Search Results for

First Title value, for Searching Davies, Morgan ( - 1920)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2011-09-14
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E001000-E001999/E001300-E001399
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/373573373573
Occupation General surgeon
Details Received his professional training at the London Hospital, where he was House Physician, House Surgeon, and Resident Accoucheur. He settled in practice at 9 King Street, Finsbury Square, EC, and then removed to 10 Goring Street, Houndsditch, EC, where he remained to the last. He was held in high esteem by his compatriots in Wales and London, and at the time of his death the Welsh Outlook said that there were "thousands of Welsh homes in London in which his devotion and skill would always be remembered and blessed. Had he not been a doctor he might have made an immortal name for himself in literature. The little he published appeared in out-of-the-way places, but those who read his work will never forget its distinction of form and substance." He died at Aberystwyth in the summer of 1920.
Resource Identifier RCS: E001390
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
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First Title value, for Searching Davies, Richard Edward ( - 1863)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2011-09-14 2013-07-16
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E001000-E001999/E001300-E001399
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/373574373574
Occupation General surgeon
Details Educated at the London Hospital. He practised at 29 Harewood Square, and in the late fifties at 4 South Crescent, Park Town, Oxford. He then moved to Charles Street, W, and in 1860 to 28 Great Western Terrace, Westbourne Park Road. He died in 1862 or 1863.
Resource Identifier RCS: E001391
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Davies, William Joseph (1817 - 1883)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Davies-Colley, John Neville Colley (1842 - 1900)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2011-09-14
JPEG Image
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E001000-E001999/E001300-E001399
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/373576373576
Occupation General surgeon
Details Born at Chester on September 9th, 1842, one of the four sons of Dr Thomas Davies (d.1892), Physician to the Chester General Infirmary, who afterwards took the name of Colley. Educated at King's College School, London, when Dr Major was Head Master. He was admitted a pensioner at Trinity College, Cambridge, as John Neville Colley Davies in 1860 and became a Scholar of the College in 1863. He graduated BA in 1864, being bracketed Forty-first Wrangler and appearing top of the second class in the Classical Tripos. He subsequently became a Fellow of Trinity College and was later a Fellow of St Catharine's College. During his undergraduate career he proved himself so good an oarsman as to have been the reserve man in the University crew. Davies-Colley entered Guy's Hospital in 1884, where he attracted favourable notice, both as a student and athlete, and was appointed Surgical Registrar and Tutor in June, 1868. He then became Lecturer on Experimental Philosophy and Demonstrator of Anatomy at Guy's Hospital, and in 1872 was appointed Assistant Surgeon, at which date Thomas Bryant (qv), Senior Assistant Surgeon, succeeded Edward Cock (qv) as Surgeon. In 1880, upon the resignation of Cooper Forster (qv), Davies-Colley became full Surgeon. He lectured upon anatomy during several sessions, and then for many years gave half the course on surgery. He was also Visiting Surgeon, and at the time of his death Consulting Surgeon, to the Seamen's Hospital, Greenwich, and was Examiner in Anatomy on the Conjoint Board of the Royal Colleges of Physicians and Surgeons (1888-1892); Examiner in Anatomy for the Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons (1887-1888); Examiner in Anatomy to the University of Cambridge; and a Member of the Court of Examiners (1892-1900). He also examined in surgery at the University of Cambridge. His career as a hospital surgeon and teacher was one of great success, and as an examiner he was conspicuously popular with those students who knew their subjects, for he was quiet, clear, and scrupulously courteous. As a teacher he was extremely lucid and painstaking, his somewhat deliberate methods of imparting instruction being particularly appreciated by his pupils. His slow and cadenced method of speaking was adopted as a remedy for a defect of speech: he had an obstinate proclivity to stammer, but by taking thought over his manner of elocution he overcame the infirmity early in his career. He held in turn the appointments in the Medical School of Guy's Hospital of Demonstrator of Anatomy, Demonstrator of Practical Surgery, Lecturer on Anatomy, and Lecturer on Surgery. As a surgeon he held a very high place in the opinion of all his confreres. He was bold in scheme and careful in procedure, while his great industry and fine memory allowed him to carry about with him the results of his experience to be produced in a moment exactly when and where it was wanted. He trod in the footsteps of Henry Howse (qv), who introduced Listerism into the surgical routine at Guy's Hospital. He subsequently followed the latest trend of aseptic surgery, and, well informed in all that was then known, undertook the biggest operations up to the last. His work at the Royal College of Surgeons was notable. He was elected to the Council in July, 1896, and both there and at the examination table was conspicuous by his abilities. One of his last acts at the College was the unveiling in the theatre of the Lister portrait by W W Ouless. In November, 1899, Davies-Colley first became aware that he was suffering from cancer of the liver, but to others he gave no sign of his knowledge. He continued imperturbably at his work, and with failing strength completed the first half of the winter session at Guy's Hospital. He married the daughter of Thomas Turner, for many years Treasurer of Guy's Hospital, and sister of Dr F Charlewood Turner, Physician to the London Hospital. Two of his sons became Fellows of the College, Robert Davies-Colley, CMG, becoming Surgeon to Guy's Hospital, whilst his daughter, Miss Eleanor Davies-Colley, had the unique distinction of becoming the first Woman Fellow of the College. He practised at 36 Harley Street. He died at his country house, Borough, Pulborough, Sussex, on May 6th, 1900, and was buried in the churchyard, Pulborough. He was survived by his widow and children. His portrait (of early date) is in the Council Album, and a good one accompanies his biography in the *British Medical Journal*. In *Guy's Hospital Gazette* (1900, June 9) there is a fine portrait, which some do not, however, regard as a good likeness. A Davies-Colley Memorial, for which subscriptions were invited at a meeting of the staff of the Medical School of Guy's Hospital, took the form of a collection of books now in a special case in the Guy's Hospital Library. Some £380 were subscribed towards this object. Publications: Davies-Colley put his name to no separate work, but up to the time of his death was still employed upon an important book on surgery, which from its practical nature might have become a classic if published. "Carbuncle," "Gonorrhoeal Rheumatism," "Injuries and Diseases of the Neck, Throat, and Oesophagus," and "Malignant Pustule" in Heath's *Dictionary of Surgery*. Articles on "Muscles" in Morris's *Treatise of Anatomy*. "A Case of Resection of the Tarsal Bones for Congenital Talipes Equino-varus." - *Med.- Chir. Trans.*, 1877, lx, 11. In this article he recommends the procedure for cases where ordinary methods had been unsuccessfully employed or were likely to fail in a severe case. "On Malignant Pustule." In this article he advocated the excision of the whole of the inflamed area, or, at any rate, of the indurated skin, with the subsequent use of iodoform, perchloride of mercury, or a strong solution of nitric acid. The full title of this article is "Notes of Two Cases of Malignant Pustule, together with a Table of Seventeen Cases treated at Guy's Hospital: with a Report on the Microscopical Examination of Sections of Skin affected with Malignant Pustule, removed during life by F Charlewood Turner," 8vo, 3 coloured plates, London, 1882; reprinted from *Med.-Chir. Trans.*, 1882, lxv, 237. "A New Operation for the Cure of Cleft of the Hard and Soft Palate, with an Account of Six Cases so treated." - *Ibid.*, 1894, lxxvii, 237. All these papers are highly practical and good examples of the sound common-sense principles of surgery which he always taught. He sent numerous reports of cases to the *Guy's Hosp. Reps.*, of which journal he edited many volumes in conjunction first with Dr Frederick Taylor and then with Dr Hale White. His reports of cases and articles are in most of the volumes from 1870 onwards and cover a wide range of subjects. He contributed also a number of reports of cases to the *Trans. Clin. Soc.*, *Trans. Pathol. Soc.*, the *Lancet*, and other medical journals.
Resource Identifier RCS: E001393
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
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First Title value, for Searching Davison, John (1807 - 1855)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2011-09-15
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E001000-E001999/E001300-E001399
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/373582373582
Occupation General surgeon
Details Was Surgeon to the Alnwick Infirmary, Northumberland, and the Union Workhouse. He was much respected locally, and died at his house, 54 Bondgate Street, Alnwick, on May 14th, 1855. Publication: "On Strangulated Femoral Hernia, treated by Chloroform." - *Lancet*, 1848, ii, 66.
Resource Identifier RCS: E001399
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
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First Title value, for Searching Dawnay, Archibald Hugh Payan (1870 - 1918)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2011-09-21
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E001000-E001999/E001400-E001499
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/373584373584
Occupation Ophthalmologist
Details The son of Sir Archibald D Dawnay, of London and Cardiff; was educated at University and King's Colleges, London, and at St Thomas's Hospital, and after qualifying directed his attention to ophthalmology. He acted in the following posts: Ophthalmic House Surgeon, St Thomas's Hospital; Clinical Assistant in the Ophthalmic Department of the London Hospital; Anaesthetist to the Royal Ophthalmic Hospital, Moorfields, and to the Western Ophthalmic Hospital; and Ophthalmic Surgeon to the Hounslow Hospital. At the time of his death he was Ophthalmic Surgeon to the Great Northern Central Hospital and the Western Ophthalmic Hospital; Chief Clinical Assistant, Royal Ophthalmic Hospital; Ophthalmic Surgeon to the London Society for Teaching the Blind; Hon Oculist to the Orphan Working School, Haverstock Hill; and Refraction Assistant in the London County Council School Department. He practised at first in Upper Phillimore Place, Kensington, and afterwards at 126 Harley Street. He died at Ealing on November 8th, 1918, from pneumonia following influenza. Publications: "Case of Anophthalmia." - *Trans. Ophthalmol. Soc.*, 1904, xxiv, 304. "Corneal Opacities in Members of the same Family." - *Ibid.*, 1905, xxv, 62. "Corneal Opacities of Unusual Character." - *Ibid.*, 1910, xxx, 79. "Optic Atrophy after Use of Arylarsonates." - *Ibid.*, 247. "Double Third Nerve Palsy due to Acute Poliomyelitis." - *Proc. Roy. Soc. Med.* (Child. Dis. Sect.), 1911, v, 13.
Resource Identifier RCS: E001401
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
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First Title value, for Searching Doran, Alban Henry Griffith (1849 - 1927)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2011-09-28
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E001000-E001999/E001400-E001499
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/373617373617
Occupation Anatomist General surgeon Pathologist
Details Born in Pembroke Square, Kensington, the only son of Dr John Doran (*Dict. Nat. Biog.*) by his marriage with Emma, daughter of Captain Gilbert, RN, and was the grandson of John Doran, of Drogheda. John Doran, Alban Doran's father, lived in the very centre of Victorian literary and artist society. He was intimate with Douglas Jerrold, with Thackeray, with Frith the painter, and a host of others. And of these great men he had many stories to tell. He was editor of the *Athenaeum* for a time and of *Notes and Queries*, and is best known for his standard book on the actors -*His Majesty's Servants*. Alban Doran received his early education at a school in Barnes. When he was 18 he entered St Bartholomew's Hospital, where he won many prizes. He served as House Surgeon to Luther Holden, as House Physician, and as Assistant Demonstrator of Anatomy. He gave up teaching in a year's time, and being a skilled and delicate dissector, he became in 1873 Assistant in the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons under Sir William Flower. Thus began his life-long connection with the Hunterian Museum. Soon afterwards Flower fell ill, and Doran acted as his Museum Secretary, thus establishing relations with such eminent men as Owen and Huxley, whom he always remembered with enthusiasm. It was during this period possibly that he showed Alfred Tennyson over the Museum, the poet taking the utmost interest in all he saw and thus somewhat belying the assertion of anti-vivisectionists, who rank him from the evidence of one of his poems as anti-surgical and therefore one of themselves - and this although he disclaimed any anti-vivisectionist bias. On the return to duty of Sir William Flower, Doran helped him in his work as a craniometrist. His attention was drawn to the middle ear in mammals, and he took up the subject enthusiastically, exploring the large stores of mammalian skulls in the Museum and finding a great number of auditory ossicula, which he mounted on glass. It only then came to his knowledge that Professor Hyrtl had written a monograph on the subject, based on a considerable number of specimens. At that time the College received very frequently the bodies of animals which had died in the Zoological Gardens, and these furnished him with additional materials. With the help of Mr Ockenden, for many years an assistant in the Gardens, he dissected out the auditory ossicles of an elephant. The collection of ossicula thus acquired was displayed, as they may still be seen, in wide shallow boxes. The ossicula auditus were exhibited at a meeting of the Royal Society, and a little later a monograph on the subject was published, with engravings by C Berjeau, in the *Transactions of the Linnean Society*. Doran looked back on his early period in the Museum with much fondness. His collection of ear bones is still regarded as a standard one. His Linnean Society paper was elaborate, and in the evening of his life nothing pleased him so much as a reference by a present-day authority to his early monograph. Even as he lay on what proved to be his deathbed, his interest was at once aroused when a friend mentioned to him that the accuracy of his description of the ear bones of the golden mole had been highly commended in a monograph just communicated to the Royal Society, and thereafter he relapsed into the lament that there were two important gaps in his collection of auditory ossicles in the Museum of the College he had never succeeded in filling up. Such an instance is characteristic of Doran's attitude to the world; it was knowledge, not money, that he thought of. Doran was not exclusively devoted to anatomy; he became well known as a pathologist. For some years he held the appointment of Pathological Assistant at the College of Surgeons, and for eight years he laboured with Sir James Paget and Sir James Goodhart in the compilation of a catalogue of the pathological specimens in the Museum. In 1877 he was elected an Assistant Surgeon to the Samaritan Free Hospital for Women, where he had Sir Spencer Wells, Dr Bantock, and Knowsley Thornton for colleagues, and took part in that development of gynaecology with which their names, as well as his own, will always be associated. At the Samaritan he came under the direct influence of Spencer Wells, who perhaps more than any other man can be called the originator of modern abdominal surgery. Doran became well known as an ovariotomist at the Samaritan. He was attached to the Hospital for over thirty years, and established there his claim to be a fine operator and an individual thinker. Before operating, he was said by Leslie Ward, who refers to him at some length in his memoirs, to have been the picture of nervousness, but the moment the operation began he was masterly. Owing to failing eyesight, Doran retired from private practice in 1909. After his father's death he had lived with his mother - to whom he was devoted - in Granville Place, and continued there after her decease, till he moved to a flat in Palace Mansions, West Kensington. On his retirement he returned as a volunteer officer to the Hunterian Museum, and joined with Shattock (qv) in re-arranging the obstetrical and gynaecological collections, and with Dr. John Davis Barris, he mounted a small instructive group of normal and deformed pelves. He had been elected President of the Obstetrical Society in 1899 and had held office for many years. When the Society was merged in the Royal Society of Medicine, he was active in promoting the transfer of its museum as a loan collection to the College. From 1912 onwards his energies were largely devoted to the compilation of a descriptive catalogue of the obstetrical and other instruments in the Museum, to which Sir Rickman Godlee added the appliances and instruments used by Lister. This catalogue has been of great service to those interested in the subjects above indicated. His second task was the preparation of a descriptive catalogue of the great collection of obstetrical instruments presented to the College by the old Obstetrical Society. This undertaking involved Doran in a laborious and prolonged historical inquiry into the evolution of obstetrical instruments, and nowhere is his accuracy and breadth of scholarship so apparent as in this catalogue - in reality a text-book of reference. Having finished this task, he then proceeded to prepare a new catalogue, one for which there was great need, of the great collection of surgical instruments and appliances preserved in the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons. His memory for fact or the written word was prodigious, and to the very last he could give a correct reference to an obscure fact or passage in a long-forgotten periodical. He was a veritable encyclopaedia of knowledge. His last visit to the College was in June, 1927, when he arrived attended by a nurse. His sight had nearly gone, but in the Instrument Room, to which he was guided, he brightened up and gave lucid and instructive accounts of such objects as W R Beaumont's (qv) palatal sewing-machine, which he was very dimly able to distinguish with his remaining eye, the other being obscured by cataract. His had been a long race with bodily affliction, and while still visiting the College about once a week, he had repeatedly exclaimed: "I hope to finish my Catalogue before I have to give up altogether." That he did finish it in time was a vast satisfaction to him, and to all who loved him seemed a triumph. Some days before his death, Doran was taken to St Bartholomew's Hospital to be operated on for glaucoma. He fainted during, or just after, the operation, and died on August 23rd, 1927, in the Ophthalmic Ward of his old hospital. He never married. The College Collections possess many portraits of this remarkable man. Doran's bibliography is truly enormous, one of the longest in our Library Catalogue. It contains some 130 separate titles, and must be left to some future bibliographer to compile. Throughout his life he was a keen Shakespearean scholar. Doran joined the salaried staff of the *British Medical Journal* as sub-editor in the early eighties and did admirable work. He was the first editor of the *Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology of the British Empire*, in which many biographical notices appear often from his pen. Publications: "Morphology of the Mammalian Ossicula Auditus." - *Trans. Linnean Soc.*, London, 1875-9, 2nd ser., i (Zool.), 371, with plates lviii-lxiv. *See also Jour. Linnean Soc*. (Zool.) xiii, 185; and *Proc. Roy. Soc.*, xxv, 101. *Clinical and Pathological Observations on Tumours of Ovary, Fallopian Tube, and Broad Ligament*, 1884, 8vo, London. *Handbook of Gynaecological Operations*, 8vo, London, 1887. (For an account of this important work, see the author's obituary in *Lancet*, 1927, ii, 529.) "Guide to Gynaecological Specimens, Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons, England." "Medicine," Chapter 14, *Shakespeare's England*, 1916. Articles on "Diseases of Fallopian Tubes" in Allbutt and Playfair's *System of Gynaecology*, 1906, and *Encyclopaedia of Medicine*, iii. "Subtotal Hysterectomy for Fibromyoma Uteri: 40 Additional Histories." - *Proc. Roy. Soc. Med*., 1911. "Osteomalacia - the Broughton Pelvis in the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons." - *Jour. Obst. and Gyncaecol*, 1912, xxi, 65. "Dusée: his Forceps and his Contemporaries," 8vo, 2 plates, London, 1912; reprinted from *Jour. Obst. and Gynaecol.*, 1912, xxii, 117. "Dusée, De Wind, and Smellie: an Addendum," 8vo, London, 1912; reprinted from *Jour. Obst. and Gynaecol.*, 1912, xxii, 203. "A Demonstration of some Eighteenth Century Obstetric Forceps," 8vo, plates, 1913; reprinted from *Proc. Roy. Soc. Med*. (Sect. History), 1913, vi, 54, 76. "Burton ('Dr Slop'): his Forceps and his Foes," 8vo, plates, London, 1913 ; reprinted from *Jour. Obst. and Gynaecol.*, 1913, xxiii, 3, 65. "The Speculum Matricis," 8vo, plates, London, 1914; reprinted from *Jour. Obst. and Gynaecol.*, 1914, xxvi, 133.
Resource Identifier RCS: E001434
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
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First Title value, for Searching Lessington-Smith, Caroline Mathilda (1918 - )

