Sir John Weir Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order, was a Scottish doctor who served as Physician Royal to several twentieth century monarchs.
Background
Born in the town of Paisley, in Renfrewshire, Scotland, Doctor Weir was to become Physician Royal to King George V (reigned 1910-1936. Weir his physician from 1918), King Edward VIII (reigned 1936), King George VI (reigned 1936-1952), Queen Elizabeth II (physician 1952-1968), and King Haakon VII (1872–1957) of Norway, whose wife Maud (1869–1938) was the youngest daughter of King Edward VII (1841–1910).
Education
Weir attended Allan Glen"s School in Glasgow, a school noted for its emphasis on science.
Career
He received his medical education first at Glasgow University Bachelor of Medicine Bachelor of Surgery 1907, and then on a sabbatical year in Chicago under the tutelage of Doctor James Tyler Kent of Hering Medical College during 1908-1909, along with Doctorandus Harold Fergie Woods (1883–1961) and Douglas Borland (1885–1961). He returned to the London Homeopathic Hospital as Consultant Physician in 1910, and was appointed the Compton-Burnett Professor of Materia Medica in 1911. He rose to become President of the Faculty of Homeopathy in 1923.
Weir reputedly first learned of homeopathy through his contact with Doctor Robert Gibson Miller (1862–1919) head of the Glasgow Homeopathic Hospital, who had an important influence on the future Physician Royal, who he treated for boils and converted to homeopathy.
"lieutenant was Doctor Gibson Miller who advised Sir John Weir to go to the United States of America." This influence tended to be passed on: Doctor Douglas Gibson (1888–1977) “became interested in homeopathy in 1936 through a meeting with Sir John Weir,”. He spoke on homeopathy before the Royal Society of Medicine in 1932, and was knighted by King George V that same year.
The renovated Manchester Homoeopathic Institute and Dispensary was opened in Oxford Street by Sir John Weir in May 1939.