Dr Robert Hume
January 1928 – March 2024
Former President of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow Dr Robert Hume, who died aged 96, was a renowned consultant physician, the author of numerous publications on haematology, and a devoted family man.
He was born in Glasgow and grew up surrounded by family, including his brother Walter and his sister Christine. Inspired by his mother’s love of rugby, he developed a lifelong passion for the sport.
He was a pupil at Bellahouston Academy in the southside of the city. During the second world war he was evacuated to Ayr and spent more than a year at Ayr Academy. Towards the end of the war, he was conscripted into the army and travelled to India with the Intelligence Corps.
Robert completed his medical degree at the University of Glasgow, and his first post was at Glasgow’s Royal Infirmary. It was there where he met his wife Kathleen – his research assistant - and they remained constant companions for the next six decades until she died, just six months before Robert.
As his career progressed, Robert took up new posts at what was then the Southern General Hospital in Glasgow, where he spent the majority of his career. He wrote numerous publications on haematological and vascular disorders and was an Honorary Clinical Lecturer at the University of Glasgow.
He was also a great supporter of the College, giving his time as an examiner in the UK and internationally, notably in Malta – a country he loved and returned to many times. He also served on the Fellowship Committee and became a College Councillor in 1976.
He sat on a range of College committees, including a standing committee on nuclear medicine. He became President of the College in 1990 until 1992.
Robert was known for his encyclopedic knowledge and his passion for debate, news and current affairs, as well as his love of Scottish country dancing and the occasional single malt.
Read more
But his first love was his family. He was a loving father to Robert, Morag and David, and he enjoyed hillwalking with them as they grew up. Family holidays were often spent on Arran and the Isle of Skye, near where Robert’s grandfather grew up.
He adored his five grandchildren, and never missed the opportunity to watch them at a rugby game, hockey match, school concert or prize giving. Robert died peacefully at the age of 96 at Antonine Care Home in Glasgow and will be remembered for his immense contribution to his patients, his work and the College community.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here