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Neil Weir
Publication Date 2006-06-21 2009-05-07
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000200-E000299
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372430372430
Occupation ENT surgeon
Details Caroline Lessington-Smith was an ENT surgeon at King’s College Hospital, London. Born Caroline van Dorp on 25 May 1918, she was the daughter of a Dutch pastor based in London. She qualified at the London School of Medicine for Women in 1941 and, choosing ENT as a career, she became senior registrar to the ENT departments at the Royal Hospital, Sheffield, and the Royal Infirmary, Leicester, and senior registrar to the department of surgery of the General Hospital, Leicester. She was subsequently appointed as surgeon in charge of the ENT department of St Giles Hospital, Camberwell, and the Dulwich Hospital. She was interested in paediatric ENT and later worked at the Belgrave Hospital for Children. All three of these hospitals became part of the King's College Hospital group in the early 1960s. A highly intelligent and amiable colleague, she brought her extensive experience to the foreign body endoscopy unit at Camberwell and published a paper in the *Journal of Laryngology & Otology* (1954) entitled ‘Unusual foreign body in the maxillary antrum’, which turned out to be a flat metal ring measuring 7.7cms in diameter which had penetrated the antrum. A year earlier she wrote ‘Tonsillectomy for carcinoma of the tonsil in a dog – with survival’ in the *Veterinary Record*. Whilst at Camberwell in 1963 she met and married Hugh Sim, who had been injured at the Battle of Arnhem and was at the time a hospital administrator. They had two sons. Hugh died whilst Caroline was still working and, shortly after her retirement in the mid 1970s, she remarried and lived in her delightful cottage in Mayfield, East Sussex. She is believed to have died in late 2001 or early 2002, as noted in the *Medical Directory* 2002.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000243
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
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First Title value, for Searching Wright, Peter (1932 - 2003)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2005-10-26
JPEG Image
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000100-E000199
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372331372331
Occupation Ophthalmologist
Details Peter Wright was a consultant ophthalmologist at Moorfields Hospital and a former President of the Royal College of Ophthalmologists. He was born in London on 7 September 1932, the son of William Victor Wright and Ada Amelie (née Craze). He was educated at St Clement Danes, and then went on to study medicine at King’s, London. After house jobs at King’s and Guy’s Maudsley neurosurgical unit, he joined the RAF for his National Service and became an ophthalmic specialist. He returned to Guy’s as a lecturer in anatomy and physiology, and then went to Moorfields to train in ophthalmology. He was appointed as a senior registrar at King’s and made a consultant in 1964. In 1973, he was appointed to Moorfields as a consultant, and in 1978 became full-time there. In 1980, he was appointed clinical sub-dean at the Institute of Ophthalmology. At Moorfields he was responsible for the external disease service, dealing with infection and inflammation in the anterior part of the eye. His research included collaborative studies on skin and eye diseases, and ocular immunity. These led to the identification of the Practolol oculocutaneous reaction, work that gave him an ongoing interest in adverse drug reactions. He was invited to lecture all over the world, and was a visiting professor at universities in India and Brazil. In 1991, he became the second President of the College of Ophthalmologists, and it was under his presidency that the College was granted a royal licence. He was the last President of the Ophthalmological Society of the United Kingdom, President of the ophthalmic section of the Royal Society of Medicine, ophthalmic adviser to the chief medical officer and consultant adviser to the Royal Society of Musicians of Great Britain. He received many honorary awards. In 1960, he married Elaine Catherine Donoghue, a consultant psychiatrist, by whom he had two daughters, Fiona and Candice, and one son Andrew, who sadly died in the Lockerbie air disaster. There are two granddaughters. His marriage was dissolved in 1992 and in the following year Peter retired from Moorfields and moved with his partner John Morris to Bovey Tracey, where he had time to renovate his Devon house and enjoy his major interest, classical music. He was an excellent pianist, superb cook, and fine host. He was a keen gardener and a founder member of the Nerine and Amaryllid Society of the Royal Horticultural Society. He died on 26 May 2003 from the complications of myeloid leukaemia.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000144
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
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First Title value, for Searching Young, Terence Willifer (1931 - 2003)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Littlewood, Arthur Henry Martin (1923 - 2004)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Richmond, David Alan (1912 - 2003)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2005-11-02
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000100-E000199
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372335372335
Occupation Orthopaedic surgeon
Details David Richmond was an orthopaedic surgeon in Burnley. He was born on 1 September 1912 in Stockport, where his father, George, was Manchester’s last private Royal Mail contractor. His mother was Edith Lilian née Hitchin. He was educated at Stockport Grammar School and went up to University of Manchester to read medicine. In 1933 he was awarded a BSc in anatomy and physiology and won the Dickinson scholarship in anatomy. On qualifying he won the Dumville surgical prize and the surgical clinical prize. He was captain of the lacrosse university team and was presented to the Duke of York, later King George V. After qualifying, he was house surgeon and demonstrator in anatomy at Manchester Royal Infirmary, and then became registrar to H H Rayner and Sir Harry Platt. From 1940 to 1946 he was a surgeon in the EMS Hospital at Conishead Priory under the supervision of T P McMurray and I D Kitchin, and was involved in the treatment of many casualties. After the war he went with his family to work as a surgeon to a general practice in Stratford, North Island, New Zealand, which proved to be a low point in his career. The family returned to England in 1947, when he joined the RAMC as an orthopaedic specialist with the rank of Major, and served in Malaya and Japan. Whilst in Japan he worked in the American Military Hospital in Tokyo with several reputed American surgeons. He returned to England in 1949 as first assistant to I D Kitchin at Lancaster Royal Infirmary. In 1950 he was appointed consultant orthopaedic surgeon in Burnley with the task of setting up an orthopaedic and trauma service where none had previously existed. This soon proved to be a success and he was joined by two other consultant colleagues. In 1960 he won a WHO travelling fellowship to work with Carl Hirsch in Sweden, and later his special interest in the surgery of the hand took him to the United States for several sabbaticals. In Burnley he was a respected member of the medical community, branch President of the BMA, and devoted much time to training junior medical staff and students, who remembered his freshly cut rose buttonhole. He married Eira Osterstock, a theatre sister, in 1939, and they had one son William David Richmond, a surgeon and a fellow of the College, and one daughter, Jennifer, who became a nurse. He retired in 1977 and the following year moved to Gatehouse of Fleet in Dumfries and Galloway, where he could devote himself to gardening and walking. Eira predeceased him in 1983 and he learned to cook and continued to be active in the Gatehouse Music Society. In 1996 he moved to Suffolk to be near his daughter, but began to develop signs of a progressive debilitating illness, from which he died on 9 August 2003.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000148
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
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First Title value, for Searching Riden, Donald Keith (1959 - 2005)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2005-11-02 2006-12-21
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000100-E000199
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372336372336
Occupation Oral and maxillofacial surgeon
Details Surgeon Commander Donald Keith Riden RN was born in Liverpool on 5 May 1959, the son of Alfred Donald and Mavis Irene Riden. He attended West Derby Comprehensive School in Liverpool from 1970 to 1977, and then went on to study dentistry at King’s College Dental School, winning the Wellcome award in pharmacology and therapeutics in 1980 and the annual oral surgery prize in 1981. With an increasing interest in oral and maxillofacial surgery, which had developed from his early days at dental school, he entered Southampton University Medical School in 1984, qualifying in 1988. Serving in the Royal Navy, he undertook his house surgeon appointments in urology, orthopaedics, general surgery and accident and emergency at the Royal Naval Hospital, Haslar. He had short appointments in endocrinology at Southampton General Hospital and in general surgery at the Royal Naval Hospital, Plymouth. After an ENT job at RNH Haslar, he returned to RNH Plymouth to start his oral and maxillofacial training, becoming a registrar in October 1993 and gaining his FDS in 1994. Subsequently he entered the south west specialist registrar rotation in Plymouth, Frenchay, Southmead and Bristol Royal Infirmary from 1994 to 1999. As is customary with RN medical officers, he saw service overseas and at sea, serving in Gibraltar, on HMS *Tamar* (Hong Kong), HMS *Ariadne*, HMS *Minerva*, HMS *Nelson* and HMS *Illustrious*. He was on active service in Kosovo from 2000 to 2001. He loved to travel, particularly in the Far East and was able to serve in Hong Kong, China and India as a visiting registrar. He was awarded consultant status by the Defence Medical Service Consultant Approval Board of the College in 2000. His first posting as consultant oral and maxillofacial surgeon and postgraduate clinical tutor was to RNH *Haslar*. In 2003 he was appointed to the Joint Services Hospital, the Princess Mary Hospital, RAF Akrotiri, Cyprus, where he remained until illness intervened. He published papers on dental pain and, during his training rotation, wrote *Key topics in oral and maxillofacial surgery* (Oxford, Bios Scientific, 1998) and contributed to the UK national third molar audit in 1998. In his later years he honed his skills as both a facial trauma and head and neck cancer specialist, developing techniques for facial reconstruction and neck dissections. He was a particularly good teacher of house officers and SHOs, and enormously enjoyed this role. He thoroughly enjoyed his time in the Royal Navy, especially on overseas deployments. He had a lifelong interest in music and was a lover of classical music and opera. He was an accomplished classical guitar player. He regularly sang with a variety of groups, choral unions and barbershop, and was a member of Portsmouth Choral Union, Solent City Barbershop Club and Island Blend, a Cyprus barbershop group. He married Leslie Carol, a teacher and college librarian, in August 1981. They had three sons, Daniel James, Andrew Mark and Nicholas John. He died on 19 February 2005 from carcinoma of the oesophagus.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000149
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Saunders, Dame Cicely Mary Strode (1918 - 2005)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2005-11-02 2012-03-09
JPEG Image
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000100-E000199
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372337372337
Occupation Nurse Physician
Details Dame Cicely Saunders established St Christopher's Hospice in London, which became the model for hundreds of other hospices. She was born in Barnet, Hertfordshire, on 22 June 1918, the daughter of Gordon Saunders, a domineering estate agent, and Mary Christian Wright. She was educated at Roedean and St Anne's College, Oxford, and on the outbreak of war deferred completing her degree to become a nurse. She entered St Thomas's, but a back injury put an end to a career in nursing. She returned to complete her degree at Oxford and qualified as a lady almoner (a hospital social worker). By now she had fallen in love with David Tasma, a refugee from the Warsaw ghetto, who was dying of cancer. Through him she learned how the pain of cancer could be tamed by modern drugs, and that the inevitable distress of the dying could be made tolerable by care in which physical and spiritual needs were combined. At this time she also gave up her agnostic stance and became a committed and evangelical Christian. Her experience as a volunteer at St Luke's Home for the Dying Poor caused her to realise that the received medical views on dying and bereavement needed to be changed, and to do this she needed to become a doctor. She returned to St Thomas's and qualified in 1957, at the age of 38. She set up a research group to study the control of pain, while also working at St Joseph's, Hackney, which was run for the dying by the formidably down-to-earth Sisters of Charity. Before long Cicely had reached the unorthodox conclusion that the usual intermittent giving of morphine for surges of pain was far less effective than giving enough morphine to achieve a steady state in which the dying patient could still maintain consciousness, self-respect and a measure of dignity. It was at St Joseph's that she met Antoni Michniewicz, who for the second time taught her that loving and being in love were powerful medicaments in terminal illness. His death determined her to set up St Christopher's Hospice, named after the patron saint of travellers, as a place in which to shelter on the most difficult stage of life's journey. Her unorthodox views were published as *The care of the dying* (London, Macmillan & Co) in 1960. This opened many eyes, and soon another edition was needed. There followed years of hard work, lecturing, persuading and fund-raising. St Christopher's was set up as a charity in 1961 and the hospice was opened in 1967. That her methods worked was soon apparent and before long Cicely was invited to join the consultant staff of St Thomas's and the London Hospital. In 1980 she married Marian Bohusz-Szyszko who shared her love of music and with whom she was blissfully happy. Sadly he predeceased her in 1995. A tall, impressive lady, she had a tremendous though quiet personality that shone with honesty and wisdom. Innumerable distinctions and honours came her way - honorary degrees and fellowships galore, the gold medals of the Society of Apothecaries and the British Medical Association, the DBE and the Order of Merit - but it was the establishment of hundreds of hospices according to her principles and the revolution in the care of the dying that will be the real measure of her greatness. She died from breast cancer on 14 July 2005 at St Christopher's.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000150
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Falloon, Maurice White (1921 - 2004)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2005-09-23
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000000-E000099
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372242372242
Occupation General surgeon
Details Maurice White Falloon was head of the department of surgery at Wanganui Hospital, New Zealand. He was born in Masterton, New Zealand, on 24 July 1921, the son of John William Archibald Falloon, a sheep farmer, and Grace née Miller, a farmer’s daughter. His father was the longstanding chairman of the county council at Wairarapa and chairman of the local electric power board at its inception. Maurice was educated at Wairarapa High School and Wellington College. He then went on to Otago University Medical School. During the second world war he served in the Otago University Medical Corps. He was a resident at Palmerston Worth Hospital, and then went to England, as senior surgical registrar at the Canadian Red Cross Memorial Hospital, Taplow. He then returned to New Zealand, as medical superintendent of Kaitaia Hospital. He was subsequently head of the department of surgery at Wanganui Hospital, where he stayed until his retirement. He was a past President of the Wanganui division of the BMA and a member of the Rotary Club of Wanganui. He married Patricia Brooking, a trainee nurse, in 1948. They had five children, two daughters and three sons, none of whom entered medicine. There are two grandchildren. He was a racehorse owner and breeder, and past president of the Wanganui jockey club. He was a keen golfer and interested in all forms of sport. He died on 25 July 2004.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000055
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Fiddian, Richard Vasey (1923 - 2004)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2005-09-23 2007-08-23
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000000-E000099
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372243372243
Occupation General surgeon
Details Richard Vasey ‘Dick’ Fiddian was a consultant general surgeon at the Luton and Dunstable Hospital from 1964 to 1989. He was born on 6 October 1923 in Ashton-under-Lyne in Lancashire, where his father, James Victor Fiddian, was a general practitioner-surgeon. His mother, Doris Mary née White, came from a farming family. Dick was the last of five children, and the second son. From the age of eight he attended the Old College boarding school in Windermere, and then, at 11, went to Manchester Grammar School. In October 1941 he went up to Emmanuel College, Cambridge, to read for the natural sciences tripos. In 1943 he was drafted into the Army and spent three years as a fighting soldier in the Royal Engineers, rising to the rank of captain. As well as serving in the field with the 14th Army in Burma, he also helped to oversee the rebuilding of the Burma Road with the help of Japanese POWs. In October 1946 he returned to Emmanuel College, completing his first and second MB. He was also awarded an MA in anthropology, physiology, pathology and biochemistry. Whilst at Emmanuel, Fiddian became captain of the golf team, and was awarded a Cambridge blue. After qualifying, he did two years of house appointments at Bart’s, including anaesthetics, and a further year as junior registrar (SHO) to Rupert Corbett and Alec Badenoch. He then took a year off as a ship’s doctor on the Orsova of the Orient Line, before taking his Fellowship in 1956. He then became a registrar to Norman Townsley and John Stephens at the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital. When the Queen came to open the new operating theatres, Fiddian escorted the Duke of Edinburgh round the male Nightingale ward and introduced him to his patients, one of whom had been operated on by Dick, but failed to recognise his surgeon. He was heard to say in a broad Norfolk accent: “Nice to meet the Duke, but who was that good-looking young man in a white coat walking with him?” Dick returned to Bart’s in 1958 as chief assistant to John Hosford, whom Dick greatly admired. He also worked with Sir Edward Tuckwell, whose rapidity as an operator was legendary. After two years he went to the North Middlesex Hospital under Basil Page, the urologist. Spending a year in Boston, Massachusetts, he worked as an assistant in surgery at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital under Francis Moore, professor of surgery at Harvard and chief surgeon at the Brigham. In 1963 he completed a Milton research fellowship in surgery at Harvard Medical School. In 1964 he was appointed as a consultant to the Luton and Dunstable Hospital. There he developed a special interest in wound infection and made some useful contributions on the use of metronidazole. He retired from the NHS in 1989. In 1985 he started learning Spanish at the local adult education college in Luton, continuing to study the language until he was 80. He visited Spain many times and often went on cultural trips, which he thoroughly enjoyed. After his retirement he studied Spanish literature at Birkbeck College, and received an award from the Institute of Linguists for his command of the language. He married twice. His first wife was Aileen, an Australian he met on board ship. They had one son, Jonathan. After her death he married Jean née Moore, a medical secretary, by whom he had a son, James, and two daughters, Emily and Sarah. They also adopted the child of one of Jean’s friends. Although they became estranged, they remained good friends and Jean cared for him in his latter days, which were marred by a degree of dementia. He died on 30 December 2004. Dick Fiddian was an extremely affable man who was everyone’s friend, not because of a wish to be universally liked, but for his capacity to see the best in people. He was a self-effacing man, describing his contributions to the literature as “numerous, none of which were important”. Conversation with him was always a pleasure, as was listening to his after-dinner speeches which were interspersed with bon mots and limericks which probed the idiosyncrasies of the company, never with malice but always with a twinkle in his eye.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000056
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Fuller, Robert Charles (1914 - 2004)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Gatehouse, David (1944 - 2003)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Gayton, William Robertson (1912 - 2004)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2005-09-23
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000000-E000099
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372248372248
Occupation Orthopaedic surgeon
Details William Robertson Gayton was an orthopaedic surgeon at St Vincent’s Hospital, Melbourne. He was born in Richmond, Victoria, on 8 February 1912, the fourth child and second son of Henry John Albert Gayton, a bank official, and Mary Josephine née Brennan. He was educated at Xavier College on a junior government scholarship, and then went on to Newman College, Melbourne University, on a senior government scholarship. He went on to Melbourne Medical School, where he gained first class honours in medicine and obstetrics, and the Ryan prize in medicine. In 1936 he was a resident at St Vincent’s Hospital in Melbourne. He then went to the UK, where he was a resident medical officer in London and then Northampton. From 1940 to 1941 he was a resident surgical officer in Plymouth. He joined the Australian Army Medical Corps in London in April 1941. He was a surgeon with the 2nd/3rd Casualty Clearing Station at El Alamein, and also took part in the landings at Lai and Finchaven in New Guinea. He was a surgeon to the 119 Australian General Hospital at Cairns and also officer in charge of the surgical division of 116 Australian General Hospital in New Britain. He was discharged in January 1946. From 1946 to 1972 he was an orthopaedic surgeon at St Vincent’s Hospital. He then became a consulting orthopaedic surgeon at the same hospital. From 1946 to 1975 he was a visiting orthopaedic surgeon at Heidelberg Repatriation Hospital. He married Mary Thomson in 1949 and they had three sons and two daughters. He was a member of the Victoria Racing Club. He enjoyed fishing, watching cricket and lawn bowls. He died on 12 January 2004.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000061
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Glashan, Robin Wattie (1933 - 2003)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2005-09-23 2012-03-22
JPEG Image
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000000-E000099
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372249372249
Occupation Urologist
Details Robin Wattie Glashan was a consultant urologist at Huddersfield Royal Infirmary. He was born in Aberdeen on 8 September 1933, the son of Gordon Mitchell Glashan, a bank manager, and Alexandra née Wattie, an art teacher. He was educated at Aberdeen Grammar School, where he excelled at his academic work and at athletics. He went on to study medicine at Aberdeen University, graduating in 1958. He then held house jobs at Aberdeen City Hospital and at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary. He initially moved to Shaftesbury in Dorset, where he worked as a general practitioner, but then resumed his hospital career. He was a senior house officer for a year at Stracathro Hospital near Brechin and then, from 1961 to 1962, taught anatomy and physiology at Queen's College, Dundee. He was then a senior house officer at Bristol Royal Infirmary. From 1963 to 1968 he was a registrar in surgery and then a senior registrar at Glasgow Royal Infirmary. In 1968 he was appointed to the Huddersfield Royal Infirmary as the first consultant in urological surgery, where he faced an enormous workload. He later organised a service for workers in the chemical and dyeing industries who were at risk of developing bladder cancer, working with experts in the field of occupational medicine. He was a founder member of the Yorkshire Urological Cancer Research Group in 1974, and of the urological group of the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC). He wrote many publications, including contributions on the use of cytotoxic chemotherapy for the use of invasive bladder cancer and on the epidemiology and management of occupational bladder cancer in west Yorkshire. He was an examiner for the final FRCS for the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh from 1980 to 1986, and was on the council of the British Association of Urological Surgeons (BAUS) from 1982 to 1985. He met his wife Wilma, a nurse, while he was at university and they married in 1959. They had two sons and two daughters - Robert, Susan, Moira and Angus. He retired due to poor health in 1991 when he was 57 and returned to Scotland, where he fished for salmon on the Dee. He died shortly before Christmas 2003.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000062
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Gourevitch, Arnold (1914 - 2004)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2005-09-23 2012-03-22
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000000-E000099
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372250372250
Occupation General surgeon
Details Arnold Gourevitch was a consultant surgeon in Birmingham. He was born in Paris on 24 February 1914, the son of Russian Jewish émigrés. At the outbreak of the first world war his parents fled to England, eventually settling in Birmingham. His father, Mendel, later qualified as a doctor and became a general practitioner in Aston. Gourevitch was educated at King Edward VI School, Birmingham, and then went on to Birmingham University, where he qualified in medicine. Gourevitch joined the Territorial Army in 1938 and was commissioned into the Royal Army Medical Corps. He served with the TA Field Ambulance, part of the 145 Brigade, 48th South Midland Division, and accompanied them to France with the British Expeditionary Force. He was evacuated from La Baule, Brittany, where he had been manning a hospital with the help of a single orderly. He was posted to Leeds as RMO of the 10th West Yorkshire Regiment, before joining the surgical division of No 7 General Hospital. In April 1941 he disembarked at Suda bay in Crete, and established a hospital, near Galatas, west of Canea. The Germans advanced through the island, and Gourevitch was captured and held at a prisoner of war camp at Galatas. Here he organised a hospital for the many wounded. As the prisoners were being transferred to more secure accommodation, Gourevitch and an Australian surgeon decided to escape. They lived in caves and huts as fugitives, and were later picked up by Special Operations Executive and taken to Libya. Gourevitch was awarded the Military Cross for his actions. He was subsequently posted to the 8th Field Surgical Unit, part of the 2nd New Zealand division, and served with the unit at El Alamein. He later took part in the invasion of Sicily and the Italian campaign. He was mentioned in despatches at Monte Cassino and was in Trieste at the end of the war. Following his demobilisation in 1946, he was appointed as a consultant in general surgery at the Queen Elizabeth and Birmingham Children's Hospital. In 1969 he was elected to the Court of Examiners of the College. He presented two Hunterian lectures. In the early 1960s he spent time in Ethiopia, teaching and operating, and helping to support the development of a medical school. In 1973 he took time off to help Israeli surgeons during the Yom Kippur war. Gourevitch was an enthusiastic after-dinner speaker. He enjoyed squash, playing golf and hill walking. A natural linguist, he knew French, Russian, Hebrew and Greek. He also enjoyed painting. He married Corrine Natkiel in 1951. They had three sons (David, Daniel and Samuel) and two daughters (Gillian and Naomi). There are nine grandchildren. He died from pneumonia on 5 February 2004.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000063
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Graves, Frederick Thomas (1919 - 2003)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2005-09-23
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000000-E000099
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372251372251
Occupation General surgeon
Details Fred Graves was a general surgeon in Staffordshire with an interest in urology. He was born in Hereford in 1919, later studied medicine at University College Hospital and specialised in surgery at King’s College Hospital. He was subsequently appointed consultant general surgeon at Staffordshire General Infirmary. Graves undertook original research on the kidney, carried out in his workshop at home. Concerned by the poor results of surgery for stone in the kidney, at that time dominated by the misleading concept of Brödel’s ‘bloodless’ line, and the inefficient method of controlling haemorrhage during nephrolithotomy, he studied the vascular anatomy of the kidney using the corrosion cast technique, which had been developed by Tompsett at the College. He discovered the segmental anatomy of the renal arteries, leading directly to the development of safe techniques for partial nephrectomy, the reconstruction of malformations of the renal artery and conservative surgery of small tumours of the kidney. This work was of exceptional importance, gained him a Hunterian professorship in 1956 and a masters in surgery, and was published in a monograph *The arterial anatomy of the kidney: the basis of surgical technique* (Bristol, John Wright and Sons, 1971). His interest in research continued throughout his career and he was awarded a DSc by the University of London in 1974 for his work on renal tubules. He was a visiting professor of urology at Wake Forest University, North Carolina, USA. He married Mary and they had two children. There are four grandchildren. He died on 27 February 2003.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000064
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Green, James Patrick (1930 - 2004)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2005-09-28
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000000-E000099
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372252372252
Occupation Orthopaedic surgeon
Details Jim Green was a consultant orthopaedic surgeon at Pilgrim Hospital, Boston, Lincolnshire. He was born on 17 March 1930 in Sheffield and attended High Storrs Grammar School, before going to Sheffield University in 1947. He had a great interest in anything to do with science, particularly physics and mathematics, often wondering whether he should have followed that particular path. Neither of his parents were medical. His father, Leonard Green, was a sergeant in the police force, and his mother, Edna Winifred Maxfield, was a teacher. His sister, Valerie White, also trained in medicine and entered general practice. After qualifying and following house appointments, he joined the RAMC for National Service in 1954 and reached the rank of major. A degree of boredom led him to study German, passing O-level in that subject. This stimulated a love of languages, particularly Russian, and he attended classes virtually up until the time of his death. Returning to Sheffield for two years as a demonstrator of anatomy from 1956, he was a general surgical registrar at the Royal Infirmary, Sheffield, from 1961 to 1963. He decided to specialise in orthopaedics, first as a registrar from 1963 to 1964, and then as a senior registrar at Harlow Wood Orthopaedic Hospital, Mansfield, until 1968. On obtaining the Alan Malkin travelling fellowship in 1967, he spent six weeks gaining further experience in western Europe. He was appointed consultant orthopaedic surgeon to Pilgrim Hospital, Boston, in 1968 and remained there until he retired in 1996. Never one to take centre stage, he preferred to work away quietly in his own surroundings in the company of local colleagues, friends and family. After retirement he continued with medico-legal work. A quiet, modest man who was devoted to the care of his patients, he was recognised for a meticulous approach in all his work. He was a ‘direct’ Yorkshire man, whose love for patients was only matched by a greater one for his family. He had many hobbies. He loved astronomy, sailing and maritime navigation, and he gained qualifications in radio-communication. A member of the Witham Sailing Club, he loved to escape to the Wash in his 27-foot yacht. He was prominent in masonic lodges in Sheffield and Boston, a keen gardener, and a member of the Boston Preservation Society. He had played the violin in his school orchestra, and his love of music never failed. He married Pamela née Scott (known as ‘Frankie’) in 1968. She had been a district midwife and then did a full-time secretarial course, which proved a great asset to Jim in his work. They had four children, the eldest, Deborah, trained at Sheffield and is a part-time general practitioner in Leeds. In January 2001 Jim developed non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and over the next three years underwent repeated courses of chemotherapy, ultimately requiring dialysis for renal failure. He died from multiple organ failure in St James’s Hospital, Leeds, on 29 January 2004.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000065
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Griffiths, Donald Barry (1921 - 2004)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2005-09-28 2012-03-22
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000000-E000099
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372253372253
Occupation General surgeon
Details Donald Griffiths was a consultant general surgeon in Aberystwyth. He was born in Colwyn Bay on 12 March 1921, the son of Thomas Owen Griffiths, a science master, and Alice Adelaide, the daughter of a tailor. He was educated at Penmaenrhoe Council School and Colwyn Bay County School, and was Denbighshire county scholar. He studied medicine at University College Hospital, with a physiology scholarship, qualifying in 1943. He held house appointments at New End Hospital and at Queen Mary's, Carshalton, and was a registrar at Bethnal Green Hospital and Epsom District Hospital. During the war he served with the RAMC in West Africa and Greece. After the war, he returned to the professorial surgical unit at UCH, where he held the John Marshall fellowship. He was appointed as a consultant general surgeon at Aberystwyth in 1960 and later at the newly built Bronglais Hospital. He was President of the Aberystwyth division of the BMA in 1972 and was awarded the BMA certificate of commendation in 1994. A member of the Welsh Surgical Society, he travelled widely to their meetings. Late in his career he developed a severe illness of the hands, caused by surgical gloves, but recovered and resumed his duties. A delightful, gregarious person, he knew everyone in the little village of Llanon in Cardiganshire where he retired. A keen football supporter, he was a former chairman of Aberystwyth Town Football Club. Recovering for surgery for aortic stenosis, he remained active until shortly before his death from heart failure on 12 April 2004. He leaves a widow, Mary, and five children.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000066
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Hall, Hedley Walter (1907 - 2003)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Hall, Rodney John (1928 - 2003)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2005-09-28 2012-03-22
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000000-E000099
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372255372255
Occupation General surgeon
