Dr. Donald Alexander Sangster Blair ¹ ^,2 ^,10

Born: 20 Jun 1906, Paisley, Renfrewshire, England
Marriage (1): Eleanor Violet Van Ryneveld on 21 Sep 1935 in St. Johns, Wotton, Surrey, England
Died: 12 Nov 1988, Ipswich, Suffolk, England aged 82

Family Links

Spouses/Children:

1. Eleanor Violet Van Ryneveld

Alastair D. D. Blair
Dr. Angus Alastair Douglas Blair
Michael S. D. Blair
Bruce G. D. Blair

(+ Shows person has known children.)

bullet Birth Notes:

Certified copy of marriage certificate between Donald Alexander Sangster Blair and Eleanor Violet Van Ryneveld in RAB's posession.

And

http://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin/sse.dll?rank=1&new=1&MSAV=1&msT=1&gss=angs-g&gsfn=Donald+Alexander&gsfn_x=NP_NIC&gsln=Blair&gsln_x=XO&msbdy=1906&msbdy_x=1&cpxt=1&catBucket=rstp&uidh=iof&msbdp=2&cp=11&pcat=ROOT_CATEGORY&h=6649737&db=ONSDeath93&indiv=1

And

http://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin/sse.dll?rank=1&new=1&MSAV=1&msT=1&gss=angs-g&gsfn=Donald&gsfn_x=NIC&gsln=Blair&gsln_x=XO&msbdy=1906&msbdy_x=1&msfng0=Alexander&msfng0_x=1&cpxt=1&catBucket=rstp&uidh=iof&msbdp=1&cp=4&pcat=ROOT_CATEGORY&h=25994433&db=1911England&indiv=1

bullet Death Notes:

http://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=londontimesdeaths&h=4486&indiv=try&o_vc=Record:OtherRecord&rhSource=7579

And

http://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=ONSDeath93&h=6649737&indiv=try&o_vc=Record:OtherRecord&rhSource=8791

bullet Sources of information or noted events in his life were:

• Occupation. Medical Doctor - Certified copy of marriage certificate between Donald Alexander Sangster Blair and Eleanor Violet Van Ryneveld in RAB's posession.

• Web Based Info. http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/SOUTH-AFRICA/2002-09/1032510435

And

http://ancestry24.com/wp-content/uploads/pages/Genealogies%20of%20old%20South%20African%20Families/page_02860.pdf

And

http://www.1820settlers.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Genealogy&file=getperson&personID=I7714&tree=1

And

http://users.iafrica.com/m/mu/muhr/011/011g27.html#5277

And

http://www.1820settlers.co.uk/genealogy/getperson.php?personID=I7708&tree=master

• Education. The College, Epsom, Surrey, England.
http://search.ancestry.co.uk/iexec?htx=View&r=5538&dbid=1518&iid=30807_A000752-00256&fn=Donald+Alexander&ln=Blair&st=r&ssrc=&pid=18528615

• Obituary. D A S BLAIR MD,
FRCPSYCH, DMJ
Dr D A S Blair, formerly a consultant psychiatrist to St Bernard's Hospital, Southall, and other hospitals in Middlesex, died on 12 November in his 83rd year.

Donald Alexander Sangster Blair was the son of a general practitioner and went from Epsom College to Clare College, Cambridge. He qualified MRCS, LRCP in 1930, having trained at St Thomas's Hospital, London, and graduated MB, BChir in 1937. He became interested in patients' mental ills and by 1940 had become first assistant medical officer of Cane Hill Hospital in Coulsdon. From 1942 to 1946 he served as a major in the Royal Army Medical Corps, working in France at Larbert and Northfields Military Hospitals. He became deputy physician superintendent at St Bernard's Hospital, Southall, in 1946 and by 1948 was consultant psychiatrist there and at Ashford Hospital and several other hospitals. Later he had a busy part time practice and developed a special interest in medical legal problems and forensic psychiatry.

Dr Blair made original and outstanding contributions in many aspects of psychiatry. In 1937 he was a coauthor of the first paper ever published in Britain on the use of phenytoin in epilepsy. His paper on group psychotherapy for war neuroses (1943) was one of the earliest on group therapy. As a young doctor he travelled in Europe to study physical treatments for schizophrenia and obtained permission to introduce cardiazole treatment at Cane Hill Hospital. When the phenothiazines came into use in the 1950s he and his assistants helped to ascertain their effect and proper use, and in 1960 he wrote one of the first British papers on the treatment of severe depression with imipramine. Other papers were on cryptococcosis of the central nervous system, pulmonary embolism resulting from air travel, addiction to medication, industrial units, head injury, alcoholism, and music therapy.

