Dr Dennis Athelstone Knight
19/01/1894 to 19/10/1993
Place of birth: Bridgetown, Barbados, West Indies
Nationality: British
CRN: 507198
Education and qualifications
| General education | Harrison College, Barbados 1906-12. Medical Schoool, University of Edinburgh 1912-14 and 1916-18. He interrupted his studies to serve in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve as a surgeon sublieutenant 1914-16. |
|---|---|
| Primary medical qualification(s) | MB ChB, University of Edinburgh, 1918 |
| Initial Fellowship and type | FFARCS by Election |
| Year of Fellowship | 1953 |
| Other qualification(s) | DA (RCP&S), 1939 |
Professional life and career
Postgraduate career
Following graduation and a few months as a House Surgeon at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, Knight returned in 1918 to the Royal Navy as a Surgeon Lieutenant. He served in this role until 1920, including a period on the aircraft carrier HMS Nairana in the North Russia Intervention of 1918-19. Upon leaving the Navy, he returned to the Edinburgh Infirmary as a house surgeon for about three months. In August 1920, he entered General Practice with a temporary six month assistant post at Moffat Scotland before moving in February 1921 to a General Practice partnership in Carlisle, Cumberland where he remained until 1947. He also had an interest in anaesthesia and was appointed as an anaesthetist to the Cumberland Infirmary alongside his medical practice. Many GP’s of this era practised as GP anaesthetists. During the second world war period he practised anaesthesia with the Emergency Medical Service. In 1948 he was appointed as a senior Consultant Anaesthetist to the Cumberland and Westmorland Hospitals where he was affectionately known as “Silent Knight” remaining until he reached his 65th year in 1959. He continued in private practice until 1968, when he moved with his wife to Yorkshire to be nearer family. There he continued to practise anaesthesia at the Clifton Hospital in York until 1974.
Professional interests and activities
He was a member of the North of England Society of Anaesthetists and served as its President in 1950. He was also a member of the Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain & Ireland, and of the British Medical Association.
Other biographical information
Dr Knight was one of the four sons of William Robert Julian Gill Knight, a pharmaceutical chemist, who ran a pharmacy business in Bridgetown, Barbados. He married Margaret Sophia Norfor (who had served as a WRAF officer) in 1922, and together they had two daughters: Helen b.1923 and Margaret b.1928. In his early adult life he enjoyed cricket and golf; in his later years he continued golf, took up photography and visited several countries. Predeceased by his wife in 1978, he passed away aged 99 years at Sowerby in Yorkshire where he had lived for several years - survived by eight grandchildren and twelve great grandchildren.
Author and sources
Author:
Dr Innes Simon Chadwick
Sources and comments:
Bibliographic Information accessed online at Ancestry.com March 2025.
Medical Register GMC 1952 accessed online at Ancestry.com.
Medical Directories 1949 – 1974.
McLellan IR. Obituary Denis Athelstone Knight. BMJ 1993; 307 (27 November):1419.
Dr Knight’s self submitted Royal College autobiographical “Boulton Form” dated 1988.
Photograph and additional family information kindly provided by his grandson, Charles McLellan in March 2025.