Details Rodney John Hall was a surgeon in Adelaide, South Australia. He was born on 7 April 1928 at Waikerie, South Australia, and studied medicine at the University of Melbourne, graduating in 1957. He was a resident medical officer at the Bendigo and Northern District Bone Hospital from 1957 to 1958. He then spent almost as year as a locum in suburban practices in Melbourne. From March 1959 to December 1960 he was a full-time demonstrator in anatomy at the University of Melbourne. He was then appointed as a surgical registrar at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Woodville, South Australia, a post he held until February 1963. He then travelled to the UK, where he was a registrar at Oldchurch Hospital, Essex. He returned to Australia, where he was a registrar at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Adelaide, from 1966 to 1970. He was a visiting medical officer at the hospital between 1972 and 1977. From 1979 to 1998 he was on the staff of the University of Adelaide. He was a medical officer to the Adelaide Community Health Service from 1981 to 1991. He died on 24 November 2003.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000068
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Harrison, Sir Donald Frederick Norris (1925 - 2003)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2005-09-28
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000000-E000099
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372256372256
Occupation ENT surgeon
Details Donald Harrison was a leading ear, nose and throat surgeon who campaigned against chewing tobacco. He was born in Portsmouth on 9 March 1925, the son of Frederick William Rees Harrison OBE JP, the principal of the College of Technology for Monmouthshire, and Florence Norris. He was educated at Newport High School and then went on to study medicine at Guy’s. After junior posts at Guy’s and the Royal Gwent Hospital, Newport, he did his National Service in the Royal Air Force, during which time he developed an interest in ear, nose and throat surgery. As a registrar at Shrewsbury Eye and Ear Hospital he saw a five-year-old child who had just had a tonsillectomy bleed to death because there was no blood bank at the hospital. This led Harrison to campaign against unnecessary tonsillectomy. In 1962, he was appointed to the Royal National Ear, Nose and Throat Hospital as a consultant surgeon and a year later, in 1963, became a professor at the Institute of Laryngology and Otology. Early in his career he became interested in malignant disease of the upper respiratory tract, especially of the larynx and upper jaw, and gained an international reputation in this area, publishing more than 200 articles and several books. He warned the public about the hazards of chewing tobacco and campaigned for the Government to ban the sale of Skoals Bandits. A brilliant speaker who used no notes, he was widely sought after as a lecturer. In 1972, he gave the Wilde oration, given in memory of Oscar’s father, Sir William Wilde, and in 1974 the Semon lecture, named after Sir Felix Semon, a Victorian laryngologist whose biography he had written. He also gave talks on Richard III and the princes in the Tower and was convinced that while one of the princes’ jaws was not authentic, the other was, since it showed traces of hereditary disease. He retired in 1990, was knighted for his services to ear, nose and throat surgery, and was made an emeritus consultant to Moorfields Eye Hospital. In 1993, he was made a fellow of the Royal College of Ophthalmologists. A keen supporter of the Royal Society of Medicine, he became its President in 1994. In 1995 he published *The anatomy and physiology of the mammalian larynx* (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press), based on his personal collection of more than a thousand mammalian larynges, many of which came from the London Zoo, including that of Guy the gorilla. He married Audrey Clubb, who predeceased him. They had two daughters. He had many leisure interests, notably radio-controlled model boats and heraldry, and, after the death of his wife, gourmet cooking. He died on 12 April 2003 of bowel cancer.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000069
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Harvey, Ronald Marsden (1918 - 2004)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Soden, John Smith (1780 - 1863)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2008-02-21
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000400-E000499
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372638372638
Occupation General surgeon
Details Born at Coventry on March 29th, 1780; was educated at King Edward’s Grammar School. He was then apprenticed to George Freer, of Birmingham, the author of *Aneurysm and some Diseases of the Arterial System* (1807), who evidently inspired his pupils with higher aims that the mere routine of practice, for Soden was Jacksonian Prizeman in 1810 with an essay on “The Bite of Rabid Animal”. Moreover, Joseph Hodgson (q.v.), a fellow pupil with Soden, President of the College in 1864, was the author in the following year (1811) of the Jacksonian Prize Essay on “Wounds and Diseases of the Arteries and Veins” – an elaborate piece of work. Having qualified in 1800, Soden entered the Army as a Hospital Mate on June 13th, 1800, became Assistant Surgeon in the 79th Highlanders three days later, served in Egypt, and resigned before April 16th, 1803. After returning to London he settled in practice at Bath, where he was appointed Surgeon to the United Hospitals, the Eye Infirmary, the Penitentiary, and the Lock Hospital. He thus took up a position as a leading practitioner in Bath, a successful operator and eye surgeon. He was an original member of the British Medical Association. He practised at 101 Sydney Place, Bath, and died in retirement on March 19th, 1863. His son, John Soden (q.v.), succeeded to his practice. He was ambidextrous in operating for cataract, sitting facing the patient, the patient also sitting; he made the lower incision by means of Baer’s triangular knife. Puncturing the cornea almost vertically, he watched for the jet of aqueous humour, then carried the knife across the anterior chamber without touching the iris. Soden made an admirable collection of the Portraits of Medical Men – Ancient and Modern, British and Foreign. It was presented after his death to the Royal Medico-Chirurgical Society by his son John Soden, of Bath. The collection consists of four folio volumes containing 872 mounted medical portraits, with two additional volumes, the one of caricatures and newspaper cuttings, the other of autograph letters and signatures of medical men. The six volumes are preserved at the Royal Society of Medicine, where they are known as ‘The Soden Collection’. Publications:- “On Inguinal Aneurysm, Cured by Tying the External Iliac Artery.” – *Med-Chir. Trans.*, 1816, vii, 536. “Of Poisoning by Arsenic” – *London Med Rev*, 1811. *Address* at the Third Anniversary of the Bath District Branch of the Provincial Medical and Surgical Association, 1839, 8vo, Bath, 1839. *Address* at the Annual Meeting of the Bath and Bristol District Branch of the above, 1854.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000454
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Young, George William ( - 1850)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Crowfoot, William Henchman (1780 - 1848)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2008-02-21 2011-09-07
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000400-E000499
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372640372640
Occupation General surgeon
Details Born on Sept 9th, 1780, at Kessingland, a village on the Suffolk coast, where his father occupied a large farm. His mother, who was a daughter of the Rev J Henchman, died while he was an infant, and he was placed in charge of his uncle by marriage, the Rev W Clubbe, Vicar of Brandeston. Mr Clubbe, an elegant Latin scholar, taught him to love classical studies. In 1794 he was apprenticed to his uncle, Mr Crowfoot, of Beccles, who was a second father to him, and in 1799 he came to London and entered as a pupil at the Borough hospitals under Cline and Astley Cooper, the latter of whom became his friend in after-life. Sir Astley Cooper in his work on *Dislocations* (1842) refers to Crowfoot as one who, "to high professional skill, adds all the amiable qualities which can become a man." Crowfoot hoped to obtain through his patron's influence a medical appointment in India, but he failed in this and settled at Framlington. In 1803, his practice being limited there, he removed at his uncle's suggestion to Beccles, and in 1805 became his partner, thenceforward obtaining high professional credit and success. It was in the December of 1805 that he accidentally met a party bearing the body of a soldier who had been thrown on the beach at Kessingland and lain for several hours apparently dead. Finding that the precordia still retained some warmth, he caused the body to be carried to a house, and persevering in the means of restoration which his professional skill suggested, he at length revived the sufferer. For this action the Royal Humane Society awarded him a silver medal. He died, after an illness of only four days, on Nov 13th, 1848, of typhus fever, contracting the disease from a post-mortem on a typhus patient. At the time of his death he was Consulting Surgeon to the Beccles Dispensary. Publications:- Crowfoot's publications record the remarkable results of his own experience and are characterized by strong good sense. They include:- "On Carditis." - *Edin Med and Surg Jour*, 1809, v, 298. He stressed the connection between rheumatism and carditis before that connection was so much insisted upon as at present. "Surgical Cases." - *Ibid*, 1825, xxiv, 260. "On the Use of Extension in Fractures of the Spine." - *Jour Prov Med and Surg Assoc*, 1843, xi, 337. In this paper he showed the value and success of the treatment in cases too often regarded as hopeless.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000456
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Bryce, Alexander Graham (1890 - 1968)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Golding-Bird, Cuthbert Hilton (1848 - 1939)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Gordon-Taylor, Sir Gordon (1878 - 1960)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2008-03-07
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000400-E000499
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372643372643
Occupation General surgeon
Details Born on 18 March 1878 at Streatham Hill, London, the only son of John Taylor, wine merchant of Dean Street, Tooley Street, London Bridge and Alice Miller Gordon daughter of William Gordon, stockbroker of Union Street, Aberdeen; he and his sister were taken by their mother to Aberdeen when their father died in 1885. Educated at Gordon College and Aberdeen University, as a student he would retire at eight in the evening and would be called by his mother at midnight in order that he might continue his studies. As a result, he passed in English in March 1896, in logic and geology in March 1897, in botany in July 1897 and obtained the degree of MA with third-class honours in classics in April 1898. On the family returning to London, he entered the school of the Middlesex Hospital, being awarded a gold medal in anatomy in the intermediate examination for the London MB. Qualifying in May 1903 with the conjoint diploma and passing the final MB London also, he became, in addition to his other duties, a demonstrator of anatomy under Peter Thompson, working together with Victor Bonney to obtain first-class honours in anatomy in the BSc in 1904. In 1905 he took the BS examination and in 1906 the MS, at the same time passing the Fellowship examination. His first consultant appointment was that of surgeon to out-patients at the Royal Northern Hospital but, when a vacancy occurred at the Middlesex, he applied and was appointed to that hospital in 1907 at the age of 29, becoming assistant surgeon to (Sir Alfred) Pearce Gould and (Sir John) Bland Sutton. He also became attached as consultant to a number of smaller hospitals, St Saviours, the West Herts, Potters Bar, Welwyn, Kettering, Teddington and Hampton Wick Hospitals, and to the Ross Institute for Tropical Diseases. During the war of 1914-18 he was gazetted Captain in the RAMC in March 1915 and, serving first at home, proceeded to France being involved in the battles of the Somme and Passchendaele. He was promoted Major, later acted as consulting surgeon to the 4th Army, and was awarded the OBE, returning to England in December 1918. By his experiences in France he had proved the value of prompt and fearless surgery in wounds of the abdomen, which often necessitated multiple resections of the intestine. After the war he built up a great reputation as an intrepid general surgeon, whose profound knowledge of anatomy and whose operative skill enabled him to undertake the most formidable operations. As a result of his war experience, he was a pioneer in the use of blood transfusion, using the Kimpton Tube technique as he distrusted the addition to blood of anti-coagulants, and so he was one of the first in the field in performing immediate gastrectomy for bleeding peptic ulcer. A truly general surgeon, it was however particularly in the field of the surgery of malignant disease affecting the breast, mouth and pharynx that his interest lay. His enthusiasm for anatomy led him to become an examiner in the Primary Fellowship examination in London for many years 1913, 1919, 1940-4 and 1950-3, and in 1934 he was the first surgeon anatomist to go to Melbourne, Australia, to participate in the second Primary examination to be held in that country as at the first only one anatomist, William Wright of the London, had taken part. He made five subsequent visits to Australia as an examiner, and conducted the examination in Calcutta and Colombo in 1935 and 1949. In 1932 he was elected to the Council of the College and thus began another of his life interests. In 1938 he spent some time as lecturer in surgery at the University of Toronto, where he delivered the Balfour lecture. On the outbreak of war in 1939 he offered his services to the Army, and, being rejected on grounds of age, he crossed Whitehall to be received enthusiastically by the Royal Navy, being gazetted Surgeon-Lieutenant and, very rapidly, promoted Surgeon Rear-Admiral, a very fruitful association which led him all over the world. He was, at some time, an examiner in surgery to the Universities of Cambridge, London, Leeds, Belfast, Durham and Edinburgh. At the College he was elected to the Council in 1932, was Vice-President 1941-3, Bradshaw lecturer in 1942 and a Hunterian professor in 1929, 1942 and 1944. In 1945 he delivered the Vicary lecture, and again in 1954. In 1950 he was appointed Sub-Dean of the Institute of Basic Medical Sciences in recognition of his great assistance to overseas students. In 1952 when a memorial plaque to John Hunter was unveiled in St Martins in the Fields, he delivered the address, and in 1955 he was appointed a Hunterian Trustee. In 1941 he acted for a time as exchange Professor at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, Boston and again in 1946, when he was also postgraduate Professor in Cairo. In 1943 he was a member of a mission to Russia sponsored by the British Council and, while there, he conferred the Honorary Fellowship on the Russian Surgeons Yudin and Burdenko. For the remainder of his life he acted as surgical adviser to the British Council in their choice of representatives to undertake missions abroad and to areas where British surgery could be of assistance. After his theoretical retirement during the war, distinctions were showered upon him. An outstanding orator, the result of punctilious care, effort and his upbringing in the classics, he gave the first Moynihan memorial lecture in Leeds in 1940, the oration to the Medical Society of London in 1940, the Syme oration to the Royal Australasian College in 1947, the Lettsomian lectures to the Medical Society of London in 1944, the Sheen memorial lecture to the University of Wales in 1949, the Rutherford Morison memorial lecture in Newcastle in 1953, the Hunterian oration to the Hunterian Society in 1954, the John Fraser memorial lecture in Edinburgh in 1957, the Diamond Jubilee oration to the Royal Army Medical Corps in 1958, the Mitchell Banks memorial lecture in Liverpool in 1958, the Cavendish lecture to the West London Medico-Chirurgical Society in 1958, the Harveian lecture to the Harveian Society in 1949, and the Founder's Day oration to the Robert Gordon College, Aberdeen. All his life he maintained his contact with Scotland and with the classics, introducing Latin and Greek quotations in his addresses without any suspicion of pomposity. He was elected a member of the Highland Society of London in 1955, was Vice-President of, and honorary surgeon to, the Royal Scottish Corporation, was chairman of the Horatian Society and a member of the Classical Association. His very infrequent holidays were spent in the Highlands. He was President of the Medical Society of London in 1941-2, President of the Association of Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland in 1944-5, and President of the Royal Society of Medicine in 1944-5, being elected an Honorary Fellow in 1949. In 1956 he was awarded the gold medal of the Royal Society of Medicine, and on his eightieth birthday the *British Journal of Surgery* published a special edition in his honour. The Australasian College honoured him in 1949 by founding the Gordon Taylor prize for the best candidate in their Primary examination, on the suggestion of six of their Fellows all holders of the Hallett Prize, and that College commissioned his portrait by James Gunn in August 1960. He himself presented the portrait of his wife, painted in 1922 by Cowper, to the Australasian College. His own portrait by Anna Zinkeisen was commissioned by the Middlesex Hospital, where it now hangs. He was made consultant surgeon to the Alfred and St Vincent Hospitals in Melbourne and was an honorary member of surgical societies in Belgium, Norway, Greece, France and Germany, although his feelings for the last were antipathetic. A keen cricketer and member of the MCC, he was a regular attender at Lords, and it was one evening on leaving the ground that he was struck down by a motor car, sustaining injuries from which he died. A touch of irony, as he was an inveterate walker and detested motor cars, and never had any desire to drive one; having sold his Rolls at the outbreak of war in 1939, he never subsequently owned a car. It must be obvious to any reader of this tale of achievement that this was no ordinary man: indeed he was rightly regarded as the doyen of surgery of his generation. Few men, if indeed any others have inspired such universal respect, admiration and affection. Pre-eminent as a surgeon himself, he performed over one hundred hind-quarter amputations, his joy was to educate, instruct and help young surgeons from all over the world. In Australia his was a name to conjure with, and at the Middlesex out of his forty house surgeons twenty-five achieved consultant status, and of these, twelve at the Middlesex itself. He never forgot a face and, more important, the name that went with it. Christmas cards, penned in his own florid handwriting, were sent every year to surgeons all over the world. He lived for surgery and to keep himself fit always walked and became an expert ballroom dancer. He delighted to entertain visiting surgeons in the Oriental Club or his beloved Ritz, and, although abstemious himself, he was a connoisseur of food and wine. His dapper, trim figure in double-breasted jacket, hatless and with bowtie and wing collar, complete with the pink carnation in the button hole, brought a thrill of excitement to any surgeon lucky enough to encounter him and to be recognised immediately and addressed by name. He was indeed, as Sir Arthur Porritt, the President, described him in his funeral oration quoting Chaucer's words, “a very parfit gentil knight”. He married Florence Mary FRSA, FZS, eldest daughter of John Pegrume, who died in 1949. He died in the Middlesex Hospital following an accident on 3 September 1960. He was cremated at Golder's Green on 8 September, D H Patey reading the lesson. A memorial service was held in All Souls, Langham Place on Thursday 13 October 1960, conducted by the Vicar and by the Chaplain of the Middlesex Hospital. The oration was delivered by Sir Arthur Porritt, who was supported by the Council of the College. The lesson was read by T Holmes Sellors, and the church was filled by representatives of many learned societies and Sir Gordon's colleagues, friends and patients A bibliography of his publications, compiled by A M Shadrake, was appended to the memorial pamphlet published by the Middlesex Hospital, and his principal writings are listed at the end of Sir Eric Riches's Gordon-Taylor memorial lecture *Ann. Roy. Coll. Surg. Engl.* 1968, 42, 91-92; they included: Books 1930. *The Dramatic in Surgery*. Bristol, Wright. 1939. *The Abdominal Injuries of Warfare*. Bristol, Wright. 1958. *Sir Charles Bell, his life and times*, with E A Walls. Edinburgh, Livingstone. On Cancer Statistics and Prognosis 1904. *Arch. Middlesex Hosp.* 3, 128, with W S Lazarus-Barlow. 1959. *Brit. med. J.* 1, 455. Mitchell Banks Lecture. On Cancer of the Breast 1948. *Ann. Roy. Coll. Surg. Engl.* 2, 60. 1948. *Proc. Roy. Soc. Med.* 41, 118. On Malignant Disease of the Testis 1918. *Clin. J.* 47, 26. 1938. *Brit. J. Urol.* 10, 1, with A S Till. 1947. *Brit. J. Surg.* 35, 6, with N R Wyndham. On the Oro-pharynx 1933. *Proc. Roy. Soc. Med.* 26, 889. On Retroperitoneal and Mesenteric Tumours 1930. *Proc. Roy. Soc. Med.* 24, 782. 1930. *Brit. J. Surg.* 17, 551. 1948. *Roy. Melb. Hosp. clin. Rep.* Centenary Volume, p. 189. On the Hindquarter Amputation 1935. *Brit. J. Surg.* 22, 671, with Philip Wiles. 1940. *Brit. J. Surg.* 27, 643. 1949. *J. Bone Jt. Surg.* 31 B, 410, with Philip Wiles. 1952. *J. Bone Jt. Surg.* 34 B, 14, with Philip Wiles, D H Patey, W Turner-Warwick and R S Monro. 1952. *Brit. J. Surg.* 39, 3, with R S Monro. 1955. *British Surgical Progress,* p. 81. London, Butterworth. 1959. *J. Roy. Coll. Surg. Edin.* 5, 1, John Fraser Memorial Lecture. On War Surgery 1955. War injuries of the chest and abdomen. *Brit. J. Surg.,* Supplement 3. On Tradition Moynihan (1940) *Univ. Leeds med. Mag.* 10, 126. Rutherford Morison (1954) *Newcastle med. J.* 24, 248. Cavendish Lecture (1958) *Proc. W. Lond. Med.-Chir. Soc.* p. 12. Fergusson (1961) *Medical History,* 5, 1. The surgery of the "Forty-five" rebellion. (Vicary Lecture 1945). *Brit. J. Surg.* 33, 1.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000459
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Hickey, Brian Brendan (1912 - 2006)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2007-06-08
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000300-E000399
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372544372544
Occupation General surgeon
Details Brendan Hickey was a consultant general surgeon and urologist at Morrison Hospital, Swansea, and spent some time as a professor of surgery in Khartoum and as a surgical specialist to the Iraq government. He was born on 20 June 1912 in Newton Hyde, Cheshire, where his father, John Edward Hickey, was a schoolmaster. His mother was Grace Neil née Dykes. He was educated at Manchester Grammar School, from which he won an open scholarship to University College, Oxford, where he won the Theodore Williams scholarship in pathology. At the London Hospital he won the Treeves and Lethby prizes. After qualifying he did house appointments at the London under Sir James Walton and Douglas Northfield, and had passed the FRCS before the war broke out. He joined the RAMC, rising to be lieutenant colonel, and after the war continued as a keen member of the Territorial Army, becoming colonel in charge of Third Western General Hospital and honorary surgeon to the Queen. He was Hunterian Professor in 1958. He married in 1939 Marjorie Flynn, by whom he had one son, who became a doctor, and two daughters. Brendan Hickey died on 3 August 2006.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000358
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Hickinbotham, Paul Frederick John (1917 - 2006)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2007-06-08
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000300-E000399
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372545372545
Occupation General surgeon
Details Paul Hickinbotham was a consultant surgeon in Leicester. He was born in Birmingham on 21 March 1917, the second son of Frederick John Long Hickinbotham, an export merchant and JP, and Gertrude née Ball. He was educated at West House School, Birmingham, and Rugby, and went on to Birmingham to do his medical training, qualifying in 1939. There he was much influenced by H H Sampson, a charismatic general surgeon from the Queen Elizabeth Hospital. Hickinbotham went on to specialise in surgery, becoming resident surgical officer at Bradford Royal Infirmary from 1941 to 1942, when he passed the FRCS. He joined the RAMC in 1942 and served in North Africa and Italy. After the war he returned to the Leicester group of hospitals, where he served as a general surgeon on the staff until he retired in 1982. He married Catherine Cadbury in 1942. They had one son, Roger, and one daughter, Claire, neither of whom went into medicine. They had eight grandchildren. His extra-curricular interests included forestry and Welsh hill walking. He died at his home in Leicester on 22 September 2006.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000359
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Tomes, Sir Charles Sissmore (1846 - 1928)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Travers, Benjamin junior (1808 - 1868)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Bond, Charles John (1856 - 1939)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Brown, James Marsh (1913 - 1965)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2008-03-07 2014-07-18
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000400-E000499
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372647372647
Occupation General surgeon
Details James Brown was born in 1913 and educated at Bishops Stortford. In 1930 he entered Guy's Hospital and for two years studied dentistry before changing to medicine. After qualification in 1936 he held various house appointments at Guy's before obtaining the Fellowship in 1938. Brown was then appointed lecturer in anatomy at Trinity College, Cambridge, but returned to Guy's as demonstrator of anatomy and physiology in 1939. When the second world war broke out he joined the Emergency Medical Service and went to Guildford as a surgical registrar. In January 1940 he joined the RAMC in the hope of being posted abroad but after a short time his commission was changed to that of Surgeon-Captain in the Royal Horse Guards and he was posted to Windsor. He spent much of his spare time at Windsor in helping at King Edward VII Hospital; here his abilities were quickly recognised and in January 1942 he was made temporary assistant surgeon. In 1946 this appointment was confirmed, and in 1948 he was made senior surgeon. When the Canadian Red Cross Memorial Hospital was incorporated in the Health Service he was appointed to its surgical staff; he also became surgeon to the Maidenhead Hospital and to many other hospitals in that area; in addition he was on the staff of the King Edward VII Hospital for Officers in London. Brown did much work on the medical committees of his region and was keenly interested in the Windsor and District Medical Society. He was medical officer to the racecourses at Ascot and Windsor, and to the Windsor Polo Club and the Royal Windsor Horse Show Club. After demobilisation he was made Honorary Surgeon-Captain to the Royal Horse Guards. In April 1956 he was elected a Freeman of the City of London. He died suddenly in Guy's Hospital on 24 April 1965 at the age of 52, survived by his wife and four children.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000463
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Mayo, William James (1861 - 1939)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2008-03-11
JPEG Image
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000400-E000499
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372648372648
Occupation General surgeon
Details Born at Le Sueur, Minnesota on 29 June 1861, the elder son of William Worrall Mayo and Louise Abigail Wright, his wife. The younger son Charles Horace Mayo was also an Honorary FRCS. For an account of W W Mayo, their father, see the life of C H Mayo, above. William J Mayo, was educated at the Rochester High School and at Niles Academy, working in a local drug store during the vacations. When a tornado struck Rochester in 1883, W Worrall Mayo was appointed to take charge of an improvized hospital and a number of Sisters of St Francis worked with him to help the wounded. The Mother Superior proposed to build a permanent hospital in memory of the catastrophe, provided sufficient money for the purpose and nominated Mayo to take charge of it. The hospital was opened in 1889 under the name of St Mary's Hospital with thirteen patients. It was always the rule that each patient paid according to his means, that fees would not be required from charitable organizations, and that the patient's promise to pay was a sufficient guarantee. The institution quickly became known, first as the Mayo Clinic, later (1915) as the Mayo Foundation. The Mayo brothers gave $1,500,000, and on making the endowment William Mayo, speaking also for his brother, said “We never regarded the money as ours; it came from the people, and we believe it should go back to the people.” The two brothers worked throughout in the utmost harmony and to the end of their lives had a common pocket book in which each wanted the other to have the greater share. Both had the essential attribute of a true gentleman, consideration for others. At first neither brother specialized in surgery; later William was the more inclined to operate upon the abdomen, Charles upon the head and neck. Of the two “Willie” was the better administrator, “Charlie” the more original. Both were simple in their lives and actions, both were humble-minded in spite of their great success in life, and both were witty, each in his own way. During the war William, who had received a commission as a first lieutenant in the Medical Reserve Corps in 1913, was promoted major in 1917 and later colonel in the United States Army Medical Corps. During 1917-19 he was chief consultant for the Medical Service; he was appointed colonel, Medical Reserve Corps in 1920 and brigadier-general in 1921. A regent of the University of Minnesota since 1907, William Mayo was president of the Minnesota State Medical Society in 1895, president of the American Medical Association 1905-06, president of the Society of Clinical Surgery 1911-12, president of the American Surgical Association 1913-14, president of the American College of Surgeons 1917-19, and president of the Congress of American Physicians and Surgeons 1925. In 1919 he was awarded a gold medal by the National Institution of Social Sciences for his services to mankind. In 1933 he received a special award from the University of Minnesota in recognition of his distinguished services in the furtherance of scientific studies. He married Hattie M Daman of Rochester, Minnesota. She survived, him with two daughters: Mrs Waltman Walters, wife of a director of the Mayo Clinic, and Mrs Donald C Balfour, wife of the director of the Mayo Foundation. He died in his sleep at Rochester, Minnesota, on 28 July 1939, after suffering from a sub-acute perforating ulcer of the stomach, for the relief of which he had been operated upon in the previous April.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000464
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Rumsey, Henry Wyldbore (1809 - 1876)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2008-03-11 2012-03-09
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000400-E000499
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372649372649
Occupation General surgeon
Details Born at Chesham, Buckinghamshire, on July 3rd, 1809, the eldest son of Henry Nathaniel Rumsey, a surgeon, by his wife, Elizabeth Frances Catherine, second daughter of Sir Robert Murray, Bart, whom he had married late in life. His grandfather, the youngest son of an old Welsh family, had settled and practised in Chesham from the middle of the eighteenth century. Rumsey's father had taken shorthand notes of John Hunter's lectures in 1786 and 1787. His notes were printed by James F Palmer in his edition of Hunter's works, who says of them, "one might almost suppose that the writer had had access to the Hunterian manuscript: for besides being generally more full, it never omits examples and illustrations in proof of opinions. The style too is characteristically Hunterian." Rumsey received a desultory education, one of his tutors being the Rev Joseph Bosworth, DD (1789-1876), the eminent Anglo-Saxon scholar. He was apprenticed at the age of 16 to Dr Attenburrow at the Nottingham Hospital, and afterwards became a house pupil of Caesar Hawkins (q.v.), Surgeon to St George's Hospital. In 1831 he was Resident Physician for three months to Lord Dillon at Ditchley, in Oxfordshire, after which he returned to Chesham and took over the family practice. Three years later he went to Gloucester, where he remained for twelve years, acting as Surgeon to the Dispensary, and being appointed Cholera Inspector in 1849. Having overworked himself in this office, he retired to Cheltenham, and from 1851 built up a large practice by his delicate generosity, untiring industry, his suavity, and his kind-heartedness. He got into financial difficulties towards the close of his life owing to the failure of *The European*, and his friends - Dr William Farr being Chairman of the fund - presented him in 1876 with a handsome sum of money, a service of silver plate, and obtained for him a Civil List pension of £100 a year. He died at Prestbury, near Cheltenham, on Oct 23rd, 1876. Rumsey was one of the leading sanitarians of his generation. Lacking the science, philosophic insight, organizing power, and literary genius of Sir John Simon, and the masterly command of statistics possessed by Dr William Farr, he was none the less a great man. In 1835, after having devoted much attention to the establishment of provident societies among the working classes, he commenced his labours as Hon Secretary of the Sick Poor Committee of the Provincial Medical and Surgical Association - labours which were continued for ten years. He furnished materials for a series of Reports, on which was founded a Bill, introduced into the House of Commons in 1840 by Mr Serjeant Talfourd, for the better regulation of Medical Relief under the Poor Law. This led to his being examined, first in 1838 by the Poor Law Committee of the House of Commons, and again in 1844 by Lord Ashley's Select Committee on Medical Poor Relief, when he submitted a mass of evidence, collected with much labour, relating to the sickness prevalent among the poor in towns, and forcibly showing the need of preventive measures, under the superintendence and control of a General Department of Public Health. The results of these investigations, and of his previous inquiries into the working of the so-called self-supporting Dispensaries, were embodied in two pamphlets, one published in 1837, on *The Advantages to the Poor of Mutual Assurance against Sickness*, the other in 1846, in connection with Lord Lincoln's Public Health Bill and Sir James Graham's Bill for the Regulation of the Medical Profession, on *The Health and Sickness of Town Populations*. After the publication in 1836 of his paper on the "Statistics of Friendly Societies", with suggestions and forms for an improved Registration of Sickness in connection with them, Rumsey on many occasions, either singly in papers of remarkable ability, or in co-operation with others, pointed out with much clearness and force certain "Fallacies of Vital and Sanitary Statistics", and the difficulty of drawing correct conclusions regarding the Public Health from returns of mortality, apart from records of sickness. In 1848, in his "Remarks on the Constitution of the Authorities under the Public Health Bill", then before Parliament, he anticipated and indicated with great precision the defects - many of which had remained unremedied - of that important measure. The same high intelligence and remarkable mental activity and acuteness were conspicuously manifested by him in the prominent part he took in all the subsequent phases of sanitary legislation, and in the valuable evidence given by him before the Royal Sanitary Commission in 1869. He was consulted in 1849 by the authorities of the Colony of St Christopher's, and in 1850 by the nascent Colony of New Zealand, on their sanitary schemes. His merits and public services were repeatedly recognized. In 1863, by the advice of the Privy Council, he was nominated by the Queen a Member of the General Medical Council; in 1868 and 1869 he was nominated a Member of the Royal Sanitary Commission. It was mainly under Rumsey's guidance, and largely at his instigation, that the British Medical Association procured the appointment of the Royal Sanitary Commission, whence has sprung the improved sanitary legislation of our days; and he will be remembered among the band of workers - Farr, Simon, Stewart, Michael, Acland, Stokes, Clode, and Chadwick - who have placed the health of the people upon a new and surer footing. He died at the beginning of November, 1876, and at the time of his death was an honorary member of the Metropolitan Association of Health Officers and a Fellow of the Royal Medico-Chirurgical Society. Rumsey's best-known book, which for many years was the only work on the subject, was his *Essays on State Medicine* (8vo, London, 1856). To attempt to write his full bibliography would be useless in any short notice of his life, but the following remarks by his able biographer in the *British Medical Journal* may be taken as covering most of the ground: "The very numerous and able papers presented by him...to the British, the Social Science, and the British Medical Associations, and to the Manchester Statistical Society, or published either separately or in various reviews, form a record of unwearied literary and philanthropic activity such as not many public men can boast of. Amongst the most important of these, not already adverted to, are his Address on Sanitary Legislation and Administration read at the first Meeting of the Social Science Association in 1857; Public Health, the right use of Records founded on Local Facts, in 1860; A Proposal for the Institution of Degrees or Certificates of Qualification in State Medicine, in 1865; Comments on the Sanitary Act, in 1866; an Address on State Medicine, delivered at the Dublin Meeting of the British Medical Association in 1867, and followed by the formation of the Joint Committee of the British Medical and Social Science Associations, which applied for and obtained from Her Majesty's Government the appointment of the Royal Sanitary Commission in 1868. On Population Statistics, with reference to a County Organization for Sanitary Administration, in 1870; and a paper on The State Medicine Qualification, which was read before the London Meeting of the British Medical Association in 1873, and led to the appointment of a Committee for the promotion of legislation on that subject."
