Francis James Browne

Francis James Browne (1879–1963) was professor of obstetrics and gynaecology and first director of the obstetric unit at University College Hospital, London, which was opened in 1926. He was known as "FJ".

Browne was appointed professor at the University of London and the first full-time director of the newly established Obstetric Unit, opened by the Prince of Wales in 1926.

Browne established a modern labour ward service, with one senior sister in charge and improved antiseptic and aseptic techniques. He instituted antenatal and postnatal clinics and recruited many (later distinguished) assistants, including Leslie Williams, Harold Malkin, Chassar Moir, Robert Kellar, Vivian Barnes, Max Rosenheim, Josephine Barnes and Aileen Dickens.

He re-organised the teaching of medical students, and residential accommodation was provided. Systematic teaching of obstetric and gynaecological dressers was introduced. Standards of the district obstetric service were greatly improved, an important service in the days when most deliveries were still domiciliary.

Browne was a fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine and a member of the Gynaecological Visiting Society (GVS), elected in 1927. He became a founding fellow of the College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (1929). He was president of the (RSM) Section of Obstetrics and Gynaecology for the 1945/6 session.

In 1947, he was invited to give the first William Meredith Fletcher Shaw Memorial Lecture. His subject was hypertension in pregnancy, summarising his life's work.