dentistry, earning his Licentiate in Dental Surgery from the Royal College of Surgeons of England in 1941. He was awarded the Fellowship of Dental Surgery of the Royal College of Surgeons of England (FDRSCS), and in 1969, awarded the Fellowship of Dental Surgery of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (FDRSCSEd). He served at the plastic and jaw injuries unit at East Grinstead, Sussex, and became a consultant specialist in dental surgery to the Ministry of Health.

Electoral history