Son of the local Ellon doctor, James Reid was born in 1849 and had an outstanding academic career, graduating from Aberdeen University MB CM in 1872. Working on the Continent he learned to speak German. Because of this, when Queen Victoria was looking for a new Scottish medical attendant who was conversant in German, James Reid was chosen. He remained her personal physician until her death in 1901. Sir James remained physician-in-ordinary to the next two monarchs, Edward VII and George V. His role as medical adviser diminished but he remained a friend of the family and was called for when Prince Albert needed help in 1914.
Three weeks after the outbreak of the First World War, Sir James Reid received notification from London telling him ‘to go to Wick and meet Prince Albert (‘Bertie’) who has appendicitis and is to be landed there from the Collingwood tomorrow.’ On board the hospital ship Rohilla, Sir James sailed with the Prince for Aberdeen. Travelling via Scapa Flow they passed the battleships and destroyers awaiting action. The Rohilla being too large to enter Aberdeen harbour, Prince Albert was disembarked in a cot by crane into a tug and brought ashore. The Prince had suffered abdominal symptoms for much of his life but this time, in 1914 he had his appendix removed.
Sir John Marnoch, Professor of Surgery operated on Albert in the Northern Nursing Home, Albyn Place. The future king made a good recovery. Telegams and letters were exchanged between Sir James and George V keeping the king informed about his son’s health. This correspondence is in the Medico-Chirurgical Society’s archive. 22 years after his operation, ‘Bertie,’ now the Duke of York returned to Aberdeen to open the new hospital at Foresterhill. His brother, King Edward VIII after the death of their father George V should have performed the ceremony but was meeting his future wife, Wallis Simpson instead. Later that year, 1936, Edward VIII abdicated and the Duke of York became King George VI.