Resource Identifier RCS: E000465
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Pyrah, Leslie Norman (1899 - 1995)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2008-03-11 2014-07-18
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000400-E000499
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372650372650
Occupation General surgeon Urological surgeon Urologist
Details Leslie Norman Pyrah was born at Farnley, near Leeds, on 11 April 1899, the son of a headmistress. Unfortunately no further details of his forbears are available. He was educated at Leeds Central High School and served in the army during the final stages of the first world war. He then read medicine at Leeds University, interrupting his course to take an honours degree in physiology. On qualification he did a wide variety of resident training posts during the next five years, notably with Berkeley Moynihan at the Leeds General Infirmary, where he became surgical tutor. In 1932 he secured a travelling scholarship to visit urological centres in Berlin, Vienna, Copenhagen, Innsbruck and Paris, and was then appointed assistant surgeon to the Leeds Infirmary and Public Dispensary in 1934. He was also visiting surgeon to a number of neighbouring hospitals and lecturer in surgery to Leeds University. Following appointment as consultant surgeon to St James's Hospital in 1940 and to the Infirmary in 1944 he built up a large general surgical practice. In 1948 he was elected to the council of the British Association of Urological Surgeons (BAUS) which had only formed three years earlier. He then co-founded the Urological Club, comprising urologists from the teaching hospitals. His consuming interest in urology led him to give up his general surgical practice and start a department of urology in Leeds. By 1956 he was appointed professor of urological surgery in his outstandingly successful department which had attracted researchers of the highest calibre. In the same year he became director of the Medical Research Council Unit in Leeds and set up the first renal haemodialysis unit in the UK with Dr Frank Parsons as its head. He and Professor Bill Spiers persuaded the Wellcome Foundation and other benefactors to fund a four storey research building for the Infirmary which was completed in 1959. Pyrah did outstanding and tireless work in promoting urology and urological specialist centres throughout Britain. He was President of the Urological Section of the Royal Society of Medicine in 1958; President of BAUS from 1961 to 1963; a member of College Council from 1960 to 1968 and was appointed CBE in 1963. In his youth Leslie Pyrah was a gifted pianist (at one time considering a possible career as a concert pianist) as well as a formidable tennis player. He enjoyed good food and wine and was an excellent cook with a particular taste for sauces. He also collected Chinese porcelain and Dutch paintings. Affectionately known as 'Poppah Pyrah' he had a somewhat portly figure and, even in the hottest climate, he always wore a mackintosh and a crumpled grey felt hat. He was a true Yorkshireman of rugged independence, friendly and approachable, never pulling rank and notably hospitable at all times. Pyrah married Mary Christopher Bailey in 1934. She died in 1990 and they had a son and a daughter who survived him when he died on 30 April 1995, another son having predeceased him.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000466
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Hudson, James Ralph (1916 - 2003)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2005-09-28
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000000-E000099
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372266372266
Occupation Ophthalmic surgeon
Details James Hudson was an ophthalmic surgeon at Moorfields in London. He was born on 15 February 1916 in New Britain, Connecticut, USA. His father, William Shand, was a mechanical engineer and farmer. His mother was Ethel Summerskill. He was educated in Massachusetts, at Winchester County Day School and then Belmont High School, before he went to England, where he attended the King’s School, Canterbury, and then Middlesex Hospital, where he was Edmund Davis exhibitioner. After qualifying, he joined the RAFVR, where he rose to the rank of Squadron Leader. In 1947, he went to Moorfields as a clinical assistant, trained in ophthalmology, and was appointed consultant in 1956 to Moorfields and to Guy’s Hospital. He also held posts at the King Edward VII Hospital for Officers, the Hospital of St John and St Elizabeth, London, and ran a private practice in Wimpole Street. He retired in 1981. He was a most competent general eye surgeon. An expert in surgical technique rather than an innovator, he devoted much of his time to the diagnosis and management of retinal detachment in an era when subspecialisation within ophthalmology was still new. In this field he made his reputation. For 25 years he presided over the retinal unit at the High Holborn branch of Moorfields, setting new standards by his unique and thorough methods of retinal examination and his meticulous records. His patients included the Duke of Windsor. He taught by example, and juniors soon learned that the soft cough at the end of a case presentation meant that something was not to his liking. He wrote chapters in Matthew’s *Recent advances in the surgery of trauma* and contributed to Rob and Rodney Smith’s *Operative surgery.* He was President of the Ophthalmological Society of the United Kingdom and the Faculty of Ophthalmologists, representing that faculty on the Council of the College. He was an examiner in ophthalmology to the Court of Examiners of the College. He was consultant adviser in ophthalmology to the DHSS and a civilian ophthalmic consultant to the RAF. His services were recognised by the award of the CBE in 1976. Abroad he was a respected member of the Société Française d’Ophtalmologie and represented the United Kingdom on several European committees. He was a member of the International Council of Ophthalmology and helped found the Jules Gonin Club, an worldwide association of retinal experts. He was interested in motoring, travel and cine-photography. He married Margaret May Oulpe, the daughter of a translator, in 1946. They had four children (Ann, Jamie, Sarah and Andrew) and five grandchildren (Matthew, Timothy, Mark, Jessica and Olivia). He died after a long illness on 30 December 2003.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000079
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Hulbert, Kenneth Frederick (1912 - 2003)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Bonham, Dennis Geoffrey (1924 - 2005)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2006-09-22
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000200-E000299
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372453372453
Occupation Obstetric and gynaecological surgeon Obstetrician and gynaecologist
Details Dennis Bonham was head of the postgraduate school of obstetrics and gynaecology at the National Women’s Hospital, Auckland, New Zealand. He was born in London on 23 September 1924, the son of Alfred John Bonham, a chemist, and Dorothy Alice Bonham, a pharmacist. He was educated at King Edward VI School, Nuneaton, and Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge. He then went to University College Hospital for his clinical training and for junior posts. He spent three years in the RAF at Fighter Command headquarters at Bentley Priory and then returned to University College to work with Nixon, researching into polycystic ovarian syndrome and the use of Schiller’s iodine in carcinoma of the cervix. In 1962 he was seconded to the British perinatal mortality survey as the obstetrician and co-authored its report with Neville Butler. In December 1963 he went to New Zealand as head of the postgraduate school of obstetrics and gynaecology in the University of Auckland. There, over the next 25 years, he made huge contributions to medicine and perinatal outcome, marked by an 80 per cent fall in perinatal mortality. He established the Foundation for the Newborn and the New Zealand Perinatal Society, and was adviser to WHO, receiving the gold medal from the Federation of Asia and Oceania Perinatal Societies. He went out of his way to encourage women into his specialty, setting up job-sharing training schemes. In 1990 he was involved in a controversial study into carcinoma of the cervix, which led to a national outcry, an inquiry and his censure by the New Zealand Medical Council. He married Nancie Plumb in 1945. They had two sons, both of whom became doctors. A big man, with colossal energy, he had many interests, notably sailing on the Norfolk Broads and New Zealand coastal waters, garden landscaping, building stone walls and designing terraced gardens. He was a passionate grower of orchids, becoming president, life member and judge of the New Zealand Orchid Society. He was awarded the gold medal of the 13th World Orchid Conference in 1990. He died in Auckland on 6 April 2005.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000266
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Keane, Brendan (1926 - 2005)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Katz, Gerson (1922 - 2005)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Gray, John Gowan (1927 - 2005)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Gilbert, Barton (1908 - 2006)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2006-10-26 2017-03-24
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000200-E000299
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372457372457
Occupation Obstetric and gynaecological surgeon Obstetrician and gynaecologist
Details Barton Gilbert was a consultant in gynaecology and obstetrics. He was born in Wembley, London, on 28 October 1908. His father, Ernest Jesse Gilbert, was an accountant. His mother, Amy Louise (whose maiden name was also Gilbert), was the daughter of a leather-merchant. His family was descended from William Gilbert, president of the College of Physicians during the time of Queen Elizabeth I. During the First World War Barton went to school in Bordeaux, and later went to Middlesex County School, Isleworth, before going to study medicine at St Thomas's Hospital. At St Thomas's he was awarded the university entrance science scholarship in 1928. He also gained a BSc in physiology, the William Tite and Musgrove scholarships in anatomy and physiology, and the Haddon prize for pathology. After qualifying he completed junior posts at St Thomas's, working for Nitch and Mitchiner. He then went as RMO to the City of London Maternity Hospital and then the Chelsea Hospital for Women, where he was influenced by Victor Bonney and Sir Comyns Berkeley. In 1936 he returned to St Thomas's as registrar in obstetrics and gynaecology. He was subsequently appointed to the consultant staff of the Chelsea Hospital for Woman. During the Second World War he worked in the Emergency Medical Service, and later in the RAMC, serving mainly in Africa. At the end of the war he settled in Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia, in gynaecological practice, the first gynaecological surgeon in that country. He helped to set up its medical school and taught gynaecology and obstetrics there. He was consultant in gynaecology and obstetrics to the government and its armed forces. He retired in 1972. He published many papers and was co-author, with R Christie Brown, of the textbook *Midwifery: principles and practice for pupil midwives, teacher midwives and obstetric dressers* (London, Edward Arnold, 1940), which passed through many editions. Following his retirement he went to live in Orange County, California, where he died on 3 February 2006. He married Rosamund Marjorie Luff in 1941, by whom he had twin sons, Brian and Keith, who became scientific instrument makers. He married for a second time, to Anne.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000270
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Evans, Ieuan Lynn (1927 - 2006)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2006-10-26 2014-06-18
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000200-E000299
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372458372458
Occupation General surgeon
Details Lynn Evans was a consultant surgeon to the Lewisham groups of hospitals in London. He was born in Ammanford, Carmarthenshire, Wales, on 15 July 1927, the son of the Rev. Thomas John Evans and Jenny Lloyd Williams, daughter of a newspaper editor and publisher. His brother, Thomas Arwyn Evans, is also a surgeon and a Fellow of the College. Lynn was educated at Bradford Grammar School on a Nuttall scholarship, and then went on to Haverfordwest Grammar School. He studied medicine at St Mary's Hospital, where he won a prize for pathology, and, on qualifying, became house surgeon to Dickson Wright and John Goligher. He was then house surgeon to Seddon, Jackson Burrows and David Trevor at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital. Lynn Evans did his National Service in the RAMC, where he was new growth registrar at Millbank, a post which brought him into contact with Sir Stanford Cade. After National Service he returned to St Mary's as a senior registrar, spending a Fulbright year as a research fellow at Baylor University, Texas, under Michael De Bakey. On his return he was appointed consultant surgeon to the Lewisham group of hospitals and honorary tutor in surgery to Guy's Hospital. He practised as a general surgeon with a special interest in vascular surgery, at a time when this specialty was beginning to develop. He married in 1956 and had a son and daughter. His hobbies included skiing, book collecting and music. He died on 27 June 2006.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000271
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Chakrabarti, Ramakanta (1945 - 2004)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2006-10-26 2012-03-22
JPEG Image
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000200-E000299
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372459372459
Occupation General surgeon
Details Ramakanta Chakrabarti was a respected surgeon in Calcutta. He was born in Calcutta on 1 October 1945, the son of Rajchandra and Kadambini Chakrabarti. He studied medicine at Calcutta National Medical College, where he subsequently held intern and house surgeon posts. In 1973 he was appointed as a senior house surgeon in general surgery and urology at the Rama Krishna Mission, Seva Prathishthan. He then became a senior surgical resident and postgraduate student at the Willingdon Hospital and Lady Hardinge Medical College, New Delhi, where he was awarded a masters degree in surgery with a thesis on emergency prostatectomy in clinically benign enlargement of the prostate. He was subsequently surgeon to the Lalbag Hospital in Murshidabad. He then went to the UK for further surgical training. He was a senior house officer in the trauma and accident department at Queen Elizabeth II Hospital, Welwyn Garden City, and then senior house officer in orthopaedics at Oldham Royal Infirmary. He then held appointments at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital, Sheffield, in urology and transplantation, and at Hull Royal Infirmary in orthopaedics. During this period he passed his FRCS from the London and Glasgow Colleges. He was then a registrar at Withybush General Hospital, Haverfordwest, under David Bird, where he further developed his interest in vascular and urological surgery. In 1986 he returned to Calcutta as a visiting general surgeon to the Dum Dum Municipal Hospital, where he became an outstanding figure, keeping up-to-date with the latest developments in endoscopic surgery by attending seminars and meetings, and becoming a popular member of the Dum Dum branch of the Indian Medical Association. He was married to Maitreyee, a teacher, and they had one daughter, Madhumanti, who is studying at Queen Mary College, London. He died on 3 August 2004.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000272
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Anderson, John Douglas Chalmers (1924 - 2006)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2006-10-26
JPEG Image
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000200-E000299
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372460372460
Occupation Ophthalmologist
Details John Douglas Chalmers Anderson, known as ‘Jock’, was an ophthalmologist who spent much of his career working in Afghanistan. He was born in Redbourne, Lincolnshire, on 21 August 1924, the second of three sons of William Larmour Anderson, a general practitioner, and Eileen Pearl née Chambers. He was educated at Bedford School, where he won the Tanner prize in science, and then went to Peterhouse, Cambridge, on a state bursary. After a year his studies were interrupted by the war and he joined the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company, where he was a technical assistant, working on magnetrons. During the war he also served in the Home Guard and found time to obtain a BSc and a certificate of proficiency in radiophysics from London University. He returned to Cambridge in 1947 to complete his preclinical studies, and then went on to Middlesex Hospital, where he won the Mrs Charles Davis prize in surgery. After qualifying he completed house jobs at Bedford General Hospital and, after a year as a trainee assistant in general practice, returned as a demonstrator in anatomy at Cambridge. He was then an orthopaedic registrar at Bedford General Hospital. Influenced by his deeply held Christian beliefs, he accepted an invitation to work as a general surgeon at the Church Mission Society in Quetta, Pakistan. He was later an ophthalmic registrar at the Christian Medical College in Ludhiana, Punjab, India. In 1959 he returned to the UK, as an ophthalmic registrar at Northampton General Hospital and completed a course in London for the diploma in ophthalmology. He also raised funds for Afghanistan, returning there in 1961 to set up a moveable ‘caravan hospital’, taking general medical, surgical and ophthalmic services to remote desert communities. He returned to the UK as a clinical assistant in ophthalmology at Southampton Eye Hospital to study for the final FRCS. In 1967, having gained his FRCS, he was appointed consultant ophthalmologist with the National Organisation for Ophthalmic Rehabilitation in Kabul, establishing a 100 bed eye hospital and teaching centre there, from which subsidiary outpost treatment camps were organised. His centre survived the invasion by the Russians and the enmity of the Taliban, with only occasional interruptions. In 1973 he was appointed associate director (West Asia) of the Bible and Medical Missionary Fellowship, which involved two tours of three months every year in west Asia, taking him to Kunri, on the edge of the Sind Desert. In 1978 he returned to Southampton as a lecturer in ophthalmology, where he remained until 1980, when he returned to Kabul. Civil unrest meant he had to return to the UK earlier than expected. By now a world expert on trachoma, he joined the newly formed department of preventive ophthalmology at Moorfields and was appointed OBE in 1981. He carried out studies on the prevention of blindness in Zanzibar and the Sudan, and in 1984 was made an honorary consultant at Moorfields. He retired in 1988 after developing a tumour of the spinal cord. After several operations he became paraplegic. He married Gwendoline Freda Smith (‘Gwendy’), a Middlesex Hospital nurse, on 25 July 1953. They had two daughters (Ruth and Jean) and a son (Christopher). He died on 16 June 2006.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000273
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Bradbury, Sir Eric Blackburn (1911 - 2003)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2006-10-26 2009-01-09
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000200-E000299
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372461372461
Occupation General surgeon
Details Surgeon Vice Admiral Eric Blackburn Bradbury RN was the medical director general of the Royal Naval Medical Service from 1969 to 1972, a period when many changes were being made in the services. He was born on 2 March 1911, the son of A B Bradbury of Maze, County Antrim. His education was at the Royal Belfast Academical Institute and Queen’s University, Belfast. After qualifying in 1934, he decided on a career with the Royal Navy and was commissioned as a Surgeon Lieutenant. After basic training, he was soon at sea and from 1935 to 1936 served in HMS *Barham*, *Endeavour* and *Cumberland*. Essential hospital service was spent at the RN hospitals in Haslar, Chatham, Plymouth and Malta. His wartime sea service was spent in HMS *Charybdis* and HM Hospital Ship *Oxfordshire*. Promotion to flag rank arrived in 1966 when he became a Surgeon Rear Admiral and was appointed medical officer in charge of Haslar Hospital, the senior teaching hospital of the Royal Navy. He also became the command medical officer of Portsmouth and an honorary physician to HM the Queen. In 1968 he became a Companion of the Bath. He was soon selected as the medical director of the Royal Naval Medical Services and was appointed in 1969, serving until 1972. He was promoted Surgeon Vice Admiral in 1971 and appointed Knight Commander of the British Empire. In 1972 our College conferred the fellowship on him. In 1939 he married Elizabeth Constance Austin, daughter of J G Austin of Armagh. They had three daughters – Ann, Elizabeth and Valerie. After retirement he was chairman of the Tunbridge Wells DHA from 1981 to 1984, during which time advances were made in the accident and emergency services. He died on 6 January 2003.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000274
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Calvert, James Murray (1924 - 2003)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2006-10-26
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000200-E000299
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372462372462
Occupation Neurosurgeon
Details James Calvert, neurosurgeon, was born at Mount Bute, near Ballarat, Victoria, Australia, where his parents owned a sheep farm. He was educated first at the local state school and then at Ballarat Grammar School. On leaving school, he worked briefly for the Commercial Bank of Australia, before enlisting at the age of 18 in April 1943 in the Australian Army. After initial training in South Australia he was sent to the 2/8th Australian Field Regiment, which had recently returned to Australia after taking part in the Battle of El Alamein. The regiment was now training for the invasion of Sarawak and Brunei in Borneo and sailed from Townsville in May 1945, initially to Morotai and then for Brunei, where it landed on 10 June. Though there was little resistance initially, an ambush of a patrol in which Calvert was taking part resulted in the death of three of his immediate companions. The Japanese surrender occurred in August 1945 and Calvert was discharged in September 1946. He then spent a year at a coaching college, obtaining the necessary exams to enter the medical school at the University of Melbourne. To accommodate the influx of ex-serviceman the University had set up a branch at a former RAAF base in Mildura, in the north west of Victoria, and there Calvert entered the first year of the course. For later years he was resident at Queen’s College, Melbourne University, where he rowed in the first eight, played football and took part in athletics. His clinical studies were done at the Royal Melbourne Hospital where after qualifying he did his house jobs. He then became a surgical registrar there, and later at the Western General Hospital, Footscray. In 1959 he obtained the FRACS, went to England, passed the FRCS at the first attempt, without doing a course, which he could not afford, and entered neurosurgical training at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham under Brodie Hughes. He returned to Melbourne in 1962, working initially at the neurosurgical department of the Alfred Hospital as an honorary (unpaid) assistant neurosurgeon until 1969. During this time he did GP locums at the weekend to make ends meet. In 1967 he took up the post of neurosurgeon to the Austin Hospital, Heidelberg, Melbourne, and there he worked for the next 20 years as senior neurosurgeon. He also held an appointment to the Repatriation Hospital, close to the Austin, which dealt with ex-servicemen, and at the Peter McCallum Clinic, the Victorian Cancer Centre. He retired from the Austin in 1987 and from the Repatriation Hospital two years later, though continuing to do medico-legal work. Calvert was a person of quiet and retiring demeanour who worked long hours and was much liked by his patients. He was an active member of the Neurosurgical Society of Australia, being treasurer for some years and president from 1980 to 1981. He was also closely associated with the Returned Services League, the Australian ex-servicemen's association and was vice-president of his regiment. In 1956 he married Marnie Fone. They had four daughters and a son.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000275
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Coakley, Patrick Kevin (1928 - 2004)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2006-10-26
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000200-E000299
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372463372463
Occupation General surgeon
Details Patrick Kevin Coakley was born on 19 December 1928 at Bantry, County Cork, Eire. He attended Blackrock College, Dublin, and studied medicine at the University of Cork, qualifying in 1952. After the surgical rotation he passed the FRCS in Ireland. In 1955 he was appointed to a short service commission in the Royal Army Medical Corps and was quickly promoted to Captain. After his basic military training he was posted to the Queen Alexandra Military Hospital (QAMH) as a junior specialist in surgery, the first of many postings. Later in the year he moved to the British Military Hospital Lagos, where he developed an excellent relationship with the local Nigerian surgeons. On his return to UK in 1957 he served for a short period at the British Military Hospital Chester, before moving to the Royal Postgraduate Medical School, Hammersmith, to work with Ian Aird on a sabbatical year as an honorary registrar. While he was there he passed the FRCS England. After this he was made a senior specialist in surgery and then moved to the Cambridge Military Hospital, Aldershot. Whilst there he was graded as consultant in surgery by the Armed Services Consultant Approval Board of our College and then posted to the British Military Hospital Hong Kong. Here he established good contacts with G B Ong and was soon involved in teaching. His next appointment in 1965 to the British Military Hospital Hanover, Germany, again resulted in a good liaison, with the Medizin Hochschule at Hanover. His teaching ability was now recognised by his appointment as assistant professor of military surgery at the Royal Army Medical College and QAMH Millbank. The Army oncology unit worked closely with the service at the Westminster Hospital and required a surgeon with special skills, and these he had. Another period of postgraduate training was spent in vascular surgery at St Mary’s Hospital. In 1972 he moved to the Cambridge Military Hospital, where large numbers of casualties of the Parachute Regiment from Northern Ireland were being treated. His excellent service here was recognised by the award of the Mitchiner medal from our College and the Royal Army Medical College, and promotion to Colonel. In 1978 he was posted again to Hanover and he renewed his connections with the University. During this time he volunteered to serve with the field surgical team in Belfast, for which he was awarded the General Service medal with NI clasp. Shortly after his return to Hanover he was appointed an officer of the Order of St John in recognition of his work with battle casualties and the British Army of the Rhine (BAOR) task in war. In 1982 he was promoted to Brigadier and appointed command consultant in surgery at HQ BAOR, where he became responsible for surgeons and surgery in NATO. Promotion to Major General followed in 1986, when he was appointed director of army surgery, consultant to the Army and honorary surgeon to HM the Queen. He retired in 1988 to Fleet, Hampshire, where he continued playing golf at the Army Golf Club and freshwater fishing in Ireland. His house repair skills were much in demand. On the 18 January 2004 he died from a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm. He was a happy family man and left a wife Janet and children Janet, Fiona and Brendan. He son John predeceased him. He had five grandchildren.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000276
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Thomas, Honoratus Leigh (1769 - 1846)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Vincent, John Painter (1776 - 1852)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2005-07-20 2012-07-19
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000000-E000099
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372198372198
Occupation General surgeon
Details Born at Newbury, Berkshire, where his father, Osman Vincent, was a silk merchant and banker, living at Donnington. Captain Richard Budd Vincent, CB (1770?-1831), was John's elder brother. Vincent was apprenticed to William Long (d 1829), Surgeon to St Bartholomew's Hospital and the Bluecoat School, and as an apprentice he had occasion to attend Leigh Hunt, then a schoolboy. Hunt says of Long, "he was dark like a West Indian and I used to think him handsome, but the sight of Mr Long's probe was not so pleasant, I preferred to see it in the hands of Vincent". He was one of the last Members admitted by the Company of Surgeons on March 20th, 1800. Two days later, on March 22nd, 1800, the College Charter was granted and Vincent was again examined. There were thirty-nine candidates for the diploma, many of whom were 'referred'. John Smith Soden (qv) and Richard Spencer (qv) were amongst those who satisfied the examiners. Vincent was elected Assistant Surgeon to St Bartholomew's Hospital on August 13th, 1807, on the resignation of his master, William Long, whose house he took in Lincoln's Inn Fields. At the election he received 154 votes and his opponent, William Wadd, obtained 56. He became Surgeon on Jan 29th, 1816, and resigned on January 21st, 1847, when he was elected a Governor. At the Royal College of Surgeons Vincent was co-opted a Member of the Council in 1822 and held office till his death. He was a Member of the Court of Examiners from 1828-1851, Hunterian Orator in 1829, Vice-President in 1830, 1831, 1838, and 1839; and President in 1832 and 1840. He was not in favour of establishing an order of Fellows of the College. He married: (1) On May 28th, 1812, Maria, daughter of Samuel Parke, of Kensington and Lysonby Lodge, near Melton Mowbray, by whom he had six children, of whom three sons survived him. She died in October, 1824, and he then married (2) Elizabeth Mary Williams, who outlived him. He died of paralysis after several years of ill health at Woodlands Manor, near Sevenoaks, Kent, on July 17th, 1852, and was buried in the church he had built at Woodlands. A three-quarter-length portrait in oils, sitting, by E U Eddis hangs in the Great Hall at St Bartholomew's Hospital. It was painted by subscription for his pupils and represents Vincent as a frail-looking man. The likeness was said to be good. It was presented to the Hospital on Sept 10th, 1850, and an autographed engraving from it by Henry Cousins was issued to the subscribers. Sir James Paget, writing from personal knowledge, said that he remembered him, "as a very practical surgeon, shrewd in diagnosis and always prudent and watchful, but apparently shy and reserved and not at all given to teaching even in the wards. He never taught in the school - never even, I think, gave a clinical lecture." Luther Holden (qv), writing in greater detail on January 11th, 1897, tells of his recollections in the following words: "At last, after much delay, which I regret, here are a few items which I have gathered from the mouldy memories of my respected friend and teacher, John Painter Vincent. All that I tell you is limited to the estimation in which we students held him. "We used to call him 'Old Vinco'. He was very popular with us - always kind, always ready to help a fellow in distress, a man of few, but always gentle, words. He lived in Lincoln's Inn Fields, and always walked to the Hospital. His walk bespoke a character about which there was no mistake. He came shuffling along with short steps, his hands never in his pockets, never behind him, but always clasped in front, as if ready to do handy work. He was very careful of his hands, and well he might be, for they were his best instruments, not that we thought him a good operator in the usual sense of the word. He 'operated' best without instruments. He had a natural dexterity and fine surgical touch. This was best seen when he 'set' a fracture or reduced a dislocation or when he was examining the nature of a tumour, but best of all when he was reducing a hernia. Many a time I have seen him reduce a hernia which had baffled his house surgeon and dressers. 'Old Vinco' would come down, grasp the hernia with his magic hands, give it a bit of a shake, and tuck it up, much to the disappointment of the 'boys', who wanted an operation. In this matter of 'legerdemain' we all agreed that he was far more dexterous than his colleagues. Unfortunately for us, Vincent did not explain to us how to do the trick, for he was a man of very few words, and never, so far as I know, gave a clinical lecture. He was certainly a conservative surgeon, disposed to avoid operations, unless obviously necessary. His highly educated surgical teaching was probably appreciated by his colleagues. In doubtful cases it was their wont to instruct their respective house surgeons to request Mr Vincent to give his opinion. In his time there were no special days, as now, for surgical consultations. "As regards Vincent's personality, there is an admirable likeness of him in the Great Hall of St Bartholomew's Hospital. He was exceedingly modest, quiet, unobtrusive. I am not aware that he ever published much, if anything, but I believe there is a very good memoir of him by his son in our library. He wore a brown wig, which never altered in colour as he grew older. Eventually he died paralytic, after a very long confinement to bed, [still] Senior Surgeon to St Bartholomew's. "The above is all that I can fairly remember of 'old Vinco'. Even this little has given me pleasure to recall. Do what you like with it." "Always sincerely yours, "Luther Holden." PUBLICATIONS: - *The Hunterian Oration*, 8vo, London, 1829. *Observations on Some of the Parts of Surgical Practice*, 8vo, London, 1847. *An Address to the Council of the College of Surgeons,* 1841.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000011
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
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First Title value, for Searching White, Anthony (1782 - 1849)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Cooper, Samuel (1781 - 1848)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Lawrence, Sir William (1783 - 1867)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Barros D'Sa, Aires Agnelo Barnabé (1939 - 2007)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2007-11-08 2014-07-18
JPEG Image
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000400-E000499
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372601372601
Occupation Trauma surgeon Vascular surgeon
