Quick Facts
Biography
Dr John Webster Lowson Spence MD LRCP LRCS (1870-1930) was a Scottish x-ray pioneer and one of the many early victims who lost his life to radiology. His name is one of the 14 British professionals listed on the Monument to the X-ray and Radium Martyrs of All Nations erected in 1936. In the words of his gravestone: he died that others might live.
Life
He was born in Smyrna in Turkey on 11 August 1930 the son of Rev David Brown Spence, a Church of Scotland missionary. He was educated at the Royal High School in Edinburgh. He studied Medicine at Edinburgh University and from 1897 began studying radiology under, or in correspondence with, Wilhelm Roentgen. He received his doctorate (MD) in 1898.
Around 1903 he came to Edinburgh to assist Dawson Turner and William Hope Fowler in their experiments on radiology. In 1907 he became the sole radiologist at the Edinburgh Sick Children's Hospital in Sciennes. He was widely respected for his work and kindness.
By around 1910 he (as the other early pioneers) had several radiology-induced tumours, and by 1916 (again as common practice to all early x-ray pioneers) had his left arm amputated as a result (self-experimentation on the left arm being normal amongst right-handed doctors). In 1922 he was awarded a bronze medal by the Carnegie Hero Fund in recognition of his sacrifices.
In 1916 he offered his services to the army during the First World War but was not required to serve.
He lived at 22 Pitt Street (renamed Dublin Street in 1922).
He retired in 1929 due to an inability to continue work and died in Edinburgh on 15 March 1930. He is buried in Dean Cemetery.
In 1936 his name was included (along with Turner and Fowler) in the list of names on the Monument to the X-ray and Radium Martyrs of All Nations erected in Hamburg, Germany.