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Dr Robert Brocklesby Davis

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Dr Robert Brocklesby Davis (1911 - 1980)

Also Known As: "Bob"
Birthdate:
Birthplace: Amritsar, Amritsar, Punjab, India
Death: October 07, 1980 (68)
Charlottesville, VA, United States
Immediate Family:

Son of George Brocklesby Davis and Lucy Gertrude Howard
Husband of Aleyamma Brocklesby Davis
Ex-husband of Ethel Amelia Tuffen and Evelyn Girvan Ross Davis
Father of Jane Brocklesby Davis; Jennifer Footman; Private User; Elizabeth Jane Brocklesby Borde; Private User and 1 other
Brother of Helen Jane Brocklesby Barnard; Anna Brocklesby Davis; George Brocklesby Davis; Charles Brocklesby Davis; James Brocklesby Davis and 4 others

Occupation: Doctor
Managed by: Angus Footman
Last Updated:

About Dr Robert Brocklesby Davis

From: http://www.indianjpsychiatry.org/article.asp?issn=0019-5545;year=20...

The first draft of Mental Health Act that subsequently became the Mental Health Act of India (1987) was written at Ranchi in 1949 by R.B. Davis, then Medical Superintendent of CIP, S.A. Hasib, from Indian Mental Hospital, Ranchi and J Roy, from Mental Hospital, Nagpur. [22] Initial attempts by the Indian Psychiatric Society to bring about change were unsuccessful. In 1959-60, reforms were considered but no consensus was reached. In the 1980s, there was a resurgence of activity resulting in the passage of the Mental Health Act in 1987. [22],[34]

Obituary, BRITISH MEDICAL JOURNAL, VOLUME 281, 1 NOVEMBER 1980

R B DAVIS, DSO, FRCPSYCH

Dr R B Davis, who was head of the Psychiatric Nursing Hospital at Ranchi, India, for nearly 30 years, died suddenly on 7 October at Charlotteville, USA. He was 68. Robert Brocklesby Davis was born on 27 December 1911 at Amritsar and went to school in England before studying medicine at Cambridge and London. He joined the Indian Medical Service in 1936, and after the war served as superintendent of the mental hospital at Ranchi and founded a private nursing home there. With his death India, and particularly Bihar, has lost one of her most eminent psychiatrists and a former worker with Mother Teresa at Calcutta. He was on a tour of America when he suffered the heart attack from which he died. Dr Davis is survived by his wife, three daughters, and one son.-TKB.

From: http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/34340/pages/7349/page.pdf:

THE LONDON GAZETTE, 13 NOVEMBER, 1936: Robert Brocklesby Davis appointed Lieutenant, INDIAN MEDICAL SERVICE

CAPTAIN, MZ 15936, INDIAN ARMY MEDICAL CORPS, BURMA, DISTINGUISHED SERVICE ORDER, 27 JULY 1944

From: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D7364655

Reference: WO 373/33/9

Description: Name Davis, Robert Brocklesby Rank: Captain Service No: MZ 15936 Regiment: Indian Army Medical Corps Theatre of Combat or Operation: Burma Award: Distinguished Service Order

Date of announcement in London Gazette: 27 July 1944

From: http://www.davismindcare.com/index-1.html

The Davis Institute of Neuropsychiatry was started in 1955 by Dr. Robert Brocklesby Davis and Mrs. Aleyamma B. Davis. Dr. Robert Brocklesby Davis was born on the 27th of December 1911 in Amritsar, Punjab. His father was an English missionary doctor who had come to India and was stationed as the chief surgeon in the mission hospital in Amritsar. He was the fifth generation of his family to he associated with India. He grew up in Amritsar till the age of eight. In 1919 one week before the Jalianwala Baag incident his father who treated many Sikhs was warned by them not to stay as his family would be in danger as the Anti British movement was growing.

The family relocated to Ely, a small village near Cambridge where his father took up a country practice. He was sent to Stowe, a public school and then went to Cambridge where he completed his B.A. in 1932 with anatomy, physiology and psychology (pre-medical training). He then underwent clinical training in a London Hospital. This period was one in which the greatest discoveries in the world were being made in Cambridge. He got his MBBS degree in 1936 from Cambridge with medals in clinical surgery and medicine. He knew Alexander Fleming, who was his senior at college.