Details Aires Barros D'Sa was a pioneering vascular and trauma surgeon in Belfast. He was born in 1939 in Nairobi, Kenya, into a Goan family. His father, Inaçio Francisco Purifcação Saúde D'Sa, was a civil servant. His mother was Maria Eslina Inês Barros. Aires grew up in Kenya and was educated at Duke of Gloucester School. He originally intended to study medicine in Bombay, but his plans changed following the Indian blockade of Goa, which heralded the end of Portuguese rule there. He went to Queen's University, Belfast, instead, on a scholarship, as one of only a handful of overseas students. He held a succession of junior posts across Northern Ireland, including at the Royal Victoria, Belfast City, Ulster and Lurgan hospitals. From 1975 to 1977 he was a senior registrar at the Royal Victoria Hospital, and then spent a year at Providence Medical Center, Seattle. In 1978 he was appointed as a consultant vascular surgeon at the Royal Victoria Hospital. He quickly stood out for his charm, warmth and humour, thirst for knowledge and superb clinical acumen. A loyal champion for his nurses and junior staff, he fought continually to ensure the best resources for them and for his patients, and had scant patience with red tape. He expected his own high standards to be met: lazy, incompetent staff were not tolerated and rude patients found terrorising nurses were simply wheeled off the ward, not to be readmitted. The Troubles in Northern Ireland reached their height in the 1970s and the Royal Victoria Hospital received the majority of victims. Many required treatment for horrific bomb blast, shrapnel and gunshot injuries. During this time, Aires gained an international reputation for his pioneering use of shunts in the management of complex limb vascular injuries. His surgical technique was unparalleled - his mentor, Sinclair Irwin, said Aires had the 'best hands' he had ever seen - and, aligned with his courage, stamina and coolness under pressure, he undoubtedly saved many lives and limbs. While Aires, along with colleagues, applied impeccable standards of care to all patients, he despised terrorists and had no time for extremists from either side. In recognition of his pioneering work in vascular trauma he was appointed Hunterian Professor of the Royal College of Surgeons in 1979. Over the next decades he travelled extensively as an invited lecturer, notably in 1983, when he was elected by the James IV Association of Surgeons to represent the British Isles as the 77th James IV Surgical Traveller to North America, Australia and South East Asia. Aires recognised clear advantages in developing vascular surgery as a distinct specialty. In 1978 he initiated the establishment of a dedicated regional vascular surgery unit at the Royal Victoria Hospital, only the third of its kind in the UK, and in 1979 instituted a clinical vascular lab. In 1996 he established a registry for vascular surgical patients in Northern Ireland, among the UK's earliest regional databases. It is still in use today. Despite increasing national and international commitments, Aires retained a love of teaching. Students learned from his expertise, not least his exceptional care and thoughtfulness towards patients in pain and anticipating major surgery. As a lecturer, his excellent knowledge of anatomy and dynamic delivery enlivened the driest subjects. Often he would arrive early for lectures and cover the blackboards with superb anatomical drawings. He designed crests for the Ulster Surgical Club and the Joint Vascular Research Group, one of five national and European societies of which he was a founding member. Hugely committed to vascular research, he published extensively, in particular on vascular trauma. He authored and edited three books, including *Emergency vascular and endovascular surgical practice* (London, Hodder Arnold, 2005). He sat on the editorial board of several vascular journals and was a reviewer on many more. The latter years of Aires' career brought many accolades. In 1999 he was made honorary professor of vascular surgery (personal chair) at Queen's University, and in 2000, in recognition of his services to the specialty, he was awarded an OBE. The following year he was president of the Vascular Society of Great Britain and Ireland, and hosted the annual conference in Belfast. In 2003 he became Deputy Lieutenant of County Borough of Belfast, and in 2005 the Royal Victoria Hospital honoured him by naming the laboratory he had founded 'The Barros D'Sa Clinical Vascular Laboratory'. Health problems prompted his premature retirement in 2001. His final operation was on a young man from South Africa with a large carotid body tumour. A recognised expert in this difficult field of surgery, Aires had one of the largest case series in Europe. He arranged a special weekend slot and successfully removed the tumour after eight hours of surgery. Aires was a true gentleman, a generous friend with an infectious joie de vivre, and a legendary host. His interests spanned politics, literature and the arts; he was an orchestra patron, an environmentalist, and a keen supporter of Irish rugby. Travel remained his foremost love; he and Libby had several global excursions planned for their retirement years. Above all, he was a passionate family man and believed that his life's greatest achievement was raising his four daughters. In his final year, the arrival of a grandson brought him enormous joy. Aires Barros D'Sa died on 29 January 2007 from bronchopneumonia a week after having cardiac surgery. He was 67. He was survived by his wife Libby, a retired anaesthetist, daughters Vivienne, Lisa, Miranda and Angelina, and grandson Tom Barnabé. Lisa Barros D'Sa Paul Blair
Resource Identifier RCS: E000417
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
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First Title value, for Searching Ainslie, Derek (1919 - 2006)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2007-11-08 2009-02-26
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000400-E000499
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372602372602
Occupation Ophthalmologist
Details Derek Ainslie was an ophthalmologist and a pioneer in the development of vision corrective surgery. He was born in Hereford on 19 September 1919, the third child and second son of Janet (née Rogers) and William Ainslie, a surgeon and a fellow of the Edinburgh College. Derek Ainslie was educated at Hereford Cathedral Preparatory School, Sherborne and Clare College, Cambridge, going on to complete his clinical training at the Middlesex Hospital. He subsequently joined the RAMC and was en route to the Far East when the war ended. He remained in the Army, working in Africa until 1948 and reaching the rank of major. He underwent training in ophthalmology at Birmingham Eye Hospital, the Middlesex Hospital, and as senior resident officer at Moorfields Eye Hospital. Soon after completing his training he was appointed consultant ophthalmologist to the Middlesex and Moorfields Eye hospitals, in 1962. His work in ophthalmology was remarkable: he was a pioneer in corneal refractive surgery, using a microkeratome and surgical cryolathe. He worked closely in parallel with José Barraquer, a Spanish surgeon, in what was then a contentious field of work, but which has developed into the laser refractive surgery of today. Derek wrote extensively on the use of antibiotics in ophthalmology, corneal grafting and refractive keratoplasty. Sadly his work was interrupted in 1975 with the onset of a severe illness compounded by deteriorating vision from glaucoma. He retired prematurely at the age of 55. He examined for the diploma in ophthalmology and was a member of the Court of Examiners for the FRCS in ophthalmology. He was an adviser to the Merchant Navy from 1953 to 1963, and ophthalmic surgeon to Chorleywood College for Girls, a school for the partially sighted and blind. He married Robina Susan Lock in 1960, a medical practitioner. They had one son and two daughters. He had a wide interest in music, was a keen salmon and trout fisherman, and an ardent supporter of Arsenal Football Club. He died on 1 August 2006, and is survived by his third wife, Diana, children and grandchildren.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000418
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
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First Title value, for Searching Moyle, John Grenfell (1787 - 1860)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2008-05-01
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000500-E000599
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372691372691
Occupation General surgeon
Details Born in January, 1787. He joined the Bengal Army as Assistant Surgeon on Sept 15th, 1808, and was promoted Surgeon on Jan 1st, 1820; Superintending Surgeon on Nov 21st, 1830; a Member of the Bombay Medical Board on Jan 3rd, 1835; and President of the Board on the following May 1st. His active service included the 3rd Maratha, Deccan, or Pindari War of 1817-1818. He retired on Jan 3rd, 1838, and died at Harrow Road, London, W, on Jan 3rd, 1860.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000507
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
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First Title value, for Searching Godwin, Richard Bennett ( - 1871)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Ranger, Ian (1925 - 2008)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by N Alan Green
Publication Date 2008-05-01 2014-06-30
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000500-E000599
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372693372693
Occupation General surgeon
Details Ian Ranger was a true general surgeon who worked in the United Norwich Hospitals from 1967 to 1988. He was the son of William Ranger and Hatton Thomasina née Grigg. His father had been a schoolmaster, army officer and businessman, who emigrated to Australia in 1920, where Ian and his brother (Sir) Douglas were born. He was educated at Scott's College, Warwick, Queensland, and the Church of England Grammar School, Brisbane, returning to England before the Second World War to finish his schooling. He followed his elder brother Douglas to the Middlesex Hospital. After qualifying he worked for a year at the Bland Sutton Institute of Pathology under Leslie Le Quesne. In 1958 he spent a year at the Boston City Hospital under J Englebert Dunphy, with whom he retained strong links and whilst there gave practical classes in surgical technique to medical students. Carl Walter, inventor of the Fenwal bag used in blood transfusion, made students smear their forearms with lamp black and scrub it all off before operating. This may have altered Ian's views on his own scrub up technique, as at times he used a special cream to smear his hands and arms, declaring that it was better after a gentle soap and water wash to trap any residual germs in! On returning to the UK, Ian completed his thesis on oesophageal reflux. In 1964 he began a long locum in Cambridge during the illness of Brian Truscott and was appointed to his definitive post in Norwich in 1967. He worked with one surgical firm at the West Norwich Hospital with his equally enthusiastic senior colleague, Alan Birt. Other commitments were to the Jenny Lind Hospital for Children. But he displayed even more energy in his enthusiastic efforts at Cromer and District Hospital. Here he performed some major and heroic surgery, much to the consternation of the anaesthetists, and certainly the pathology department and perhaps some of the registrars working in Norwich. He recommenced emergency surgery there to the benefit of so many patients in north Norfolk, and liaised with a voluntary organisation, the Cromer Allies, to raise funds for an extra ward and new operating theatre. He published papers on sialography, the dissemination of micro-organisms by a suction pump, superior mesenteric artery occlusion, and was a Hunterian Professor in 1961. Naturally left-handed, he was completely ambidextrous, working rapidly with never a wasted movement. Many residents went to Norwich from overseas to rotate through the surgical firms. Ian was surgical tutor for East Anglia for three years. In retirement he divorced himself from medical activities, but is remembered by his colleagues for his enthusiasm and forceful character. He married Janet, who predeceased him. They had two sons, Alistair and Piers. Alistair became a GP in Scotland. Ian Ranger died quite suddenly in Cringleford, Norwich, on 14 February 2008, after a period of ill health with heart problems.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000509
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
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First Title value, for Searching Neame, John Humphrey (1926 - 2007)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Neil Weir
Publication Date 2008-05-01 2009-05-07
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000500-E000599
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372694372694
Occupation ENT surgeon
Details John Humphrey Neame was an ENT surgeon in Norwich. He was born in London on 14 July 1926, the eldest son of Humphrey Neame, an ophthalmological surgeon on the staff of Moorfields Hospital, and Minnie née Goodwin. Neame followed his father to Cheltenham College and then went to Lincoln High School, Portland, Oregon, during the war, returning to Trinity Hall, Cambridge. He went on to complete his clinical studies at University College Hospital, London, where he was influenced by Miles Formby. After junior posts, he specialised in ENT, becoming house surgeon, registrar and senior registrar at the Royal National Throat Nose and Ear Hospital. He was appointed consultant ENT surgeon to the Salisbury Hospital Group and Swindon and Marlborough hospitals. He was blessed with plenty of opportunities to fish and much enjoyed working with electronics. In 1960 he married Ruth Richards, with whom he had two sons, Stephen and Robert, and a daughter, Rachel. Both of his sons have entered the medical profession. He died on 13 July 2007, the eve of his 81st birthday.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000510
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
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First Title value, for Searching Smith, Charles William (1923 - 2006)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Neil Weir
Publication Date 2008-05-08 2009-05-07
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000500-E000599
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372695372695
Occupation ENT surgeon
Details Charles William Smith was a consultant ENT surgeon in York. He was born in Kenton, London, on 24 October 1923, the first son of Cecil Smith and Mabel née Gibb. His father, who had served in the First World War with the Royal West Kent Regiment (known as ‘the Dirty Half Hundred’), was badly wounded in the face at the Battle of the Somme, and remained disfigured and partially incapacitated for the rest of his life. Charles Smith and his brother were both educated at the Merchant Taylors’ School in Northwood and were brought up in a happy Christian household. He always maintained that his acceptance at St Thomas’ Medical School was more due to the fact that the Dean recognised his father from the war than his own academic prowess. At medical school he was a keen athlete and rugby player. His first house job was with the ENT department, which no doubt shaped his future career. He continued his training at the Royal Waterloo, the Charing Cross and the Royal Marsden hospitals, and then fitted in his National Service (spent in the Royal Army Medical Corps serving in Chester and Klagenfurt, Austria), before becoming chief assistant to the ENT department at St Thomas’ in 1956. He was appointed, initially as the sole ENT consultant, to the York hospitals in 1959 and served there until 1988. During this time he not only developed his own department, but was also the lead clinician in the planning of the new York District Hospital. Charles Smith became a member of the Court of Examiners at the RCS in 1962. He served as chairman of the York division of the BMA and was president of the North of England Society of Otolaryngology, the section of otology at the RSM and the Visiting Association of Throat and Ear Surgeons of Great Britain. He was honorary treasurer of the British Academic Conference in Otolaryngology, and served as honorary treasurer and then president (from 1984 to 1987) of the British Association of Otolaryngologists. During the time of his presidency he did much to represent the specialty’s interests in Europe and was founder president of the European Federation of Oto-Rhino-Laryngological Societies (EUFOS). At the end of his term of office he was awarded a gold award by the International Federation of Oto-Rhino-Laryngological Societies (IFOS). His appointment to the Archbishop’s council reflected his longstanding friendship with Donald Coggan who, ahead of him at school, had been a curate to the Rev Marshall Hewitt (Charles’s future father-in-law). He persuaded his superior that Charles was a suitable match for his only daughter, and was given the privilege of marrying them at All Soul’s Langham Place. When Charles Smith eventually arrived in York he found Donald Coggan was Archbishop. Charles Smith married Moyra (née Hewitt) in 1955. They had five children, Penn, Basil, Johanna, Rupert and Jeremy. His wide range of other interests included his local church, motor caravanning, gardening, photography, golf, natural history and fly fishing. He was master of the Merchant Taylors’ Company of York. He died on 2 October 2006.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000511
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
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First Title value, for Searching Ryan, Rowena Marion (1958 - 2005)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Neil Weir
Publication Date 2008-05-08 2022-03-17
JPEG Image
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000500-E000599
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372696372696
Occupation ENT surgeon
Details Rowena Ryan was an ENT consultant at Northwick Park Hospital, London. She was born in East London, South Africa, on 4 February 1958, where her father, Cecil Crawford Lindsay Ryan, was serving as a diplomat. Her mother, Dorothy Hazel née Lampkin, had been a secretary. Her paternal grandfather had qualified at Trinity College, Dublin, and became a general practitioner in Bath. She was educated at Alexandra College, Dublin, where she won the Governors Association scholarship, and went on to read medicine at Trinity. After qualifying she held junior posts at the West Middlesex, Stoke Mandeville, Hammersmith and Addenbrooke’s hospitals, before becoming an ENT registrar at the Royal Ear Hospital and senior registrar at the Royal National Throat, Nose and Ear Hospital. She was appointed as a consultant ENT surgeon to Northwick Park and the Central Middlesex hospitals in 1996, where her principal interest was in paediatric audiology. She was an examiner for the intercollegiate FRCS (otol) and was chair elect of the ENT comparative audit group of the British Association of Otorhinolaryngologists - Head and Neck Surgeons. In 1989 she married Audoen Healy, a dentist, with whom she had a daughter, Greta, and a son, Duncan. Outside work and family, her passions were music, literature, foreign languages, squash and tennis. She died of cancer of the pancreas on 9 December 2005.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000512
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
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First Title value, for Searching Young, Austen (1914 - 2005)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Goodlad, William ( - 1844)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2008-06-12 2012-02-15
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000500-E000599
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372698372698
Occupation General surgeon
Details Practised as a surgeon in Bolsover, then in Bury, and finally in Mosley Street, Manchester, where he was Surgeon to the Union Hospital. He died at his residence at Cheetham Hill on Feb 14th, 1844. He became known as a medical author by winning the Jacksonian Prize in 1812 with his Essay entitled "Diseases of the Vessels and Glands of the Absorbent System", republished as *A Practical Essay on the Diseases of the Vessels and Glands of the Absorbent System. To which are added Surgical Cases with Practical Remarks,* 8vo, London, 1814. On his title-page it appears that this republication is the Jacksonian Essay in substance, and we also infer from the dedication that he received his professional training at the Manchester Infirmary as pupil of its Surgeon, Robert Wagstaffe Killer, to whom he dedicates his book "as a token of respect for his abilities, and of gratitude for his friendship". The book was published by Goodlad in German in conjunction with Carmichael and Henning under the title *Ueber die Skrofelkrankheit*, the translator being J L Choulant (Leipzig, 1818). His Jacksonian Essay in MS (4to) is in the College Library. PUBLICATIONS: In addition to the work mentioned, Goodlad further published:- "Observations on Mr Barlow's Theory on the Origin of Urinary Calculi." - *Edin. Med. and Surg. Jour.*, 1809, v, 438. "Observations on Purulent Ophthalmia." - *Ibid.,* 1810, vi, 15. "Case of Inguinal Aneurysm, Cured by Tying the External Iliac Artery." - *Ibid.*, 1812, viii, 32. "Additional Observations on the Treatment of Scrofula." - *Ibid.*, 1815, xi, 204. "Observations on Diseases which are produced by Irritation in the Urethra." - *Lond. Med. Repos.*, 1814, ii, 449. "History of a Tumour Successfully Removed from the Face and Neck, by previously Tying the Carotid Artery." -* Lond. Med.-Chir. Trans.*, 1816, vii, 112. *A Letter to Sir B. C. Brodie containing a Critical Inquiry into his Lectures illustrative of Certain Local Nervous Affections*, 8vo, London, 1840.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000514
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
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First Title value, for Searching Sheppard, James Pook (1787 - 1854)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching North, John (1790 - 1873)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Thorpe, Robert ( - 1851)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Wingfield, Charles (1787 - 1846)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Lawrence, John ( - 1863)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Martin, Thomas (1779 - 1867)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Brown, Richard Willson ( - 1860)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Ainley, Roger Gwynne (1932 - 2006)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Enid Taylor
Publication Date 2008-10-24
JPEG Image
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000500-E000599
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372751372751
Occupation Ophthalmic surgeon
Details Roger Gwynne Ainley was an ophthalmic surgeon in the Merseyside area. He was born in Fringford, Oxfordshire, on 8 September 1932. His father, Joe Ainley, was a headmaster and his mother, Dora (née Carter), was a music teacher, both in schools and freelance. The family are related to the Shakespearian actor Henry Ainley. Roger Ainley attended Lord Williams’ Grammar School, Thame, and then the Old Grammar School, Bicester, from 1943 to 1950. His studies were then interrupted by National Service in the Royal Air Force for two years. In 1952 he went to Keble College, Oxford, to read zoology, but a year later changed to medicine. His clinical training was also in Oxford. His medical and surgical house jobs were at the Radcliffe Infirmary and then he began his formal ophthalmological training as senior house officer and registrar at Oxford Eye Hospital from 1961 to 1963. From 1965 to 1969 he was a lecturer and then senior lecturer at the Manchester Royal Eye Hospital. During this period, in 1968, he was awarded the George Herbert Hunt travelling scholarship and visited ophthalmic departments in New York, Philadelphia, Boston and Ohio State University. In 1969 he was appointed consultant ophthalmic surgeon to Merseyside Regional Health Authority and was postgraduate medical tutor to the Wirral Group from 1974 to 1976. He was a member of the Oxford Ophthalmological Congress, a charter member of the International Association of Ocular Surgeons and a member of Wallasey Medical Society, becoming president in 1989. He wrote quite widely on ocular subjects, but was particularly interested in vitamin B12 levels in ocular fluids and tobacco amblyopia. His other interests were diverse – music, playing the clarinet, sailing, squash and particularly a lifelong interest in butterflies and moths. Initially he collected specimens and his collection covered all European countries, USA, Thailand, Morocco, Costa Rica, Kenya, the Gambia and Mediera. Later he became more interested in conservation and was a member of the Lancashire and Cheshire Entomological Society, Butterfly Conservation and Cheshire Wildlife Trust. Between 1963 and 1991 he had six papers on butterflies and moths published in *The Entomologist* and *The Entomologist’s Record*. In December 1959 he married Jean Burrows, a nurse at St Bartholomew’s Hospital. They had two children, Elizabeth Anne, born in 1965, who is a chartered accountant, and Timothy Charles, born in 1967, a linguist. Roger Ainley died in 2006.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000568
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
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First Title value, for Searching Baird, Robert Hamilton (1915 - 2006)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Enid Taylor
Publication Date 2008-10-24
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000500-E000599
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372752372752
Occupation Ophthalmologist
Details Robert Hamilton Baird was an ophthalmologist in Belfast. He was born in Belfast on 19 September 1915. His father, William Baird, was a district inspector with the Royal Irish Constabulary and his mother was Mary McAdam. He was educated in Belfast, at the Methodist College, from 1929 to 1934, and then went on to study medicine at Queen’s University in the city, qualifying in 1939. He served in the Royal Army Medical Corps from 1939 to 1946, attaining the rank of lieutenant colonel and was mentioned in despatches in May 1945. After leaving the Army, he trained as an ophthalmologist, as a resident surgical officer in Birmingham and Midland Eye Hospital. He was appointed consultant ophthalmic surgeon to the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast, and North Down Hospital Group. He was a clinical lecturer and an examiner to Queen’s University, Belfast. In 1962 he married a Miss Drayson and they had two sons. He was interested in electronics and enjoyed playing golf. He died on 19 April 2006.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000569
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
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First Title value, for Searching Latto, Conrad (1915 - 2008)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Marshall Barr
Publication Date 2008-11-14
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Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000500-E000599
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372753372753
Occupation General surgeon
Details Conrad Latto was a consultant surgeon at the Royal Berkshire Hospital, Reading. He was born on 3 March 1915, the son of David and Christina Latto. His father was the town clerk of Dundee, his mother a frugal Scot who scrupulously saved towards the education of their three sons. Conrad, Gordon and Douglas all went from Dundee High School to study medicine at St Andrews. A younger brother, Kenneth, died in childhood of a Wilms’ tumour, which may have influenced Conrad’s future career. In 1937 he qualified with first class honours and a gold medal from St Andrews University. He held junior hospital appointments at Cornelia & East Dorset Hospital, Poole, the Prince of Wales Hospital, Plymouth, and Rochdale Infirmary. He became a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in 1940. For 18 months, from 1940 to 1942, he was a resident surgical officer at the Prince of Wales Hospital, Plymouth. It was during the Blitz on Plymouth in 1941 that his surgical reputation was established. Ironically, Latto was a conscientious objector on religious grounds. Eric Holburn, assistant superintendent at the Prince of Wales Hospital, sent this testimonial to his tribunal: “Soon after the devastation of Plymouth by enemy savagery in the early part of 1941, Mr Latto informed me that his views concerning the destruction of life had become so strongly crystallized that he could not honestly serve, even in a medical capacity, with the Armed Forces…This objection is the outcome of his earnest and overruling desire to put into practice his conception of a Christ-like life…I know of no individual who has served his country so magnificently and in such a quietly heroic and unassuming way as Mr Latto…The direction of the hospital emergency service was left entirely in his hands …With bombs falling all round and the hospital services being disrupted he carried on with imperturbable fortitude…” H F Vellacott, honorary surgeon wrote: “During the Plymouth blitzes…It was he who arranged which cases should go to theatre, which cases should have blood transfusions…Throughout these trying times he proved invaluable, and I cannot speak too highly of his conduct and of his administrative qualities. When each actual blitz was on his example of courage and calmness helped to hold the whole hospital organization together. He was outstanding in this respect and a special note of thanks was sent him by the Honorary Staff before he left.” The tribunal excused him from military service, with the condition that he continued to serve as a doctor. In 1943 he went to the Liverpool Royal Infirmary as surgical registrar for 12 months, followed by a year as an accident service officer at King Edward VII Hospital, Windsor. Now in Berkshire, and in his words “liking the look of the Royal Berks”, he became resident surgical officer in 1945. He was to remain closely attached to the Royal Berkshire Hospital for the rest of his life. With glowing testimonials from honorary surgeons Aitken Walker and Gordon Bohn, he became honorary assistant surgeon in December 1947, one of the last appointments to the voluntary hospital staff before the arrival of the NHS. Aitken Walker, the senior surgeon, suggested they all have a specialty. Walker chose thyroid and sympathectomy for himself, Bohn was given gall bladder and stomach, Robert Reid the colon and rectum. Latto had done some urology at Liverpool and therefore got urology. He took up the challenge with characteristic enthusiasm. Now a consultant in the NHS, he visited Terrence Millin and Alec Badenoch at St Bartholomew’s and St Peter’s hospitals to bring Reading up to date with the latest in the specialty. In 1961, sponsored by Badenoch and Sir James Paterson Ross (Sir James’s son Harvey was at that time Latto’s surgical registrar), he undertook a two-month study tour in the USA of the major centres for urology and general surgery. Latto was an excellent general surgeon who became a skilled urologist. He served on the council of the urology section of the Royal Society of Medicine and was an important influence in establishing the specialty in the Oxford region. In 1961 he jointly founded, with Joe Smith, the Oxford Regional Urology Club. His endoscopic and surgical skills, together with the length of his operating lists, were legendary. In the 1970s he assisted the GU Manufacturing Company in testing their prototype rod lens urology instruments. Harold Hopkins of the University of Reading, who had developed the rod lens and fibre-optic systems used in endoscopy, became both a patient and a very good friend. Another close friend was Denis Burkitt, whom he met when they were together at Poole. They were both Christian vegetarians: Latto became a member of the Order of the Cross and was president of VEGA (Vegetarian Economy and Green Agriculture). The two friends’ common interest in the effects of dietary fibre led to combined study and lecture tours in Africa, India, the Persian Gulf and behind the Iron Curtain. In 1971 Latto crusaded successfully for the introduction of dietary bran in Reading hospitals. He was a leading figure in British Association of Urological Surgeons (BAUS), at whose urging the College offered him the FRCS *ad eundem* in 1977. A tall, imposing figure with a shock of silver-grey hair, Conrad Latto had an enormous influence on the Royal Berks and on the medical and nursing staff in training. Although teetotal as well as vegetarian, he was the very opposite of the dour Scot. He never preached his beliefs (other than the importance of fibre). He published few papers, but was a passionate teacher, speaking eloquently and amusingly in a delightful soft Scottish accent. When in 1980 he had to retire from his beloved hospital, he took over the general practice in Caversham of his sister-in-law Monica Latto. He attended refresher courses and out-patient teaching sessions to update his knowledge and for seven years was a highly respected and much loved GP. In final retirement, he remained an active member of the local medical society, the Reading Pathological Society, of which he had been arguably its most effective post-war president. He died at his Caversham home on 6 July 2008, leaving a wife Anne, daughters Rosalind and Sharon, and five grandchildren.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000570
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
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First Title value, for Searching Cullum, Victor John Leslie (1930 - 2008)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2008-11-14
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000500-E000599
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372754372754
Occupation Orthopaedic surgeon
Details Victor Cullum was an orthopaedic surgeon in Johannesburg, South Africa. He was born in Cape Town on 25 February 1930, the son of John Richard Leslie Cullum, a businessman, and Olive Mildred née Willmott, who owned a nursery school. He was educated at St George’s Primary School, Cape Town, and St John’s College, Johannesburg, before studying medicine at Witwatersrand University. After qualifying, he completed intern posts in medicine and surgery at Johannesburg Hospital and went to England to specialise in surgery. He did a series of house jobs at Derbyshire Royal Infirmary and the Birmingham Accident Hospital, and passed the FRCS in 1958. He was then a registrar in orthopaedics at the Hammersmith Hospital, working partly in Hammersmith and partly at the Ascot Infirmary. Returning to South Africa, he held registrar appointments in the orthopaedic department of Johannesburg Hospital and was registered as an orthopaedic specialist in 1963. He entered private practice in 1964, while continuing to hold part-time appointments at the Johannesburg and Germiston hospitals, and the Johannesburg branch of the General Mining Hospital Group. He married Joyce Grimes in 1957. They had two girls (Irene Alison and Jennifer Anne) and two boys (John Brian and Robert Victor). Victor Cullum was a keen dinghy sailor and a member of the South African Racing Yacht Association. He and his wife undertook a circumnavigation of Africa during the summer months of 1991, 1992 and 1993. He died on 26 May 2008.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000571
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
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First Title value, for Searching Sahoy, Ronald Rabindranath (1940 - 2008)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2008-11-14 2009-05-01
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Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000500-E000599
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372755372755
Occupation Cardiothoracic surgeon General surgeon
Details Ronald Sahoy was a pioneering cardiothoracic and general surgeon in the Caribbean. He was born on 3 January 1940, in Essequibo, British Guiana (now Guyana). His father was Kunandan Ramdial Sahoy, a business man who owned a trucking service, and his mother was Baidwattee née Narayan, who had worked as a clerk in the civil service in London in the sixties. Ronald was educated at the Modern Educational Institute, which had been founded by a cousin, Ongkar Narayan, the Central High School, Guyana, and Queen’s College, Guyana, where he won the Guyana Government intercollegiate scholarship. He studied medicine at the University of the West Indies, where he qualified in 1965, winning the Wilson-James surgery prize. He completed internships at the University Hospital of the West Indies in general surgery and general medicine and cardiology, followed by a senior house officer post in general and cardiothoracic surgery and a casualty officer post. He then did a general surgical rotation for two years, from which he won a Commonwealth scholarship in 1969, which took him to London to study for the FRCS. In 1970 he was clinical assistant to Norman Tanner at St James’s Hospital, Balham. Having passed the FRCS, he returned to the University Hospital of the West Indies, where he was a senior registrar in general and cardiothoracic surgery for the next three years. In 1973 he became a consultant surgeon to the National Chest Hospital, formerly the George V Memorial Hospital. There he headed the cardiothoracic team. In 1976 he entered private practice at the Medical Associates Hospital, where he was the senior surgeon and medical director. He married Pauline Rohini Samuels in 1965. Their two sons both became airline pilots. He died suddenly on 6 April 2008.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000572
