Medical Superintendent, Cardiff Fever Hospitals.
DR. BENJAMIN W. BROAD, resident medical superintendent of the Cardiff Sanatorium and Small-pox Hospital, died on March 8th, aged 63. He was born at Llanhilleth, Monmouthshire, and educated at the Monmouth Grammar School and the University of Edinburgh. He graduated M.B., C.M.Edin. in 1894. As a student he distinguished himself in the study of fevers, and both before and after obtaining his degrees he was attached to the staff of the Edinburgh Fever Hospital. After leaving Edinburgh he studied in Dublin, and before going to Cardiff he engaged in general practice in the Rhondda Valley. When still a medical student at Edinburgh he became one of the original members of the Volunteer Medical Staff Corps, an organization which in later years was transformed into the 'R.A.M.C.(T.F.). As a student he rose to the rank of sergeant-major, and when the Territorial Force was established in 1908 he rejoined the R.A\M.C.(T.F.). After serving as assistant to Dr. John Williams at Dowlais, he was appointed in 1896 as medical superintendent of Cardiff Sanatorium. For many years, in connexion with the Welsh School of Medicine, he taught hospital administration and fevers to students and candidates for the D.P.H., and this appointment he resigned only two years ago because of the pressure of other work. During the war he served with the 3rd Western General Hospital as specialist in fevers, with the rank of major. He was a vice-president of the Municipal Officers' Association and a member of the Cardiff Division of the British Medical Association. Professor DAVID HEPBURN writes: Dr. Broad was a man of extraordinary energy, an exceptionally capable physician, and an unusually skilful and competent administrator, so that it is not surprising that, alike by his patients and by the city authorities, he was universally and whole-heartedly beloved, admired, and trusted. Under his management the City Fever Hospital ranked as one of the most efficient, as well as one of the most economically worked institutions of its kind in the country. It can seldom fall to the lot of anyone to possess the love and confidence of such hosts of friends as clustered round Dr. Broad. His generosity and his charity were on a large scale, but his good deeds were never made public. At all times his great business acumen was freely placed at the service of his friends, and so widely was his help utilized that he was almost a public trustee. Evidence of the deep appeal which his death made to every section of the community was presented by the exceptional character of his funeral and the many signs of public mourning. Wherever he appeared he was a notable per-sonality, and to everyone who knew him his uprightness, probity, and reliability were his outstanding characteristics. The city of Cardiff has lost a great public servant.
Source: The British Medical Journal Obituary March 22, 1924