My Grandfather, Sir Hugh Dow – Founder of Dow Medical College in Karachi by Helen Wagner.
In 2017, I received an email from Helen Wagner, the granddaughter of Sir Hugh Dow. I was delighted to learn more about Sir Hugh Dow through the account she wrote about her grandad. Her 2017 note was shared here with the Dowites. Recently, she wrote a more detailed account of her grandad, and with her permission, we are happy to share with all the Dowites a personal account of her grandad, Sir Hugh Dow. As she notes, “There is some information about my grandfather you can find via Google. I am going to tell you about more personal things that you won’t find on the internet.” While this book goes into great detail about Sir Hugh Dow’s role as a Governor of Sind, Governor of Bihar, and later Counsel General of Jerusalem, these were political affairs and the steps he took as a representative of the British Empire. To gain perspective on his personal life and beliefs is valuable. I am happy to have been in touch with his granddaughter, Ms. Helen Wagner, who wrote about him and shared her thoughts with us. Additional sidebar information and research are added to provide perspective.
– Rizwan A. Karatela, MD.
For the PDF of this article from the book – Download PDF or read on the Browser.
Note: This is the excerpt from the the book – The Dow (to be published soon on TheDowDays.Com)
About the Book – The Dow: A Comprehensive History of Dow Medical College and the DMCSU
by Rizwan A. Karatela, MD – To be published on TheDowDays.Com soon.The Dow is the most extensively (700-pages) researched and comprehensive historical work ever undertaken on Dow Medical College and the Dow Medical College Students’ Union (DMCSU). Drawing upon rare archival documents, original records, first-hand accounts, photographs, and previously unpublished material, this book presents an authoritative and meticulously documented narrative of Dow’s institutional evolution since its founding. Beyond a chronological history, The Dow captures the intellectual, cultural, and political life of the campus—examining the pivotal role of the DMCSU in shaping student leadership, academic discourse, and social consciousness over decades. This work stands as a definitive reference, preserving the collective memory of Dow Medical College and offering future generations an enduring record of its legacy, traditions, and influence.