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
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First Title value, for Searching Pheils, Murray Theodore (1917 - 2006)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2008-11-21
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Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000500-E000599
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372756372756
Occupation General surgeon
Details Murray Pheils was professor of surgery at the University of Sydney. He was born in Birmingham on 2 December 1917, the younger of the two sons of Elmer Theodore Pheils, an osteopath, and Lilian Mary née Cole. His father Elmer was a colourful character: he was born in Toledo, Ohio, and trained as an osteopath under George Still, the founder of that profession, subsequently qualifying in medicine from Ohio. He went to London in 1907, and soon built up a successful practice, including among his patients George Bernard Shaw and Queen Elizabeth (later the Queen Mother), who he cured of torticollis by massage. Despite early hostility, he was widely accepted by regular members of the profession, and insisted that both his sons went to medical school. Murray was seven when Shaw became his father’s patient and soon got to know the great man well, describing their friendship in ‘Thank you Mr Shaw’ (*Brit med J* 1994 309 1724-1726). Murray Pheils was educated at Leighton Park School and followed his elder brother to Queens’ College, Cambridge, before going on to St Thomas’ Hospital for his clinical training. There he was influenced by B C Maybury, B W Williams, R H O B Robinson and T W Mimpriss. After qualifying, he was house surgeon and casualty officer at St Thomas’ and St Peter’s, Chertsey, before joining the RAMC in 1942. There he served in Africa and in the South East Asia Command and rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel. Whilst still on the house at St Thomas’ he married Unity Louise McCaughey, who came from a family long established in New South Wales. Her grandfather Sir Samuel McCaughey had set up the Murrumbidgee irrigation scheme which transformed agriculture in New South Wales. After the war, Murray obtained an ex-serviceman’s registrar post at St Thomas’ and then held further general surgery and urology posts at St Thomas’ and St Peter’s. In 1951 he was appointed as a consultant at St Peter’s, having obtained his Cambridge MChir. He became a very successful surgeon with a lucrative private practice, particularly after the Nuffield Private Hospital was built and opened. However, as the years passed Murray became restive – he had always wanted a teaching hospital post but, because of his late arrival back from the Far East after the war and, by that stage, having three young mouths to feed and educate, he had to take the post at Chertsey. Following a trip out to Australia in 1965, Murray had renewed his friendship with John Lowenthal, who was chairman of the Sydney University department of surgery. He was informed that there was to be a teaching department established at the Repatriation Hospital at Concord and they were looking for a mature surgeon to run the new teaching department. Murray returned to the UK, saw the post advertised, applied and was appointed to start in mid 1966. He rapidly made his mark not only as a clinician but also as a teacher. Casualties were being received from the Australian Forces in Vietnam. The condition of the evacuees was very poor and the whole process needed urgent attention as preventable deaths were all too common. Murray went to the Army hospital at Ingleburn and triaged the evacuees so they were transferred to an appropriate hospital for treatment. Furthermore, surgical teams of senior registrars and junior consultants were sent to Vietnam to improve the standard of care. With the backing of his colleagues, Murray was instrumental in transforming the management of the Australian Vietnam War casualties. His Second World War experience was invaluable in this respect. He became a full professor in 1973 and chairman of the university department in 1979. As the Concord department grew and evolved (the hospital became an acute hospital), so Murray’s department developed a special interest in bowel cancer. He published extensively on colorectal cancer, as well as writing a landmark paper on ischaemic colitis with Adrian Marston and others. He also published on abdominal actinomycosis, vesicocolic fistula and cholecystitis. He set up the section of colon and rectal surgery at the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons and endowed the Murray and Unity Pheils travel fellowship. Until he was over 80 he had a medico-legal practice in Sydney. He was a consultant to the New South Wales Law Reform Commission on informed decisions about medical procedures. He continued his interest in the Army, as a colonel in the RAAMC and as a consultant surgeon to the Australian Army. Outside surgery, he had a keen interest in his family and that of his wife, and wrote *The Return to Coree: the rise and fall of a pastoral dynasty* (St Leonards, New South Wales, Allen & Unwin, 1998). He died on 19 December 2006, leaving his wife, Unity, two sons (Michael Murray and Peter John) and two daughters (Diana and Johanna). Peter John Pheils is a consultant surgeon in Broadstairs, Kent.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000573
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
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First Title value, for Searching Auden, Rita Romola (1942 - 2008)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2008-12-05
JPEG Image
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000500-E000599
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372757372757
Occupation General surgeon
Details Rita Auden was a surgeon at the London Hospital, until mental illness forced her to abandon her career. She was born in Simla, India, on 22 August 1942. Her father, John Bicknell Auden, was a geologist with the Geological Survey of India, and the last European to be appointed to the permanent cadre of the Survey. His brother, Wystan, was the poet W H Auden. Her paternal grandfather was George Augustus Auden, a physician who became the first school medical officer in Birmingham and professor of public health at Birmingham University. He liked to quote an aphorism that a doctor should “care more for the individual patient than for the special features of his disease” and that “healing is not a science but an intuitive art of wooing nature”, ideas which influenced his family, including Rita. Rita’s mother was the painter Sheila Bonnerjee. She trained at the Oriental School of Art in Calcutta and the Central School of Art in London, and had various exhibitions in Calcutta and Bombay. Some of her work was exhibited in Paris. Her father, R C Bonnerjee, had read Greats at Balliol and then practised as a barrister in Calcutta. Sheila’s grandfather was W C Bonnerjee, a leading Indian barrister at the Calcutta High Court and the first president of the Indian National Congress. Calcutta in the 1940s was an interesting and cosmopolitan place, and Rita’s parents had a wide circle of friends, including journalists, artists, diplomats and businessmen. The Auden family lived in a flat in Lansdowne Road with Sheila Bonnerjee’s sister Minnie and her husband Lindsay Emmerson. Summer holidays were occasionally spent in Darjeeling at Point Clear, a house on the Jalaphar Road which belonged to an aunt. The children were sometimes taken to festivals by their bearer, ‘Mouse’, where the brightly painted statues garlanded with flowers would be carried to the Hooghly river and then left to float away. In 1951 the girls left India to be educated in England, travelling via the island of Ischia, where they stayed with their uncle Wystan. They initially went to school at the Convent of the Holy Child of Jesus in Edgbaston, Birmingham, near their grandfather George Augustus Auden, who lived in Repton. Later, when their mother settled in London, they went to More House, a Catholic day school, initially in South Kensington. Rita then went to Cambridge to do science A levels, as More House did not offer science teaching. Influenced perhaps by memories of the poverty and disease of Calcutta, she decided to choose medicine as a career, going to St Anne’s in Oxford in 1959 and then the London Hospital Medical College. There she stood out for her striking beauty and daunting intelligence, winning praises from all her chiefs and gaining the Andrew Clark prize in clinical medicine. After qualifying, she became house physician to Lawson McDonald and Wallace Brigden and then house surgeon to Clive Butler and Alan Parks, who all found her outstanding. She went on to win the Hallett prize for the primary FRCS. She was senior house officer in casualty in 1969, and then spent two years doing research with Charles Mann, before returning to the surgical unit. During this time she took study leave at the Mayo Clinic and spent a year in Belfast, where she gained experience with gun-shot injuries, and a year in Vietnam, seeking always to meet fresh challenges in the most dangerous and difficult situations. It was the same when she took a vacation: she thought nothing of spending a month going down the Amazon accompanied only by tribesmen. She returned to the London as a clinical assistant on the surgical unit in 1974 under David Ritchie, one of a group of exceptional young people, four of whom had been Hallett prize winners. There she showed herself to be an excellent organiser, a competent operator and a kind and caring doctor. When the time came for her to enter for an appointment as senior registrar to J E (Sam) Richardson in 1976, it was agreed that she was the outstanding candidate even though her appointment was vehemently opposed by the senior surgeon. Within a year however he had completely changed his opinion, saying she was the best senior registrar he had ever had. Indeed, so strongly did he advocate her further promotion that at his retirement dinner in 1981 he announced that Rita was to be appointed as a consultant. This was strongly opposed by some within the department. In the event she was appointed as a senior lecturer on the surgical unit, with consultant status. In 1984 she became ill and had a breakdown. At first Rita declined the offer of expert help, but within a few weeks she was sectioned and treated as an inpatient. After some three months it was thought she was fit to return to work, but unfortunately soon after her return she deteriorated again and had to be readmitted to a psychiatric unit. She resigned in 1987. She led a full life after her retirement. Until their deaths, she lived with her parents in Thurloe Square and her medical skills and instinct for care meant that neither had to go into a home, despite ill health. She also cared for and supported her wider family and friends, including her sister Anita, her nephew Otto and her aunt Anila Graham, who suffered a series of strokes. She would visit people in hospital even if this meant travelling up to Yorkshire. She was extremely interested in and concerned about the people around her, and would recount stories about her 90 year old neighbour who still drove a car and spent holidays in France, her Italian hairdresser, her Polish cleaner, and the regulars she would chat to in the local coffee shop. Her observations made them all the more human. While still an undergraduate she had met Peter Mudford, an English scholar at Christ Church who later lectured in English and European literature at Birkbeck College, London, eventually becoming a professor emeritus. They married in 1965 and divorced in 1985, though they kept very much in touch until her death. Because of her family and educational background her interests ranged widely. She used to play the piano and listen to music. She liked gardens and used to go to talks at the British Museum. She also regularly did crosswords and had a penchant for detective stories, tastes shared by her mother and her uncle Wystan. She died on 3 January 2008. Her family and friends will miss the special quality of her presence and her sense of humour and her sensitivity to the quirks and oddities of life.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000574
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
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First Title value, for Searching Seyal, Nur Ahmad Khan (1920 - 2008)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Masud Seyal
Publication Date 2008-12-05 2008-12-12
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000500-E000599
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372758372758
Occupation Obstetric and gynaecological surgeon Obstetrician and gynaecologist
Details Nur Ahmad Khan Seyal was professor of obstetrics and gynaecology and a former principal of King Edward Medical College, Lahore, Pakistan. He was born on 16 July 1920 and received his early education in his home town of Jhang (Punjab). In 1936 he went to study medicine at Glancy Medical College, Amritsar, qualifying in 1940. He then went to Iran, in 1942, and joined the medical department of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company in Abadan. Over a period of ten years he held various surgical appointments in the 500-bed Abadan Hospital and gradually rose to the status of a consulting surgeon. During this time he twice spent time in the UK, gaining his FRCS in 1951. A year later, in 1952, he returned to Pakistan, where he was appointed clinical assistant to the professor of obstetrics and gynaecology at the King Edward Medical College, Lahore. In 1954, when Nishtar Medical College was established in Multan, Seyal was selected to take up the new chair of obstetrics and gynaecology, the first professorial appointment on the clinical side. He went on to establish a department that was recognised as “outstanding” by Sir Hector MacLennan, president of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, who visited in 1961. C M Gwillim, professor of obstetrics and gynaecology at St George’s Hospital Medical School, London, also visited the hospital and recognized the department as easily comparable to the best abroad, and called Seyal’s devotion to duty “saintly”. In 1967 N A Seyal was appointed as professor of midwifery and gynaecology at King Edward Medical College and medical superintendent of Lady Willingdon Hospital Lahore. He completely reorganised the hospital and very markedly improved the clinical facilities available there. He took over as principal of the King Edward Medical College in 1969 and reorganised the teaching programme and formulated a number of schemes for the improvement of this premier institution. Seyal was nominated as a founder fellow of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Pakistan in 1962, and was elected to serve on its council. He was also a member of the Pakistan Medical Research Council for over six years. In recognition of his service to the medical profession, the government of Pakistan awarded him the Tamgha-i-Imtiaz, followed by the Sitara-i-Khidmat. After his retirement, Seyal was involved in the establishment of the Fatima Memorial Hospital and was the leading consultant for obstetrics and gynaecology. He retired to California in the early 1980s to be closer to his children. He died on 19 July 2008, just after his 88th birthday. He is survived by his wife (Iran Shafazand Seyal), his sons (Masud Seyal, professor of neurology at the University of California, Davis, and Mahmood Seyal, a business executive) and by his daughters (Mahnaz Ahmad, a scholar, and Farnaz Seyal Shah, a psychologist). He had seven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000575
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
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First Title value, for Searching Travers, Benjamin (1783 - 1858)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Banister, George (1819 - 1884)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Bankart, James (1834 - 1902)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Banks, Sir William Mitchell (1842 - 1904)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2009-11-11
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Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000700-E000799
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372931372931
Occupation General surgeon
Details Born at Edinburgh on Nov 1st, 1842, the son of Peter S Banks, Writer to the Signet. He received his early education at Edinburgh Academy and passed from there to the University of Edinburgh. Graduated MD with honours, and won the Gold Medal for his thesis on the Wolffian bodies in 1864. Acted for a time as Prosector to Professor John Goodsir and later as Demonstrator of Anatomy under Professor Allen Thomson at the University of Glasgow. Served as dresser and as House Surgeon to James Syme (qv) at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, and visited Paraguay to act as Surgeon to the Republican Government. He became assistant to E R Bickersteth (qv) at Liverpool in 1868 in succession to Reginald Harrison (qv), and joined the staff of the Infirmary School of Medicine, first as Demonstrator and afterwards as Lecturer on Anatomy. This post he retained with the title of Professor when the Infirmary School was merged in University College, Liverpool. He resigned the Chair in 1894 and was then honoured with the title of Emeritus Professor of Anatomy. Meanwhile, having served the offices of Pathologist and Curator of the Museum, he succeeded Reginald Harrison as Assistant Surgeon to the Royal Infirmary, Liverpool, in 1875, served as full Surgeon from 1877 till Nov, 1902, when he resigned and was appointed Consulting Surgeon. The Committee of the Infirmary paid him the unique compliment of assigning him ten beds in his former wards. Mitchell Banks was the first representative of the Victoria University on the General Medical Council, and was a Member of the Council of the Royal College of Surgeons of England from 1890-1896. He was one of the founders of the Liverpool Biological Association and was elected the first President. He was placed on the Commission of the Peace as JP of Liverpool in 1892 and in 1899 he received the honour of knighthood. He was an honorary LLD of Edinburgh. He married in 1874 Elizabeth Rathbone, daughter of John Elliot, a merchant of Liverpool, and by her had two sons, one of whom survived him. He died suddenly at Aix-la-Chapelle on Aug 9th, 1904, whilst travelling home from Homburg, and was buried in the Smithdown Road Cemetery in Liverpool. Mitchell Banks deserves recognition both as a surgeon and as an organizer. The modern operation for removal of the cancerous breast is largely due to his practice and advocacy. He recommended, in the face of strenuous opposition, an extensive operation that should include removal of the axillary glands when most surgeons were contented with local amputation. He drew attention to his method in 1878 and made it the topic of the Lettsomian Lectures at the Medical Society of London in 1900. As an organizer he formed one of the band who built up the fortunes of the Medical School at Liverpool. Finding it a provincial school at a very low ebb, Banks and his associates raised it by dint of hard work first to the rank of a medical college and, finally, to that of a well-equipped medical faculty forming part of a modern university. The plan involved the rebuilding of the infirmary, and Banks was a member of the medical deputation which, with characteristic thoroughness, visited many continental hospitals to study their design and equipment before the foundation stone of the Liverpool building was laid in 1887. Mitchell Banks had a sound knowledge of the history of medicine. His collection of early medical works was sold in seventy-eight lots by Messrs Sotheby, Wilkinson and Hodge in June, 1906. He wrote good English in a pleasant style, as may be seen in “The Gentle Doctor”, a scholarly address to the students of the Yorkshire College at Leeds in Oct, 1892, and in “Physic and Letters”, the Annual Oration delivered before the Medical Society of London in May, 1893. His portrait, painted by the Hon John Collier, was presented to him by his colleagues and students, when he retired from active duties at University College, Liverpool. “The William Mitchell Banks Lectureship” in the University of Liverpool was founded and endowed by his fellow-citizens in his memory in 1905. Publications:- A paper dealing with a more extensive operation in cases of cancer of the breast appeared in the *Liverpool and Manchester Medical and Surgical Reports*, 1878, 192. *Some Results of the Operative Treatment of Cancer of the Breast*, Edinburgh, 1882. *The Gentle Doctor*, Liverpool, 1893. *Physic and Letters*, Liverpool, 1893.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000748
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
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First Title value, for Searching Banner, John Maurice ( - 1863)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Barclay, Wilfred Martin (1863 - 1903)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Barendt, Frank Hugh (1861 - 1926)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Barker, Arthur Edward James (1850 - 1916)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2009-11-11
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000700-E000799
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372935372935
Occupation General surgeon
Details Born in Dublin, the son of Dr William Barker. Studied medicine at the Medical School of the College of Surgeons, Dublin, and later at the University of Bonn, where he acquired a written and spoken knowledge of German as well as of French, which was of primary importance to him. Indeed, his first distinction came through his translation of the *Histologie und Histochemie des Menschen* by Professor Heinrich Frey, of Zurich. The work, first published in 1859, was illustrated by many woodcuts by Kölliker, much in advance of anything published before, and had been recommended to Barker by his teacher, Professor Max Schultze. The translation was published in 1874 and Barker’s preface is in a style characteristic of his subsequent writing. He was then living in Hume Street, Dublin, and was Surgeon to the City of Dublin Hospital, Demonstrator of Anatomy at the College of Surgeons, and Visiting Surgeon to the Convalescent Home at Stillorgan. Barker’s appointment at the age of 25 to the post of Assistant Surgeon at University College Hospital, London, in 1875, was out of the ordinary in that he had not passed the FRCS England, nor, indeed, did he qualify FRCSI, until the following year, 1876. Moreover, he received the FRCS England, in 1880 ad eundem. These occurrences have not repeated themselves. None the less, time, as it passed, showed Barker to be a leader of surgery in his day, fortified by his acquaintance with German surgery during its particularly flourishing period. University College Hospital was then the centre of Listerian surgery in London, from which Barker, following German surgeons (*see under* Bergmann, E von) began to deviate by using salicylic wool, perchloride of mercury, and adopting the so-called aseptic methods. The following is a selection in order of date from among Barker’s great surgical achievements during forty years: In 1880 he removed the kidney for a malignant tumour through an abdominal incision in a woman aged 21; the tumour had been noticed for eight months. The patient died of pulmonary embolism on the second day, after which it was found that the operation had been well performed, but there were secondary growths in the lungs the size of nuts. Barker referred in detail to Simon’s recently published monograph, including the record of twenty-eight cases, half of which had recovered and half had died. In clinical lectures in 1885 and 1889, he described further renal operations. In 1883 he rewrote articles in the third edition of the *System of Surgery* by Holmes and Hulke, on “Diseases of Joints”, “Diseases of the Spine”, and “Diseases of the Tongue”. In this last article there is a full account, with histological drawings, of leukoplakia, already recognized as a precursor of epithelioma. In 1886 he described four cases of removal of deep-seated tumours of the neck, which a few years before would have been held to be incurable. One case was probably an instance of an accessory thyroid, the others enlarged and tuberculous lymphatic glands. Also in 1886 he was the first to perform gastroenterostomy in London, and that successfully, for cancer of the pylorus in a woman aged 57, using the anterior method, the jejunum being turned over towards the right from its commencement. The patient survived for just over a year. In 1898 he noted that he had adopted von Hacker’s posterior gastrojejunostomy. In 1887 he published *A Short Manual of Surgical Operations*, illustrated by his own drawings, a capital résumé of the subject at that date. He was called upon at the hospital to examine and treat cases of ear disease before the institution of a special department, and this gave him opportunities for extending surgical measures beyond the opening of abscesses over the mastoid process after fluctuation had been detected. He had noted and explained anatomically the extension of suppuration from the middle ear to the temporomandibular joint. In four cases he trephined the mastoid antrum and drained the middle ear, so that in one case optic neuritis disappeared. In a case under Sir William R Gowers he first cleared out the disease from the middle ear and antrum, then trephined and drained a temporosphenoidal abscess. This appears to be the first case in which a cerebral abscess, due to tympanic suppuration, had been correctly diagnosed, localized, and then evacuated by operation, with complete success. Barker published a similar case in 1888, and his experience in this branch of surgery formed the subject of his Hunterian Lectures in 1889 on “Intracranial Inflammations Starting in the Temporal Bone”. To Barker is due the chief credit for establishing in this country the early diagnosis and immediate operation upon cases of intussusception. Previously there had been delay in making a definite diagnosis, and attempts at reduction by distending with water the bowel below the intussusception were generally disastrous failures. Barker saw the patient, a boy aged 4, twelve hours after the onset of the symptoms. He first distended the bowel with water until the tumour became imperceptible; five hours later he operated, reduced the intussusception, and the boy recovered. The table of cases showed how unsuccessful had been laparotomy done late in the case. He also operated successfully on the other variety of intussusception, that caused by a new growth in the rectum. Further reports on intussusception were published in 1894, 1897, and 1903 – the last in German. On the subject of active surgical interference with tuberculous disease of the hip- and knee-joint at an early stage Barker was led into error by following German authorities. In evidence of this, note the list at the end of his third Hunterian Lecture in 1888. He was quite right in substituting the term ‘tuberculous’ in place of the indefinite ‘strumous’ used, e.g., by Howard Marsh (qv) in his *Diseases of Joints*, 1886; but the getting rid of a disease which, however it had got there, had become completely localized in the joint, by removing the interior of the joint at a surgical operation, was an erroneous assumption. Howard Marsh stated the experience gained at the Alexandra Hospital for Hip Disease in favour of prolonged rest under good conditions, together with any surgical measures as restricted as possible. There followed increased support of Marsh’s contention, and great advances have occurred in combination with fresh air and sunlight. In 1887 Barker described thirty-five cases in which he had undertaken the radical cure of hernia, just at the time when that operation was coming into general use. He introduced improvement, including the removal of the neck of the hernial sac at its junction with the peritoneum. By 1898 he had operated upon 200 cases with three deaths. He had modified his earlier procedure to that of Bassini’s “as the best operation of any yet devised”. He used hard twisted Chinese silk, boiled in 5 per cent of carbolic acid; in 21 of the 200 there were reports that silk knots had worked out. In 1892, and again in 1896, he described his method of applying a ‘subcutaneous suture’ to bring together a recent fracture of the patella. His second report confirmed his primary experience, but in other hands and even in the earliest cases it proved difficult to get the fractured surfaces into apposition with none of the aponeurosis intervening. Hence with increasing certainty as to asepsis, the open operation continued the standard method. He published in 1895 two cases illustrating obliteration of psoas abscesses after one washing out, scraping, and closure without drainage. His flushing spoon was adopted as most useful and convenient, the actual scraping of the inside of a psoas abscess being practically omitted. The closure without drainage had the advantage over that of Lister’s success in draining, that there was no chance of secondary infection through the drainage tube. Barker gave great attention to detail in the designing of instruments and apparatus, and in carrying out exact asepsis, as well as in the use of local anaesthesia. In 1898 he published the description of the ‘sewing machine needle’ for the introduction of sutures whether intestinal or cutaneous. A reel of silk, after sterilization by boiling, was fixed on the handle of the instrument, so that the reel could be turned to pay out or wind up the thread by the thumb. The needle was held at right angles to the handle, threaded from the reel. It could thus be used for passing interrupted sutures, by cutting the thread beyond the needle. Strictly speaking it lacked the sewing-machine shuttle carrying the under thread and moving at the same time as the needle armed with the upper thread. Barker passed the needle well through, drew it back a little to form a loop, and then with his left thumb and finger passed the free end of the thread through the loop – to make a continuous looped stitch. Practice with both hands was necessary, and also practise in regulating the tightness of the stitch. In describing his sewing-machine needed he noted silk as the thread, but in 1902 he adopted linen sewing-machine thread for ligatures and sutures. In 1899 Barker gave a “Clinical Lecture and Demonstration on Local Analgesia” “which has of late been practised in many parts of the world”, using 1-1000 eucain ß in normal saline solution. He continued in subsequent years to make reports of improvements in technique. In 1907 he published a full description of spinal analgesia in 100 cases by injecting stovaine. In the following year a further series exhibited improvement by the addition of 5 per cent glucose to increase the density and limit the spread of the fluid. The Obituary Notice in the *British Journal of Surgery* said: “The profession in this country is deeply indebted to him for the share which he took in promoting the subject, and for recording his work with sufficient detail to enable others to practise the method with a great measure of success”. Of all the Clinical Lectures which Barker published none was better, and bears re-reading with greater advantage, than that delivered in 1906, entitled, “The Hands of Surgeons and Assistants in Operations”. The title does not cover all the ground. He commenced: “We have now arrived at an era in which we may claim to know a great deal about septic processes”, and he proceeded to summarize half a dozen possible avenues of infection where operations are undertaken: access from the patient’s own body; access from without, from his skin, from the atmosphere, from the instruments employed in making the wound and in its treatment, ligatures, swabs and dressings, and in addition to the “Hands of Surgeons and Assistants, their Clothes and Breath”. No surgeon spent more of his time and his attention over the technique of the surgeon. In the Address on Surgery at the Belfast Meeting of the British Medical Association in 1909, he reviewed in particular the advances made in intestinal surgery in which he had taken such a great part, including a definition of the protective power of the peritoneum, the faculty possessed by the intestinal coats in health of preventing migration of micro-organisms and the loss of this faculty as a consequence of disease and accident, the wider choice of anaesthetics, the success in removing malignant disease of the colon. In 1914, in apparently his last communication, he returned to the subject of leukoplakia which he had described so ably forty-one years before in the Holmes and Hulke *Surgery*. A charming and witty conversationalist, Barker was not a lively speaker. As a teacher he was at his best when discussing and explaining some subject in which at the time he was particularly interested. When lecturing he was apt to deal in allusions and to get above the level of his hearers. He examined at the Universities of London and Manchester, but he seemed to find it difficult to maintain rigorously his attention upon an exacting task. He had acted as Consulting Surgeon to the Queen Alexandra Hospital, Millbank, and to the Obsborn Convalescent Home for Officers. At the outbreak of the War he served as Colonel AMS, at Netley, next at Malta, and then at Salonika. He died there of pneumonia on April 8th, 1916. He practised at 144 Harley Street. A portrait appears in the *British Journal of Surgery*. By his marriage in 1880 to Emilie Blanche, daughter of Mr Julius Delmege, of Rathkeale, Co Limerick, he had issue two sons and four daughters. In the midst of all his work he had great anxiety even during the last days of his life. The younger son died of acute ear disease. The elder, after entering the Army, developed signs of chronic bilateral pulmonary tuberculosis, for which he was invalided. He rejoined six weeks before the outbreak of War, was wounded and taken prisoner. During this time the tuberculosis again became active. On his release after his father’s death the disease was held in check until an attack of bronchopneumonia proved fatal. Publications:- *The Histology and Histo-chemistry of Man*, by Heinrich Frey, translated from the 4th German edition by A E J Baker, 1874. “Nephrectomy by Abdominal Section” – *Med.-Chir. Trans.*, 1880, lxiii, 181; also “Clinical Lectures Illustrating cases of Renal Surgery.” – Lancet, 1885, i, 93, 141; 1889, i, 418, 466. Holmes and Hulke, *System of Surgery*, 3rd ed, 1883, ii. “On the Removal of Deepseated Tumours of the Neck.” – *Lancet*, 1886, i, 194. “A Case of Gastro-enterostomy for Cancer of the Pylorus and Stomach.” – *Brit. Med. Jour.*, 1886, i, 292, 618; also *The Surgical Affections of the Stomach and their Treatment*, 1898. *A Short Manual of Surgical Operations*, 1887. Erichsen and Beck, *Science and Art of Surgery*, 8th ed. 1884, ii, 600. Gowers and Barker, *Brit. Med. Jour.*, 1886, ii, 1154; 1888, i, 777. “Hunterian Lectures on Intracranial Inflammation Starting in the Temporal Bone, their Complications and Treatment.” – *Illust. Med. News*, London, 1889, iv, 10, 35, 63, 82, 108. “A Case of Intussusception of the Caecum, Treated by Abdominal Section with Success.” –*Lancet*, 1888, ii, 201, 262. “A Case of Intussusception of the Upper End of the Rectum due to Obstruction by a New Growth. Excision with Suture. Recovery.” – *Med.-Chir. Trans.*, 1887, lxx, 335. “Cases of Acute Intussusception in Children.” – *Brit. Med. Jour*., 1894 , i, 345. “Fifteen Consecutive Cases of Acute Intussusception with Appendix of all Cases at University College Hospital.” – *Trans. Clin. Soc. Lond*., 1897-8, xxxi, 58. “Zur Casuistik des Darm-Invagination.” – *Arch. f. klin. Chir*., 1903, lxxi, 147. “Three Lectures on Tubercular Joint Disease and its Treatment by Operation.” – *Lancet*, 1888, i, 1202, 1259, 1322. “Diseases of Joints” in Treves’ *System of Surgery*, 1896. “Operation for the Cure of Non-strangulated Hernia.” – *Brit. Med. Jour.*, 1887, ii, 1203; 1890, i, 840; 1898, ii, 712. “Permanent Subcutaneous Suture of the Patella for Recent Fracture.” – *Brit. Med. Jour.*, 1892, i, 425; 1896, i, 963. “Two Cases Illustrating Obliteration of Psoas Abscesses after one Washing out and Scraping and Closure without Drainage.” – *Trans. Clin. Soc.*, 1895, xxviii, 301. “Sewing Machine Needle.” – *Brit. Med. Jour.*, 1898, ii, 148. “A Short Note on the Use of Linen Sewing Machine Thread for Ligatures and Sutures.” –*Lancet*, 1902, i, 1465. “Clinical Lecture and Demonstration on Local Analgesia.” – *Lancet*, 1899, i, 282; 1900, i, 156; 1903, ii, 203. “A Report on Clinical Experiences with Spinal Analgesia.” – *Brit. Med. Jour.*, 1907, i, 665; 1908, i, 244. “Clinical Lecture on the Hands of Surgeons and Assistants at Operations.” – *Lancet*, 1906, i, 345. “Progress in Intestinal Surgery.” – Address on Surgery at the Belfast Meeting of the British Medical Association. – *Brit. Med. Jour*., 1909, ii, 263. “Leukoplakia.” – *Practitioner*, 1914, xciii, 176.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000752
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
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First Title value, for Searching Barker, Daniel ( - 1866)

