Gilbert Barling

Who was Gilbert Barling?

Sir Harry Gilbert Barling, 1st Baronet CB CBE FRCS was an English physician.

Barling was born at Newnham on Severn, Gloucestershire and educated at a boarding school at Weston, near Bath. He went to Birmingham at the age of 20, to take his matriculation exam at Queen’s College, before going on to study at St Bartholomew's Hospital in London and culminating in his admittance to the Royal College of Surgeons in 1879, becoming a Fellow in 1881. It was at this time he was appointed resident pathologist at the General Hospital which would start an association lasting for 60 years. He became President of the hospital in 1925.

From 1913 to 1933 he held the office of Vice Chancellor of the University of Birmingham, during which time and under his guidance the research departments in mental diseases and cancer were founded. He was Vice President and Chairman of the Council of The Birmingham Civic Society for 22 years from its creation in 1918 until his death in 1940. He was also for many years the Chairman of the Birmingham Hospital Saturday Fund. His association with the university had begun in 1885 when he was appointed Demonstrator of Anatomy at Queen’s College and he was for many years on the teaching staff of the Medical School, becoming Professor of Pathology in 1885. In 1893 he was appointed co-professor of Surgery at Mason's College and Dean of the Faculty of Medicine.