Born in Holt, Norfolk, Gillam was a son of Dr Joseph Beckett Gillam by his marriage to Dorothy Jane Skrimshire, whose family had practised medicine since the eighteenth century.[1] Educated at Epsom College between 1913 and 1923, he played for the cricket First XI, was head prefect and school captain,[2] and was offered both a scholarship in Classics at Clare College, Cambridge, and a closed scholarship to read medicine at University College Hospital (UCH) which was reserved for boys from Epsom College. His father had died young, before he entered the school, and financial considerations caused him to choose UCH. While there, he took a prize called the Lister Gold Medal, and in the final stages of his training was house physician to the cardiologist Sir Thomas Lewis, then migrated to the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital as house surgeon to Athelstan Jasper Blaxland. After his Conjoint diploma in 1927, he gained the degrees of MB and BS (London) in 1928.[1]
His brother John Gillam also became a doctor and ended his career as a consultant in Wales.[1]
Career
Gillam's career as a physician began at Bungay, Suffolk, where he established himself as a general practitioner and remained for almost ten years, gaining a reputation for devotion to his patients and an unhurried approach. He then returned to London to gain higher qualifications, in 1938 graduating MRCP and MD (London). The Second World War followed, and he joined the British Army, serving overseas in Normandy and India and ending the war as a Lieutenant-Colonel.[3]
On returning to civilian life, Gillam joined the National Heart Hospital to return to his career in cardiology and became a close friend of Paul Hamilton Wood. Two years later, in 1947, he was offered and accepted the position of consultant cardiologist at Selly Oak Hospital, and from there he was also seconded to Solihull Hospital, where resources did not run to modern cardiology equipment. In the year 1966–1967 he was President of the West Midlands Physicians' Association and in 1967 he was elected as a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians. Dogged by ill health, he retired in 1969.[3]
A. M. Nussey, a physician colleague at Solihull Hospital in the 1960s,[4] recalled that
"Gillam was tall and distinguished in appearance, and his penetrating intellect was clearly the basis of an almost uncanny diagnostic acumen. Some may have been deceived by the apparently puzzled simplicity with which he formulated his questions at medical gatherings, but, in effect, these usually served to focus attention on vital points and carried the discussion to the right conclusions..."[3]
In 1962, the family was living at 52, Augustus Road, Edgbaston.[8]
Gillam had many interests outside his work, including the works of William Shakespeare, poetry, music, fishing, and bird-watching. In retirement, he returned to live in his native Holt, but died soon afterwards.[3] His widow survived him until November 1989, continuing to live at Hill House, Holt.[9]
Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians (1967)[3]
Notes
^ abc"Geoffrey Gerrard Gillam"Archived 24 April 2019 at the Wayback Machine(sic) in William Munk, ed., The Roll of the Royal College of Physicians of London: Continued to 1975 (The Royal College, 1982), pp. 196–198
^ abcdefghijA. M. Nussey, "Geoffrey Gerrard Gillam" (sic) in British Medical Journal, 1970, 1, 698; Lancet, 1970, 1, 479 (Volume VI, page 196)
^The Medical Directory, Vol. 120, Part 2 (J. & A. Churchill Ltd, 1964), p. 2,985
^ ab"Marriage of Mr G. G. Gillam" in Hendon & Finchley Times dated Friday 27 September 1929, p. 13, col. 5, online at britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk. Retrieved 24 April 2019, (subscription required) : "MARRIAGE OF MR. G. G. GILLAM. A wedding which had considerable interest to Golders Green residents took place Saturday at All Souls’ Church, Langham-place, London. The bridegroom was Mr. Geoffrey Gerard Gillam... and the bride Miss Mary Frances Oldaker Gillam, elder daughter of Captain and Mrs Davies, of Coopersale Hall, near Epping, Essex. The Rev. W. H. Oldaker, assisted by the Rev. Arthur Buxton, officiated. The bride, who was given away by her father, wore a medieval gown of ivory moire... Mr John Gillam attended his brother as best man. A reception was held at the Langham Hotel, and later the bride and bridegroom left for Brittany..."
^"Gillam Geoffrey G & Davies Mary Frances O" in Register of Marriages for Marylebone Registration District, vol. 1a (1929), p. 1,654
^The Public and Preparatory Schools Year Book (Year Book Press Limited, 1968), pp. 896, 907
^County Borough of Birmingham, Register of Electors (Birmingham Edgbaston constituency), 1962, Polling District AGP 172, p. 2 at ancestry.co.uk (subscription required)
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