John Houston

John Houston (c. 1802 – 30 July 1845) was an Irish medical doctor and anatomist.

Early life Houston was born in about 1802 in Ireland. He was the eldest son of a Presbyterian minister but was adopted by his maternal uncle, Joseph Taylor, who was an army doctor. Taylor offered to fund Houston's education and on 13 January 1819 Houston moved to Dublin as apprentice to John Shekleton, a surgeon and curator at the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI). Houston completed his apprenticeship in 1824, passing his final examinations and receiving his letters testimonial. On 19 June 1826, he was elected a member of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland days after the sudden death of his mentor Shekleton. Houston graduated from Edinburgh with a Doctor of Medicine degree in 1826.

Houston had a keen interest in teaching, working as an anatomy demonstrator at RCSI in 1824 and in 1837 taking a position as lecturer in surgery at the Park Street School of Medicine. Houston was involved in the construction of the Baggot Street Hospital and was appointed as a surgeon there in 1832. "Dropsy" - 1842 "The mode of Treatment in Fever" - 1844

Death Houston collapsed suddenly in April 1845 while lecturing at Baggot Street Hospital. He had suffered a cerebral haemorrhage and died 30 July 1845. An obituary appeared in the Dublin Quarterly Journal of Medical Science the following year.