The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Blue plaque honour given to Angus-born medical professor
Family home marked with tribute to his many achievements
The family home of a renowned gynaecologist who spent his formative years in Angus and whose work was described as “one of the great medical advances of the 20th Century” has been marked with a prestigious blue plaque.
Professor Chassar Moir was born in Montrose in 1900 and attended Montrose Academy.
He went on to read medicine at Edinburgh University at the age of 17, becoming a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons (FRCS) in 1926 and later a Fellow of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.
He gained experience at various hospitals around Edinburgh and later as a GP in Redhill, Surrey.
Family and friends gathered for the unveiling of the plaque by his son, John Moir, at 11 Chadlington Road, Oxford.
Prof Moir died in 1977 and his family linked up with the Oxfordshire Blue Plaques Board to erect it at the house where he lived between 1938 and 1957.
Tribute was given by David Barlow, Nuffield Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Emeritus, while John’s sister Jane added a family perspective.
In 1932 Prof Moir took up a research post at University College Hospital, London.
He had long been interested in the potential of ergot, a rye grass fungus, for stemming haemorrhages after childbirth, the cause of many deaths.
He collaborated with the biochemist Harold Ward Dudley and they developed the fast-working drug Ergometrine which has since saved countless lives.
The Lancet recorded in Prof Moir’s obituary “it was one of the great medical advances of the 20th Century and was a true gift to world medicine”.
He received many honorary degrees from British and overseas universities and was awarded a CBE in 1961.
In retirement he moved to Charlbury, Oxfordshire. He would travel to London to work in an honorary capacity almost until the time of his death.
His funeral service was held in Charlbury and he was buried in the family lair at Sleepyhillock Cemetery, Montrose.
His daughter Priscilla said the plaque was a “splendid honour” to her father.
She added: “He was absolutely devoted to his work.”
It was one of the great medical advances of the 20th Century and was a true gift to world medicine. THE LANCET