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First Title value, for Searching Barker, Edgar ( - 1874)

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First Title value, for Searching Barker, Edward (1818 - 1885)

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First Title value, for Searching Barker, John ( - 1884)

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by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2009-11-11 2013-08-06
Unknown
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Occupation General surgeon
Details Received his professional training at the London Hospital and was the sixth John Barker in direct succession who practised at Coleshill, near Birmingham. One of these, a John Barker (1708-1748?) published a controversial paper, printed at Salisbury in 1743, "On the Nature, Cause and Cure of the Present Epidemic Fever", and, in 1747, "An Essay on the Agreement betwixt Ancient and Modern Physicians". The essay was translated into French by Ralph Schomberg, and published at Amsterdam (12mo) in 1749. A revised edition by M Lorry appeared at Paris in 1768. His medical and miscellaneous works were afterwards published in two volumes. John Barker, FRCS, died on or after Nov 1st, 1884. His only son, John Barker, was thrown from his pony and killed on Sept 10th, 1874. The name died out and the practice was carried on by Dr Venn G Webb. The College possesses an enlarged photograph of John Barker, FRCS presented by Dr Webb in 1926.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000756
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
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First Title value, for Searching Barker, Thomas Herbert (1814 - 1865)

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First Title value, for Searching Barker, Walter Goodyear (1818 - 1868)

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First Title value, for Searching Barker, Walter Rice Howell (1810 - 1889)

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First Title value, for Searching Barlow, Joshua (1820 - 1867)

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First Title value, for Searching Barlow, William Frederick (1817 - 1853)

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First Title value, for Searching Barnard, Harold Leslie (1868 - 1908)

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First Title value, for Searching Barnes, Alfred Brook (1804 - 1867)

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by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2009-11-11 2013-08-07
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000700-E000799
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372946372946
Occupation General surgeon
Details Apprenticed to Richard Cremer, of Chelmsford, before he entered Guy's and St Thomas's Hospitals in the time of Astley Cooper and of Addison. First practised at Ingatestone, Essex, removed to Chelsea in 1820, practising for many years at 19 Manor Place, King's Road. There he was instrumental in founding the Western Medical and Surgical Society, also the West London Eye Infirmary, to which he was surgeon. He was also Surgeon to the School of Discipline and to the Royal Manor Hall Asylum for Young Females. He died before the year 1867.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000763
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
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First Title value, for Searching Barnes, Christopher Hewetson (1801 - 1875)

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First Title value, for Searching Barnes, John Wickham (1830 - 1899)

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First Title value, for Searching Sen, Adosh Kumar (1942 - 2005)

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by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2006-01-19
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URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372369372369
Occupation General surgeon
Details Adosh Sen was a surgeon based in New Delhi, India. He was born in Dalhousie, India, on 27 June 1942. His father, Santosh Kumar Sen, a surgeon, and his mother, Sita Sen, a gynaecologist, had founded the celebrated Dr Sen’s Nursing Home, in New Delhi. He was educated at the Modern School, Barakhamba Road, New Delhi, where he excelled in sport, particularly swimming. He did his premedical studies at the Hindu College, before going on to study medicine at the Maulana Azad Medicel College, where he continued to swim, representing his state in the All India championship. After house jobs he went to England to specialise in surgery, and completed training posts at Rowley Bristow Orthopaedic Hospital, Pyrford, St Peter’s Hospital, Chertsey, and Barking General Hospital. He returned to India as a general surgeon in his father’s clinic in New Delhi. He married Rehana Tasadduq Hosain in 1969 in London, who had a masters degree in English and taught that subject in New Delhi. They had three sons, Ashish, Nikhil and Shirish, none of whom went into medicine. Sen continued to be a keen sportsman, his main sport being swimming, but he was also a keen follower of cricket. Among his many interests was education, and he was vice president of the Magic Years Educational Society, which promotes Montessori education, and served on the board of trustees of the Modern School and its many branches. He died on 18 April 2005.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000182
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
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First Title value, for Searching Shapland, Sir William Arthur (1912 - 1997)

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by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2006-01-19 2012-03-09
Unknown
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Occupation Accountant Philanthropist
Details Sir William Shapland, an honorary fellow of the College, was born on 20 October 1912, the son of Arthur Frederick Shapland and Alice Maud née Jackson. Educated at Tollington School, he joined the firm of Allen Charlesworth & Co, chartered accountants. He was given the responsibility of dealing with the accounts of John Blackwood Hodge & Co and Bernard Sunley & Sons, and, later, of advising the chairman, Bernard Sunley, a construction magnate. So valuable was his advice that, in 1946, he was invited to join the group as a non-executive director. In 1954 he became an executive director, succeeding Sunley as chairman of Blackwood Hodge ten years later. In 1960 he helped set up the Bernard Sunley Charitable Foundation, which distributes almost £3 million a year to good causes. Charities and institutions as varied as the Scout movement, Charing Cross Hospital and the Wild Fowl Trust have benefited. Among his many honours he was a Waynflete fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford, and honorary fellow of St Catherine's College, Oxford. He died on 1 October 1997, leaving his wife Madeleine and two daughters.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000183
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First Title value, for Searching Brodie, Sir Benjamin Collins (1783 - 1862)

