caption death_date death_place birth_place nationality birth_date image article_title name occupation
photograph by his father john thomas 10 september 1927 liverpool , england liverpool , england welsh february 1865 dr william thelwall thomas -lrb- 1865-1927 -rrb- nlw3363733.jpg william thelwall thomas
 william thelwall thomas surgeon
william thelwall thomas

professor william thelwall thomas mbe , chm , frcs -lrb- 1865-1927 -rrb- was a welsh surgeon who worked in liverpool .
thomas was born in liverpool in 1865 , the son of the welsh photographer john thomas -lrb- 1838-1905 -rrb- and his wife elizabeth .
his father made a series of photographs of of thomas that are now in the collection of the national library of wales .
thomas attended school at the liverpool institute and studied medicine at the university of glasgow where he graduated in 1886 .
he decided to devote himself to work as a consultant surgeon to the exclusion of other medical work ; this was unconventional at the time .
he was appointed as an assistant surgeon at the liverpool royal infirmary in 1892 and as a full surgeon there in 1907 .
in 1913 he was elected professor of regional surgery at the university of liverpool , a position he held until his retirement in 1927 .
thomas became president of the surgical section of the british medical association in 1913 .
he was on the council of the royal college of surgeons from 1921 until his death .
thomas was a fine and dexterous surgeon who was equally skilled at diagnosis .
he pioneered the use of antiseptic techniques in liverpool , following the principles of joseph lister to which he had been exposed as a student in glasgow .
he developed what is still the most common surgical treatment for varicose veins .
thomas spoke welsh fluently and maintained a close interest in welsh affairs .
in 1925 he was one of the presidents at the national eisteddfod in pwllheli .
thomas was an active member of the welsh calvinistic methodist church -lrb- now the presbyterian church of wales -rrb- and was for many years a sunday school teacher .
he was the medical officer of the foreign mission of the presbyterian church of wales .
in 1892 he married anabel spence , they had no children .
anabel died in 1927 , two months before her husband on 10 september 1927 .