Because of his close connection with India he joined the Indian Medical Service in 1937. He was posted to Rawalpindi and because of his interest in Psychiatry he was appointed as Psychiatric Specialist to the Northern Command from 1938-1942. During the 2nd World War he joined the British Indian Army and became the medical officer in charge of a parachute brigade. He lead an evacuation of many wounded soldiers through jungles in Nagaland while under Japanese fire and was given the D.S.O. (Distinguished Service Order) for this by Queen Elizabeth.

After the war, in 1946 he was posted as the medical superintendent of the European Mental Hospital in Ranchi (now known as Central Institute of Psychiatry). He was responsible for making the hospital into the leading centre for Psychiatry in India at that time. He introduced the first EEG in India, he conducted neurosurgery in Ranchi along with army surgeons from the military hospital, he started modified ECT and Insulin Coma treatment. He conducted trials of new drugs as soon as they were available. He started a pathology and radiology department. He modernised the hospital trying to make it into a therapeutic community. Patients and staff had picnics and outings together and played games together. He was very interested in teaching and taught post-graduate students. Many of the leading psychiatrists in the country trained under him. He also arranged for some of the most eminent psychiatrists in the world to visit Ranchi. They include Aubrey Lewis, William Seargant, among others. During this period he obtained his DPM from London while taking regular sabbatical visits and working in the Maudsley Hospital and the Institute of Neurology, Queen Square.

Along with other senior psychiatrists in India he was instrumental in the foundation of the Indian Psychiatric Society in 1947. He was the founder secretary and remained secretary till 1954 when he served as President. He regularly attended all national conferences till his demise. He used to regularly attend International conferences and was a member of many International bodies. He was a member of the UPSC for many years and served on the draft committee for the Mental Health Act. His research interests were the epidemiology of psychiatric disorders, schizophrenia, major depression, catatonia and cannabis psychosis. He published many papers in national and international journals.

After resigning from the European Mental Hospital in 1955 he married Aleyamma Eapen, a Malayali Nurse who was the matron of the European Hospital. She was the first Indian nurse to be sent to the Maudsley Hospital for training in psychiatric nursing. Together they started the Kishore Nursing Home ( now known as the Davis Institute of Neuropsychiatry) in 1955. The hospital is set up on a 5 acre plot and has its own vegetable garden and a beatiful rose garden. Dr. Davis and Mrs. Davis succeeded in making their hospital one of the most well known private psychiatric hospitals in the country. As of today over 70,000 inpatients have been treated here. Dr. R.B. Davis was awarded the Padma Shree by President Radhakrishnan in 1962 for his contribution to Psychiatry in India.

Besides his carrier in Psychiatry he had many other interests. He was a keen boxer and swimmer. He used to swim with 2 dogs across the Kanke dam when he lived in the present Shahdeo Marriage hall where the Davis Institute began in 1955. He was a close friend of Maharaj Kumar Raj Kishore Shahdeo and named the new hospital Kishore Nursing Home after him. He was a founder member of the Rotary Club of Ranchi and served as its president. He became an Indian citizen in 1948 and became a patriotic Indian. He was a member of the Rose Society and a keen agricultural with a large farm, diary and poultry. He experimented with growing different varieties of rice and was closely associated with the agriculture and veterinary colleges.

He was also a member of the Ranchi Chapter of the Masonic Lodge. He used to visit Kolkata every week to see patients and was closely involved with Mother Teresa. He was involved in starting Antara and Asha Niketan in Kolkata. He was very interested in gardening, farming, English literature, Western Classical Music and almost anything else that he came across. He could speak English, French, Hindi, Bengali and Urdu.

He died on the 8th of October 1980 at the age of 69. He was visiting his sister in Virginia and unfortunately had a fatal heart attack.

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Dr Robert Brocklesby Davis's Timeline

1911
December 27, 1911
Amritsar, Amritsar, Punjab, India
1912
February 12, 1912
Amritsar, India
1932
1932
- 1935
Age 20
Cambridge University (Clinical studies at London Hospital), Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England (United Kingdom)
1932
- 1935
Age 20
Cambridge University (Clinical studies at London Hospital), Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England (United Kingdom)
1932
- 1935
Age 20
Cambridge University (Clinical studies at London Hospital), Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England (United Kingdom)
1932
- 1935
Age 20
Cambridge University (Clinical studies at London Hospital), Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England (United Kingdom)
1939
1939
New Delhi, India