William Jackson Elmslie (29 June 1832 – 18 November 1872) was a Scottish Presbyterian doctor working primarily in Kashmir and the Punjab region in India from 1865 to 1872.
Sponsored by the Church Missionary Society, Elmslie established Kashmir's first dispensary in Srinagar and later founded a small temporary hospital.
[6] Five years later, in 1853, he entered King's College, Aberdeen, where he pursued, but never received, a degree in arts due to two failed final exams.
[12] In the summer of 1866, upon finding his old location occupied, Elmslie moved his dispensary to the European Quarters in Munshi Bagh, where it remained in later years.
[19] Throughout his time in Kashmir, Elmslie treated a variety of medical conditions such as abdominal aortic aneurysms, nasal polyps, tuberculosis, and breast cancer.
Similar to his work in Kashmir, Elmslie taught medicine, anatomy, and chemistry classes to local students in Amritsar.
[22] Although Elmslie was unable to establish a permanent year-round dispensary in Kashmir due to visa restrictions, his work eased the path for his successors, including Drs.
[23] Elmslie's familiarity with the local Kashmiri people and government, and vice versa, allowed future medical missionaries to more easily establish permanent dispensaries and hospitals.
Elmslie was a firm believer in the Biblical verse “Heal the sick that are therein, and say unto them, the kingdom of God is come nigh unto you.”[23] Before every consultation, he gave a sermon, which was then repeated aloud in Kashmiri by a local catechist.
[12] Upon arriving a new village, Elmslie would make connections with local leaders and begin his evangelical work by speaking of the “Injil” and “Isa Masih,” the Gospel and Jesus in Kashmiri, respectively.