Person
MacPherson, John (1857 - 1942)
CB
- Born
- 1857
Dores, Inverness, Scotland - Died
- 1942
United Kingdom - Occupation
- Medical practitioner and Psychiatrist
Summary
John MacPherson was the first Professor of Psychology at the University of Sydney. He arrived in Sydney in July 1922 following a distinguished career in Scotland during which he was Commissioner for Lunacy for over 20 years, and served as president during WWI of a special medical board dealing with nervous disorders. MacPherson's duties as Professor included delivering undergraduate lectures and conducting morning demonstrations at Broughton Hall Special Hospital and the adjacent Callan Park Mental Hospital. He instituted a successful mental health clinic at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in 1923. Upon the University ratifying a Diploma of Psychological Medicine, MacPherson was largely responsible for its implementation. During his time in New South Wales Macpherson regularly attended scientific meetings, including the inaugural Australasian Medical Congress in 1923, presenting a number of papers. He gave evidence to the New South Wales Royal Commission on Lunacy Law in April 1923, commenting on overcrowding in mental hospitals and proposing the creation of psychiatric outpatient and inpatient facilities in general hospitals throughout New South Wales. MacPherson returned to the United Kingdom in 1926.
Details
Chronology
- 1882
- Education - MB CM, University of Edinburgh
- 1882 - 1889
- Career position - Assistant Physician, Royal Edinburgh Asylum
- 1889 - 1899
- Career position - Medical Superintendent, Stirling District Asylum, Larbert, Scotland
- 1896
- Education - MD, University of Edinburgh
- 1899
- Career event - Textbook Mental affections: an introduction to the study of insanity published
- 1899 - 1921
- Career position - Commissioner of Lunacy for Scotland
- 1910 - 1911
- Career position - 1910 - 1911 President, Royal Medico-Psychological Association
- 1922
- Award - Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB)
- 1922 - 1926
- Career position - Inaugural Professor of Psychiatry, University of Sydney
- July 1922
- Life event - Arrived in Sydney
- 1923
- Career event - Attended inaugural Australasian Medical Congress
- 1924
- Career position - Chairman, Neurology and Psychiatry section, New South Wales Branch, British Medical Association
- 1928
- Award - Maudsley Lecturer, Institute of Psychoanalysis, United Kingdom
Related entries
Published resources
Books
- Macpherson, J., Mental affections: an introduction to the study of insanity (London: Macmillan and Company, 1899), 380 pp. Details
Journal Articles
- Macpherson, J., 'Neurasthenia, hysteria and epilepsy', Medical journal of Australia, 1 (9) (1924), 210-3, https://doi.org/10.5694/j.1326-5377.1924.tb65481.x. Details
- Macpherson, J., 'The relation of neurasthenia and anxiety neurosis to the manic-depressive syndrome', Medical journal of Australia, 1 (24) (1925), 618-24, https://doi.org/10.5694/j.1326-5377.1925.tb38988x. Details
- White, Richard T., 'Sir John Macpherson, the first but sometimes overlooked Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Sydney', Australasian psychiatry, 22 (4) (2014), 378-82, https://doi.org/10.1177/1039856214539573. Details
Helen Cohn
Created: 20 May 2025