John W. Byers Autographs, Memorabilia & Collectibles

John W. Byers (1853-1920), born in Shanghai to Presbyterian missionary parents, was Chair of Midwifery at the Medical College, Queen's University Belfast, from 1893 to 1920. He wrote many papers, and addressed many medical meetings, on the topic of obstetrics, and wrote an illustrated history of midwifery. Byers's interests extended beyond medicine, however. A President of the Belfast Literary Society and the Belfast Philosophical Society, he did extensive research on the history, language and folkways of Ireland. He introduced study of the Irish language into the Medical School's curriculum.