William Vawdrey Naish

Born: 10 January 1873 at Wilton, Wiltshire, England.

Died: 20 December 1955 at Upton-on-Severn, Worcestershire, England.

William Naish was of Aleister Crowley's best friends at Cambridge. He was the president of the Cambridge University Chess Club during Crowley's first term.

William Vawdrey Naish was educated at Weymouth College and at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, where he took the mathematical tripos in 1895. Some years later he became a medical student at St. Bartholomew's Hospital, graduating B.Chir. in 1904, and taking the M.B. in the following year. He proceeded to the M.D. in 1911. Dr. Naish settled at Upton-on-Severn in 1905, and remained in practice there until 1939, when he retired. He served on the local bench as a justice of the peace for 20 years. Well known and highly respected in the district, he was a staunch churchman and was a member of the parochial church council and the Diocesan Conference for many years. His active interest in this work and in all the affairs of the town continued unabated until 1945. A member of the British Medical Association for 50 years, he was chairman of the Worcester Division in 1926 and president of the Worcestershire and Herefordshire Branch in 1927-8. His wife died in 1952, and since then he had lived a very secluded life, chiefly because of his own failing health.