A member of many learned societies, he held office in several, including the British Society of Medical and Dental Hypnosis. He was an excellent speaker and gave many addresses to societies. He served on several committees and was vice chairman of the advisory committee in psychiatry to the North West Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board. He was also on the board of governors of Epsom College.

Donald's energy and enterprise made him an excellent team leader. Kind and considerate, outgoing and amiable with a refreshing sense of humour, he rapidly made friends, and his quick grasp of clinical matters was invaluable in busy wards and clinics. He considered psychotherapy to be a most important factor in treatment. His approach to psychiatry was holistic and broadly Meyerian. He believed in a multidimensional approach to aetiology and treatment and in multidisciplinary training of staff. He had a great interest in social factors in treatment and for some years was in charge of a therapeutic social club.

He retired to a farm in Suffolk, where he loved to work in the open air and took a keen interest in local matters. He is survived by his wife, Eleanor, and their three sons, one of whom is a doctor.

http://pubmedcentralcanada.ca/pmcc/articles/PMC1836530/pdf/bmj00231-0052.pdf/?lang=en-ca

• Census: UK, 1910. http://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin/sse.dll?rank=1&new=1&MSAV=1&msT=1&gss=angs-g&gsfn=Donald&gsfn_x=NIC&gsln=Blair&gsln_x=XO&msbdy=1906&msbdy_x=1&msfng0=Alexander&msfng0_x=1&cpxt=1&catBucket=rstp&uidh=iof&msbdp=1&cp=4&pcat=ROOT_CATEGORY&h=25994433&db=1911England&indiv=1

Donald married Eleanor Violet Van Ryneveld, daughter of Alfred Van Ryneveld and Eleanor Southey de la Harpe, on 21 Sep 1935 in St. Johns, Wotton, Surrey, England. (Eleanor Violet Van Ryneveld was born on 12 Sep 1909 in Graaff-Reinet, Eastern Cape, South Africa ¹ ^,2 ^,10, christened on 19 Nov 1909 in Graaff-Reinet, Eastern Cape, South Africa ¹¹ and died in Jan 1992 in Norwich, Norfolk, England.)

bullet Sources of information or n events in their marriage were:

• Marriage Contract. Certified copy of marriage certificate between Donald Alexander Sangster Blair and Eleanor Violet Van Ryneveld in RAB's posession.

• Web Based Info. http://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/information.pl?cite=jpnQ6SY0eRI9i8KPTszd0g&scan=1

And

http://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin/sse.dll?rank=1&new=1&MSAV=1&msT=1&gss=angs-g&gsfn=John+De+Villiers&gsfn_x=NIC&gsln=Van+Ryneveld&gsln_x=XO&cpxt=1&catBucket=rstp&uidh=iof&cp=0&pcat=ROOT_CATEGORY&h=44767670&db=ONSmarriage1984&indiv=1

Van Ryneveld Table of Contents | Van Ryneveld Surnames | Van Ryneveld Name List

There will inevitably be errors and omissions and the whole purpose of creating this online record, is to invite feedback and corrections.
The data is specifically for non-commercial use and my clear intention is to build family records. The data may, therefore, not be used in any way for the purposes of financial gain.

Caveat:- Throughout the project UK GRO birth, marriage and death index data appears. The GRO data appears in Quarters. Q1 = January, February and March, Q2 = April, May, June , Q3 = July, August and September and Q4 = October, November and December. Similarly, Mar Q = January, February and March, Jun Q = April, May, June , Sep Q = July, August and September and Dec Q = October, November and December. Where these dates occur, they represent the date of Registration of the event rather than the date of the actual event. Logically, registration occurs AFTER the event. In some cases this may be days or months or even years after the event. The important thing is that the event was recorded and a copy of the document of registration could be obtained if necessary. This also applies to South African NAAIRS records.

Similarly, the UK system is confusing to the uninitiated because registration districts can span several counties. Accordingly GRO locations may not record the true location of the event. They do record where the record is actually kept or recorded.

Caveat #2:- I have used URL's throughout the website as sources. The URLs are often from paid subscription sites so you may not be able to access them without an account. Inevitably there are broken URL's. I have been to every URL recorded here and at the time they were operational. In this regard, the Ancestry24 records are a problem. There are numerous references in the South African data citing Ancestry24 records. Unfortunately Ancestry24 has closed down and these records are no longer available on line.

The early South African records on this site would not have been as good as they are without the work done by Delia Robertson. Where there are website addresses containing http://www.e-family.co.za... I record the citation should read Robertson, Delia. The First Fifty Years Project. This website can be found at First Fifty Years

Dr. Donald Alexander Sangster Blair 1,2,10

Dr. Donald Alexander Sangster Blair ¹ ^,2 ^,10