John Bagot (known as "JB") Quinlan was the son of Francis Quinlan and Ellen Fennelly. He qualified as a veterinarian (MRCVS, Dublin) in 1912 and was awarded the Fitzwygram 1st Prize as the top veterinary student in the British Isles. He came to South Africa as lecturer in veterinary science at the Potchefstroom College of Agriculture and while there wrote an article on "Tuberculosis at the experiment farm, Potchefstroom" for the Agricultural Journal of the Union of South Africa (1914). During World War I (1914-1918) he served as a captain in the South African Veterinary Corps. In 1920 he was stationed at the Allerton Veterinary Laboratory in Natal, until his appointment in 1922 as the first professor of surgery, gynaecology and obstetrics at the newly established Faculty of Veterinary Science of the Transvaal University College at Onderstepoort, Pretoria. He served in this position until his retirement in 1947. In 1922 he was awarded the degree Dr.Med.Vet. by the University of Hanover, followed by his Fellowship of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (FRCVS) in 1928. The next year he obtained the degree DVSc (University of South Africa) for his thesis Researches into sterility of cattle in South Africa.

Quinlan and various co-workers published widely on subjects related to surgery and reproduction in domestic animals, especially sheep. After his retirement he practiced in Cape Town, Mooi River and Durban until his death. He was widely regarded as the greatest equine veterinary surgeon of his time. He married Erna Hedwig Kluge, with whom he had two sons and a daughter.

List of sources:

Author and Subject Index to the Government Veterinary Reports of the Transvaal and Union of South Africa (1903-1932). Pretoria: Department of Agriculture, June 1937.

Author and Subject Index to the Onderstepoort Journal of Veterinary Science and Animal Industry (1933-1950) and the Onderstepoort Journal of Veterinary Research (1951-1968). Pretoria: Department of Agriculture, June 1969.

Brown, M.H.V. & Curson, H.H. The veterinary profession in South Africa. 6: Theses for the doctorate. Journal of the South African Veterinary Medical Association, 1933, Vol. 4(3), pp. 186-188.

FamilySearch: John Bagot Quinlan. https://www.familysearch.org/en/tree/person/about/G3SB-MC2

Posthumus, P.J. Past Veterinarians in South Africa, Vol. 2, 10th edition, [1992].

Compiled by: D.W. Verwoerd

Last updated: 2025-09-27 10:33:54