19 Facts About Douglas Macmillan

Douglas Macmillan was born on 10 August 1884, in Castle Cary, Somerset, the seventh of eight children of William Macmillan and his wife Emily, formerly White.

Douglas Macmillan retired as a staff officer in 1945, having been made MBE, for his government service, the previous year.

Douglas Macmillan specialised in public health and was elected a member of the Royal Institute of Public Health and Hygiene.

Douglas Macmillan was a Fellow of the Royal Statistical Society.

Douglas Macmillan was prominent in the affairs of the Society of Somerset Folk in London, founding and chairing its Arts Circle which promoted interest in folklore and dialect, drama, literature and music.

Douglas Macmillan edited the Society's journal, the Somerset Year Book, from 1921 to 1932 and was Director of its London-based publishing arm, Folk Press Ltd.

Douglas Macmillan published the magazine The Better Quest in 1911 "devoted to truth and humaneness" which supported animal welfare and Christian vegetarianism.

In March 1911, Douglas Macmillan authored an article "In Cancer's Clutch" which suggested that "cancer is the fault of sin".

Douglas Macmillan argued that meat eating was a major cause of cancer and the first chapter of the Book of Genesis supported a vegetarian way of life.

Douglas Macmillan was a staunch anti-vivisectionist and believed that good health was linked to Godliness and thus opposed conventional cancer treatments that took research from animal experimentation.

Douglas Macmillan stated that the cure and treatment of cancer could be found with the application of vegetarian dietetic principles rather than the surgeon's knife.

The second Crusade pamphlet written by Douglas Macmillan was The Tea-Habit in Relation to Cancer, which argued that stimulants such as caffeine and tannic acid found in tea cause inflammation in the body.

Douglas Macmillan authored On the Use of Violet Leaves which advocated the use of violet leaves in various forms as a cancer treatment.

Douglas Macmillan's analysis included a county map that showed different deaths rates of cancer.

Douglas Macmillan was aided by his wife, but only after twelve years did he take on his first volunteer assistant.

Douglas Macmillan retired from running the organisation in 1966, in which year he moved from Sidcup back to Castle Cary.

Douglas Macmillan married Margaret Fielding Miller in 1907, and the couple afterwards lived in her parents' house at 15 Ranelagh Road, Pimlico, which provided office space for the Folk Press operation and served as the first headquarters of the Cancer Relief charity.

Douglas Macmillan died, from cancer, in 1957 and in the following year Macmillan married Nora Primrose Owen.

Douglas Macmillan died of cancer on 9 January 1969 at his home Carylande, Ansford in Castle Cary, aged 84.