Dr John Lysaght Griffin

Personal Details

Dr John Lysaght Griffin MRCS Eng MB ChB FFARCS DA

14/05/1902 to 29/12/1996

Place of birth: Birmingham, England

Nationality: British

CRN: 529228

Education and qualifications

General education	Medical School of Bristol General Hospital
Primary medical qualification(s)	MRCS Eng., LRCP Lond., 1924 MB ChB, University of Bristol, 1924
Initial Fellowship and type	FFARCS by Election
Year of Fellowship	1953
Other qualification(s)	DA (RCP&S), 1944

Professional life and career

Postgraduate career

After graduation Griffin began general practice in Bristol, but soon contracted tuberculosis and went to Switzerland for treatment. On return in about 1927 he bought a rural practice in Hemyock, Devon. Having developed a special interest in anaesthetics he studied Victor Goldman’s “Aids to Anaesthesia” (1st edition, 1941) and passed the DA. When the NHS started (1948) he was appointed as a senior anaesthetist at Taunton & Somerset Hospital, Musgrove Ministry of Pensions Hospital in Taunton, as well as Wellington, Chard, Crewkerne and Bridgwater Hospitals. Later he also had sessions at Butleigh and Yeovil Hospitals. He retired in 1969. 

Professional interests and activities

Griffin invented a bronchial suction catheter (BMJ 1949; I: 1000). He was a member of the International Anaesthesia Research Society, the Society of Anaesthetists of the South Western Region (serving as President), and of the Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain & Ireland.  

Other biographical information

He married Stella Machin in 1927 and they had two sons (one of whom became a doctor) and a daughter. In retirement he remained in Somerset until his death at the age of 94 years, predeceased by his wife but survived by his children.

Author and sources

Author:

Dr Alistair McKenzie

Sources and comments:

[1] Griffin J. Obituary John Lysaght Griffin (with photograph). BMJ 1997; 314: 833. [2] Medical Registers and Directories. [3] ancestry.co.uk