John Davy Rolleston

John Davy Rolleston FSA FRCP (25 February 1873 – 13 March 1946) was an English physician and folklorist, who published extensively on infectious diseases and the history of medicine. Overshadowed by his brother, Sir Humphry Rolleston, he established himself as an epidemiologist, gave the Fitzpatrick Lecture at the Royal College of Physicians in 1935-1936 and became involved in numerous other learned societies and medical bodies, including The Royal Society of Medicine and the Society for the Study and Cure of Inebriety.

He became the president of three sections of the Royal Society of Medicine, London, including the History of Medicine Section from 1924 to 1926.

Early life and family John Rolleston was born in Oxford on 25 February 1873 to George Rolleston, Linacre professor of anatomy and physiology at the University of Oxford, and Grace Davy, the niece of Sir Humphry Davy. His brother was Sir Humphry Rolleston (1862–1944). He was educated at Marlborough College, and from 1891 at Brasenose College, University of Oxford, as a classical scholar, before going on to Charing Cross Hospital in 1895 and was a member of a number of medical bodies including the French Society of Paediatrics. later a member of its council and eventually its president between 1924 and 1926. He served the section throughout his life. and in 1937, he published The History of the Acute Exanthemata, based on his Fitzpatrick lectures (1935–36), presented at the Royal College of Physicians. "Jean Baptiste Bouillaud (1796-1881). A Pioneer in Cardiology and Neurology", Proceedings of the Royal Society of Medicine, Vol. 24, pp. 1253–1262. The History of the Acute Exanthemata: The Fitzpatrick Lectures for 1935 & 1936. William Heinemann, London, 1937.