Dr. (later Professor) John Wyllie (1844-1916)
John Wyllie was born and brought up near Edinburgh in Scotland. His initial interest in speech and voice arose while studying medicine at Edinburgh University, where he completed an M.D. dissertation entitled ‘Observations on the physiology of the larynx’ in 1865. This dissertation was published in the Edinburgh Medical Journal in 1866.
On graduation, Wyllie took up a post as resident physician at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, then in the summer of 1866 he spent time studying in Paris, possibly with Armand Trousseau, whose expertise in respiratory conditions and laryngology would have recommended itself to Wyllie. He also studied with Jean-Martin Charcot, a neurologist. Following this, he worked in Birmingham (UK) before returning to Scotland in 1868, where he remained for the rest of his life.
Wyllie’s contribution to speech pathology comprises a series of articles on communication impairments published in the Edinburgh Medical Journal, between 1891 and 1894, subsequently collated into a book The Disorders of Speech, in 1894. This book was ground-breaking. At the time it was said to be ‘one of the most complete treatises on disorders of speech in any language’ and has been suggested by some writers as the first comprehensive text-book on speech disorders written in English.
The Disorders of Speech covers anatomy, physiology, phonetics and psychology, addressing a wide range of communication disorders, with a particular focus on stammering (stuttering) and acquired neurological conditions. His position on aphasia was firmly within the localisationist-connectionist school of thought. Unusual for its time, not only did the book describe these disorders, but offered clear outlines of assessment, diagnosis and therapeutic approaches. At the front of the book is a fold-out section presenting a ‘physiological alphabet’ listing consonants in terms of voice, place and manner (in today’s standard phonetic terms). This physiological alphabet was referred to throughout the book when Wyllie reported how he used this in his intervention techniques.
In places the book inadvertently reflects the dismissive attitudes of the British middle class of that time towards those who were not of its number, however Wyllie was forward-thinking in his acceptance of new technology, his use of a wide range of research and his reflection on clinical experience. At the end of the final chapter Wyllie states ‘My task is now finished’ and The Disorders of Speech does appear to have been his last published word on the subject. He subsequently lectured on speech disorders until 1914 (a medical student collected and published his lecture notes from 1899-1907). He died in 1916, a few weeks before his 72nd birthday.
Now that his book is available in digital form, it will reward any reader with an interest in the speech disorders and therapy as understood in Britain at the end of the nineteenth century.
References by and about John Wyllie, arranged chronologically
By John Wyllie
Wyllie, J. (1866) Observations on the physiology of the larynx. Edinburgh Medical Journal, 2, 3, 214-237 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5311707/
Wyllie, J. (1894). The disorders of speech. Edinburgh Medical Journal, 39, 7, 577-595. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5286187/
Wyllie, J. (1894) The disorders of speech. Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd. https://wellcomecollection.org/works/vkke3df5
Wyllie, J. (1899-1907) Lectures of Professor John Wyllie 1844-1916. Edinburgh University Library Special Collections. https://archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/search/archives/c3b18c83-e4d3-3884-b311-bdc440fca3a4
Wyllie, J. (1900). Method of case-taking. https://wellcomecollection.org/works/p83yhz9s
Wyllie, J (1908) Tumours of the cerebellum, London, H.K. Lewis.
Wyllie, J (1911) Meningitis, sinus thrombosis and abscess of the brain: with appendices on lumbar puncture and its uses and diseases of the nasal accessory sinuses. London : H.K. Lewis.
About John Wyllie
Affleck, Sir J. (1916). John Wyllie, M.D., F.R.C.P.E., LL.D. Edin., Emeritus Professor of Medicine and Clinical Medicine in the University of Edinburgh. [obituary] The British Medical Journal 1/2875 (Feb. 5, 1916), pp. 220-221.
Anon (1916) John Wyllie, M.D., F.R.C.P.E., LL.D. Edin., Emeritus Professor of Medicine and Clinical Medicine in the University of Edinburgh. [obituary] The British Medical Journal 1, pp. 220.
Langwill, H.G. (1916) John Wyllie, M.D., F.R.C.P.E., LL.D. Edin., Emeritus Professor of Medicine and Clinical Medicine in the University of Edinburgh. [obituary] The British Medical Journal 1, pp. 221.
W.R. (1916) Obituary of Emeritus-Professor John Wyllie, M.D., LL.D., F.R.C.P.E. Edinburgh Medical Journal XVI/3, pp. 223-225. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5271000/pdf/edinbmedj74269-0062.pdf
MacMahon, M.K.C. (1984) John Wyllie and the development of speech therapy in Scotland. In Margaret Edwards (ed.), XIX Congress of the International Association of Logopaedics and Phoniatrics, Edinburgh, 1983, vol. 1, 1-5. London: College of Speech Therapists.
This biography was written by:
Linda Armstrong, PhD, Hons RCSLT, independent researcher.
and
Jois Stansfield, EdD, FRCSLT, now a PhD History student at the University of Strathclyde. Emeritus Professor of Speech Pathology, Manchester Metropolitan University.
February, 2022