Sir Francis Walshe, MD FRS (1885–1973)

Abstract

Born in Ireland, Francis Martin Rouse Walshe studied medicine at University College Hospital. He subsequently practised there and at the National Hospital, Queen Square, London. Early associations with Wilfred Trotter and Sir Victor Horsley encouraged his career in Neurology. Walshe pioneered the descriptive analysis of human reflexes in physiological terms. His flare and outstanding brilliance were rewarded when he was appointed Physician to the National Hospital, Queen Square in 1921 and at University College Hospital in 1924. He published, mainly in Brain (which he edited for many years), weighty papers on the function of the cerebral cortex in relation to movements, and on neural physiology. Walshe is also remembered for his powers of literacy and stringent scientific criticism, which he often displayed with magnificent panache.