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by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2005-07-28 2012-07-19
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Occupation Anatomist General surgeon
Details Was the fourth child of the Rev. Peter Bellinger Brodie, M.A., of Worcester College, Oxford, Rector of Winterslow, Wilts, by Sarah, daughter of Benjamin Collins, Banker and printer, of Milford, near Salisbury. The Brodies were originally a Morayshire clan, and the family was fortunate in relations. Dr. Denman, then the accoucheur, had married Brodie's aunt; Sir Richard Goff ['Goff' is crossed out, and the following added: Croft (Lady Croft & Mrs Baillie were Dr Denman's daughters)] had married a cousin; and Dr. Baillie, nephew of William and John Hunter, had married another cousin. Dr. Denman's son afterwards became Lord Chief Justice, and was well known as one of the advocates at the trial of Queen Caroline, whilst Peter Brodie, Benjamin's eldest brother, held a high position as a conveyancer. In 1797 Brodie and his brothers raised a company of volunteers at a time when a French invasion was much dreaded. He was privately educated by his father, and at the age of eighteen went up to London, devoting himself from the first to the study of anatomy. Brodie joined the medical profession without any special liking or bent for it, and in after-days he said he thought those best succeeded in professions who joined them, not from any irresistible prepossession, but rather from some accidental circumstance inducing them to persevere in their selected course either as a matter of duty or because they had nothing better to do. He rose to be the first surgeon in England, holding for many years a position similar to that once occupied by Sir Astley Cooper. Brodie had always a philosophical turn of mind. He learnt much at first from Abernethy, who arrested his pupils' attention so that it never flagged, and what he told them in his emphatic way never could be forgotten. Brodie used to say "that he had always kept in mind the saying of William Scott [afterwards Lord Stowell] to his brother John [subsequently Lord Eldon], 'John, always keep the Lord Chancellorship in view, and you will be sure to get it in the end.'" And a similar aim and distinction were Brodie's. In 1801 and 1802 he attended the lectures of James Wilson at the Hunterian School in Great Windmill Street, where he worked hard at dissection. It was about this time that he formed what proved a lifelong friendship with William Lawrence (q.v.). In 1803 Brodie became a pupil of Sir Everard Home at St. George's Hospital, and was successively appointed House Surgeon and Demonstrator to the Anatomical School, after which he was Home's assistant in his private operations and researches in comparative anatomy, and he did much work for him at the College Museum. "The latter employment," says Mr. Timothy Holmes (q.v.) in his *Life of Brodie*, "was of critical importance for Brodie in several ways - chiefly because it obliged him to work on scientific subjects, and thus prevented a too exclusive devotion to the pursuit of practical surgery. We cannot be wrong in attributing to this cause mainly his connection with the Royal Society, and the many-sidedness of his intellectual activities." At the College he came into contact with Clift, and, through Home, became an intimate in the learned coterie of Sir Joseph Banks, President of the Royal Society, and the chief link between distinguished men of science of two centuries. Brodie still diligently pursued his anatomical studies at the Windmill Street School, where he first demonstrated for, and then lectured conjointly with, James Wilson until 1812. In 1808, before he was twenty-five, he was elected Assistant Surgeon at St. George's, thus relieving Home of some part of his duties. Brodie remained in this position fourteen years, and his "regular attendance at the hospital was an immense improvement, in the interests both of the patients and the students, on the practice obtaining in the metropolitan hospitals of that day". All through life Brodie was consumed with the rage for work which his father had originally instilled into him. So devoted was he to every phase of his duties that he found no time to travel, only once visiting France for a month and often going without a summer holiday. His very recreations were arduously intellectual. Thus he took a leading part in the life of various learned societies - the Academical Society, banished to London from Oxford in the French revolutionary epoch, the Society for the Promotion of Medical and Chirurgical Knowledge, the Royal Medico-Chirurgical Society, of which he was President in 1839 and 1840. He contributed several valuable papers to the last-named society, and at its meetings he stimulated discussion, and had always something of interest to say. Elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1810, he soon communicated a paper "On the Influence of the Brain on the Action of the Heart and the Generation of Animal Heat", and another "On the Effects produced by certain Vegetable Poisons (Alcohol, Tobacco, Woorara)". The first paper, the subject of which he doubtless derived from John Hunter, formed the Croonian Lecture: the two papers taken together won him the Copley Medal in 1811, an honour never before bestowed on so young a man. In 1809 Brodie entered upon private practice, and in 1822 became full Surgeon at St. George's Hospital, from which time forward his career was one of ever-increasing success. He became a Member in 1805, a Fellow in 1843, and from 1819 to 1823 he was Professor of Anatomy, Physiology, and Surgery at the College. He lectured upon the Organs of Digestion, Respiration, and Circulation, and on the Nervous System, the most interesting of his discourses being upon "Death from Drowning", a subject which Hunter had investigated without hitting upon the scientific explanation of that form of asphyxia eventually brought out by Brodie. While Professor at the College, Brodie was summoned to attend George IV, and with Sir Astley Cooper, who was the operator, and a formidable array of medical men of that time, assisted at an operation for the removal of a small sebaceous cyst from the king's scalp. He became Surgeon to George IV, and attended him during his last illness, when he went every night to Windsor, slept there, and returned to London in the morning. "His habit", says Mr. Timothy Holmes, "was to go into the king's room at about six o'clock, and sit talking with him for an hour or two before leaving for town." The king became warmly attached to him. He was Surgeon to William IV, and in 1834, when he was made a Baronet, he was appointed Serjeant-Surgeon. In this capacity he became examiner by prescriptive right in the College, a privilege abolished by the Charter of 1843, which Brodie was largely instrumental in obtaining. He was a Member of Council from 1829-1862, Hunterian Orator in 1837, Vice-President in 1842 and 1843, and President in 1844. He retired from St. George's Hospital in 1840, but for some time continued his activity at the College, which owes to him the institution of the Order of Fellows. The object of this institution, he maintained, was to ensure the introduction into the profession of a certain number of young men who might be qualified to maintain its scientific character, and would be fully equal to its higher duties as hospital surgeons, teachers, and improvers of physiological, pathological, and surgical science afterwards. The Fellowship may be said to have been largely instrumental in raising the college to what it now is - "the exemplar of surgical education to the whole kingdom". Brodie was the first President of the General Medical Council, having been elected in 1858. Within a week after receiving this honour he became President of the Royal Society, an office which he filled with great dignity and wisdom till 1861. He died, nearly blind following double cataract for the relief of which he had been operated upon by Sir William Bowman (q.v.), at Broome Park, Betchworth, Surrey, on Oct. 21st, 1862. Of the immediate cause of his death, Holmes says: "It seems that nearly thirty years [see BLOXHAM, THOMAS] previously he had suffered from a dislocation of the right shoulder. I am not aware that he ever made any complaint of the part after the dislocation had been reduced, but it was in this same joint that in July he began to complain of pain accompanied by much prostration; and this was succeeded in September by the appearance of a tumour, doubtless of a malignant nature, in the neighbourhood of the shoulder." It thus happened that he who had spent his life treating diseased joints died of a joint disease. He married in 1816 Anne, the third daughter of Serjeant Sellon by his wife Charlotte Dickinson, his brother-in-law being Monsieur Regnault, the French physicist. Three children survived to maturity: Sir Benjamin Collins Brodie F.R.S. (1817-1880), who became Professor of Chemistry at Oxford; a daughter who married the Rev. E. Hoare; and another son, the Rev. W. Brodie. [His granddaughter Mary Isabel married Sir Herbert Warren K.C.V.O. President of Magdalen College Oxford - 1885-1928] Brodie was distinguished as a surgeon with the bent of a physician. He was not a great operating surgeon, nor did he regard operations as the highest aim of surgery. His power of diagnosis was great, and he was a distinguished teacher with an elegant and clear deliverance. He attained high success by the legitimate influence of a lofty order of intellect, by his great stores of surgical knowledge, and the sound decided opinions he based upon them. He was single-minded and upright in character and free from all affectations. He knew his duty and did it well. He lived for a great end, the lessening of human suffering, and for that he felt no labour was too great, no patience too long. As a scientific man his object was truth pursued for its own sake, and without regard to future reward. He recognized the great traditions of wisdom, benevolence, and self-denial as the everlasting bases on which true medicine and surgery rest, and he was in truth a master of medicine. Of Brodie's manner as a lecturer, Sir Henry Acland says: "None who heard him can forget the graphic yet artless manner in which, sitting at his ease, he used to describe minutely what he had himself seen and done under circumstances of difficulty, and what under like circumstances he would again do or would avoid. His instruction was illustrated by the valuable pathological dissections which during many years he had amassed, and which he gave during his lifetime to his hospital." Mr. Timothy Holmes says: "It was Brodie who popularized the method of lithotrity in England, and by so doing chiefly contributed to the ready reception of an operation which has robbed what was one of the deadliest diseases that afflict humanity of nearly all its terror. This will remain to all time one of Brodie's greatest claims to public gratitude." Brodie used to tell that he once prescribed for a fat butler, suffering from too much good living and lack of exercise. Sir Benjamin told him "he must be very moderate in what he ate and drank, careful not to eat much at a time or late at night. Above all, no spirituous liquors could be allowed, malt liquor especially being poison to his complaint." Whilst these directions were being given the butler's face grew longer and longer, and at the end he exclaimed, "And pray, Sir Benjamin, who is going to compensate me for the loss of all these things?" Brodie's personal appearance is admirably portrayed in the picture by Watts. He was not, perhaps, strictly handsome, but no one can deny that the features are striking. A fine forehead, keen grey eyes, a mobile and sensitive mouth, and facial muscles which followed all the movements of one of the most active minds, lent to the countenance a charm and an expressiveness to which no stranger could be insensible. His frame was slight and small; but there was nothing of weakness about it. Those who knew him only as a public man would little suspect the playful humour which sparkled by his fireside - the fund of anecdotes, the harmless wit, the simple pleasures of his country walk. The following is a list of portraits of Brodie: (1) A bust by H. Weekes, R.A., in the Royal College of Surgeons. (2) A portrait in middle life, which appeared in the Medical Circular (1852, I, 817). The copy in the College is accompanied by a strikingly picturesque and vivid appreciation of Brodie as a teacher making his round of the wards. (3) A half-length by G. F. Watts, R.A., painted in 1860, which is reproduced in Timothy Holmes's *Life of Sir Benjamin Collins Brodie*, 1897. (4) A medal presented to Sir Benjamin Brodie in 1840 when he retired from office as Surgeon to St. George's Hospital. There is a bronze replica in the Board Room at St. George's Hospital, and an illustration of it in the *British Journal of Surgery* (1918-19, vi, facing p.158). PUBLICATIONS: - As an author Brodie achieved fame by his treatise on *Diseases of the Joints*, 1818, which went through five editions and was translated into foreign languages. He wrote also on local nervous affections, diseases of the urinary organs, the surgery of the breast, lighting-stroke, besides an important work, published anonymously in 1854, under the title of *Psychological Enquiries* [Times 21 Jan 1938. BRODIE - On Jan. 20, 1938. at Brockham Warren, Betchworth, Surrey, of pneumonia, SIR BENJAMIN VINCENT SELLON BRODIE, Bt., M.A. (Oxon), D.L., J.P., aged 75. Funeral at Betchworth Church, 3 p.m. Monday, Jan. 24. SIR BENJAMIN BRODIE. Sir Benjamin Vincent Sellon Brodie, Bt.,. died at his home, Brockham Warren, Dorking, yesterday at the age of 75. He succeeded as third baronet on the death of his father in 1880. Educated at Magdalen College, Oxford, and a barrister at Lincoln's Inn, he was a county councillor and then a county alderman for Surrey, High Sheriff in 1912, and a member of the Surrey Education Committee. He owned about 1,000 acres in Surrey. Sir Benjamin married in 1887 Caroline, daughter of the late Captain J. R. Woodriff, R.N., his Majesty's Serjeant-at-Arms, and they had one son and two daughters. Lady Brodie died in 1895. The heir is Captain Benjamin Colin (amended to Collins) Brodie, who was educated at Eton and Magdalen College, Oxford. He served throughout the War with the Surrey Yeomanry and the 4th Battalion, The Gordon Highlanders, winning the M.C. and bar. Later he became a captain in the Army Educational Corps. He is married and has two sons and one daughter.] [SIR BENJAMIN BRODIE Captain Sir Benjamin Collins Brodie, MC, the fourth baronet, died on Monday. He served with the Surrey Yeomanry at Gallipoli, with the Gordon Highlanders and the 1st Highland Brigade, British Army of the Rhine, in the First World War. He was joint headmaster of Holyrood School, Bognor Regis, from 1927 to 1940. He was twice chairman of the governors of Tonbridge School; and from 1945 to 1960 of Judd School, Tonbridge. He was twice Master of the Skinners' Company. Brodie succeeded his father in 1938 and the heir to the baronetcy is Brodie's son, Benjamin David Ross Brodie.]
Resource Identifier RCS: E000016
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Arnott, James Moncrieff (1794 - 1885)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2005-08-10 2016-01-29
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Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000000-E000099
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372204372204
Occupation General surgeon
Details Born at Chapel, near Ladybank, Fife, March 15th, 1794; educated at the High School and at the University of Edinburgh. Began his medical studies in Edinburgh, and continued them in London, Vienna, and in Paris under Dupuytren. He attached himself to the Middlesex Hospital, where he was for many years Surgeon, and was one of the founders of the Medical School of the Middlesex Hospital. He afterwards occupied the chairs of Surgery at King's and University Colleges. [1] He was an active member of the Royal College of Surgeons, being made one of the original Fellows in 1843; he was a Member of Council in 1840, and a Member of the Court of Examiners from 1847-1865. Became four times Vice-President and twice President, in 1850 and 1859, and in 1843 he delivered the Hunterian Oration. This oration is remarkable in that the orator had to commemorate Sir Astley Cooper, Sir Charles Bell, and Baron Larrey, who had recently died. He was instrumental in obtaining a grant of £15,000 from the Government to rebuild the Museum. [2] In 1865 he retired from practice and lived for a long time in Fifeshire. He died in London, May 27th, 1885. [3] His bust by H. Weekes, R.A., ordered by the College, is in the College house. The [4] portrait in the Secretary's office [5] is by an unknown painter, and was bequeathed by Miss Moncrieff Arnott in May, 1907. There are several [6] other portraits (engravings) in the College Collections. [7] [8] PUBLICATIONS: - Eight papers in *Med.-Chir. Trans.*, the chief of which was on "Secondary Effects of Inflammation of the Veins" (1829, xv, 1). [9] [Amendments from the annotated edition of *Plarr's Lives* at the Royal College of Surgeons: [1] Professor of Surgery, King's College 1836-40 (Lyle's *King's & some King's men*, p.19); at University College 1848-50 (information from Charles Marmoy, Thorne ? Library UCL, 1967); [2] in 1852; [3] aged 91; [4] oil; [5] 'Secretary's office' is deleted and 'College' added; [6] 'several' is underlined and a question mark added; [7] He bequeathed (subject to his daughter's life-interest) £1000 to found a demonstratorship on the contents of the Hunterian Museum; [8] watercolour by Daniel Maclise RA (see *Cat. Of Portraits*); [9] The rest are case-reports. He was President of the Royal Medico-Chirurgical Society in 1847; The annotations also include a family tree: James Moncrieff Arnott P.R.C.S. - - Arnott, Canon of Rochester - Scott Arnott, senior partner in Freshfields, solicitors - James Arnott MRCS (and) Phyllis m. John Kilmaine, Baron]
Resource Identifier RCS: E000017
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Mayo, Charles (1788 - 1876)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2008-06-12
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000500-E000599
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372707372707
Occupation General surgeon
Details Born on Dec 29th, 1788, the third son of the Rev James Mayo, MA, Head Master of Queen Elizabeth’s Free Grammar School, Wimborne, and Rector of Avebury in succession to his father and grandfather. The Mayos may be described as a Wiltshire family, members of it having flourished there as clergymen and schoolmasters. To this Wiltshire family also belonged Thomas Mayo, MD, President of the Royal College of Physicians, Herbert Mayo, the distinguished physiologist, and others well known in literature. Charles Mayo received a sound education at the Grammar School under his own father. He became a good Latinist and Grecian and was taught French carefully by a French *émigré*, M Leprince, a man of good family compelled by the exigencies of the French Revolution, which had ruined him, to earn his living as a schoolmaster in England. The *émigré* lived nine miles from Wimborne at Ringwood, and was lent a horse by the head master in order to ride home half-way. “Young Mayo was sent to some appointed spot, whence he had to ride the horse back whilst Monsieur dismounted and finished his journey on foot. But it so happened that, some short time before, a frightful murder had been committed at Parley, a desolate village a mile or two to the south of the road between Wimborne and Ringwood, and the bodies of the two murderers were hung in chains from a gibbet on a heath within a very short distance from Parley, where, although the gibbet has vanished, the memory of the affairs surives to the present day (1876). On one occasion young Charles Mayo, when he was sent as usual to take the horse from the Frenchman, was tempted to leave the high road and go and inspect the remains of the murderers, whose bones and rags swung and creaked horribly in the wind, but when he returned to the high road, the Frenchman, not seeing him at the accustomed spot, had gone on towards Ringwood, and the truant did not return to Wimborne with the horse till long after the appointed time, and with no small fear of the consequences, for his father, amongst other accomplishments, was thought to excel in the use of the birch. Whether or not, however, this anatomical pilgrimage was considered to mark out his future destiny, the profession of medicine was chosen for him, and he began, at the age of fifteen, by being apprenticed to Mr Brown, a city apothecary, who flourished and kept a shop at the corner of Raven Row, Bethnal Green, just on the east of Bishopsgate Street. Mr Brown was a Member of the Society of Apothecaries - a body of men at that time of good culture and social position, amongst whom were many good botanists. The Society kept up the ancient and decent custom of examining the pupils of all its members in Latin at the beginning of their apprenticeship and gave them the opportunity, by means of herborising excursions, of cultivating a practical acquaintance with botany, a taste for which was preserved by the subject of this sketch up to a late period in life. In truth, the change from the life of the Wimborne schoolboy to that of the apprentice in Bishopsgate required some compensation. The business of an apothecary was a kind of compound between a trade and a profession, in which the professional skill supplied dignity, but the trading element supplied the means of living. Remuneration was obtained by supplying draughts, mixtures, and other forms of drugs, which were supplied profusely, and formed the items in a long bill of charges sent in at Christmas. That a medical practitioner shall supply his patients with medicine is reasonable and convenient, but that he shall make the medicine supplied the basis of remuneration, instead of his time and skill, is derogatory to himself and injurious to his patients. We have heard Mr Mayo describe the weak parts of this system, which were - the multiplicity of bad debts which crowded the ledger of the Bishopsgate apothecary, and the heavy cost of drugs, and particularly of bottles, which were taxed, in proportion to the receipts. “Meanwhile, the young apprentice’s life was not a cheerful one. The errand-boy slept under the counter, the apprentice had a bed in an adjoining closet, and the family lived in a dingy back-parlour; whilst a drawing-room upstairs, where the carpet and furniture were covered with brown holland, was used only about twice a year. “The apprentice had the recreation, if he chose, of accompanying the mistress once a week in a hackney-coach to hear a Calvinistic preacher at Clerkenwell. He had a book called ‘Tyrocinium Medicum; or, the Duties of Apothecaries’ Apprentices’, which will give some idea of the trade element amongst the general practitioners of the time (by William Chamberlaine, 1812, in the College Library). The dusting of shelves and bottles was held to be the chiefest of duties, and the writer enforces it on the medical apprentice in the terms in which Ovid excites the young men of his day to brush away the dust of the amphitheatre from off the clothes of the young ladies ‘Et si nullus erit pulvis tamen excute nullum’.” After some three years of this melancholy life young Mayo joyfully became a student at St Bartholomew’s Hospital, where, by contrast, the medical atmosphere was ‘elevated and dignified’ in a high degree. He studied anatomy with great ardour, and was for long dresser to Sir Charles Blicke, the founder of our College Library and at that time a leading London surgeon. He also came under the favourable notice of Abernethy, Lawrence, Stanley, and Wormald, as well as others on the high road to repute. After qualifying he went down to Winchester and was elected Surgeon to the County Hospital in 1811, and here till 1870 he gained a high professional reputation both in general surgery and as a lithotomist. Quite at first he met with some opposition at the hospital, and appealed to Abernethy to support him on the eve of his first operation for stone. The great Surgeon wrote as follows: “MY DEAR SIR, - If the Governors of any hospital entrusted me with the care of the patients, I would take care to do my duty to the best of my ability. I would not bleed and purge a patient repeatedly prior to an operation for lithotomy, to the extent you describe, at the suggestion of any man, if it did not appear to me proper. There is but one general rule for a man’s conduct: Do as you would be done unto. I would not defer the operation beyond that time when it seemed most conducive to the patient’s welfare to perform it. You know I use a gorget, which cuts as well as any knife that ever I tried, and has the advantage of being a conductor for the forceps. If I used a knife it should be such a one as Mr Cooper uses. I know not what to advise you to do. You represent your patient as much reduced, and if the subject were unfavourable for an operation, I would rather send him to a London Hospital than run the risk of his dying after an operation, however well you might perform it. This is the beginning of lectures; I have scarcely time to write. Had it happened at any other season I would have gone to Winchester. “Yours most sincerely, J ABERNETHY. *August*, 1812.” The operation was successful, and Mayo thereupon began a remarkable career. His success as a lithotomist reached a climax when he extracted without mishap, in December, 1818, one of the largest stones so far recorded, which weighed over 14 oz. In 1848 he performed two lithotomies in one day, but both proved fatal. His last was on a man of his own age (74) in 1861, which was successful. His procedure and implements, in imitation of Cheselden, were bold and simple. When he came to Winchester he found the best practice in the hands of long-established surgeons, who debarred him from ‘the Close’ and the ‘County’, but among lesser patients his vogue was very extensive. He exhibited in the strongest possible degree that incongruous combination of professional work which linked together Raven Row and St Bartholomew’s Hospital. At one time of the day he would be tying the subclavian artery or diagnosing an obscure fracture, whilst at another he would be busily superintending the dispensing of medicines for sick paupers or club patients, for he took all the practice that offered itself. He performed a number of capital operations for axillary and other aneurysms (some of which were published in the *Medico-Chirurgical Transactions*), cases of complete transposition of the viscera, deep encysted tumours of the neck (*Lancet*), and epispadias. At the age of 84 we find him entering his last case, one of obturator hernia, with a youth’s carefulness and clearness. The practice of the Winchester County Hospital was ‘homely but effective’ under Mayo. He set fractures with rough wooden splints in a manner which it would have been hard to outrival. A contributor to the *Medical Times and Gazette* (1876, ii, 638) wrote: “There was one thing which comes to the remembrance of the writer pretty vividly - the air of the Hospital: a compound of bad breath, unwashed skin, and ulcerated legs, which could be tasted as well as smelt the moment anyone entered the hospital door. Thirty or forty years ago people lamented the frequent deaths after operations from pleurisy or other apparently eccentric causes; but it is easy to see now (1876) that, in a purer air, Mr Mayo would have had a much larger percentage of successful lithotomy cases, whilst many a life might have been spared which was sacrificed to puerperal fever and erysipelas in the hospital and town.” Mayo loved his work, though much of it was beneath his talent. Winchester in his day became a centre of professional education and Mayo’s many pupils were deeply attached to him. In manner he outdid the great Abernethy, whom he is supposed to have copied: he was blunt, outspoken, and testy to the greatest degree, and when made angry, as he often was, he relieved himself and amused his hearers by a stream of half-humorous vituperative epithets of the quaintest and most original description. He was a man of exuberant health and activity, up early and late, and never seeming to feel hunger or fatigue - so, at least, some of his pupils used to think when he summoned them to make post-mortem examinations, dress compound fractures, and to do other unsavoury work at the hospital before breakfast. In 1870 this grand old lion of the ancient school resented the honour done him at his hospital when he was removed from the active to the consulting staff: in 1874 he grew blind, but fully believed himself fit to continue in practice. Latterly he grew less restless and consoled his dark hours by listening to the music of the daily cathedral services. In 1851 his fellow-citizens gave him a grand entertainment in honour of the fortieth anniversary of his hospital appointment. He was elected Mayor of Winchester. His memory remained vigorous almost to the last, and he delighted in telling of his early days. At the, very end of his life he talked of ‘going home’, and died painlessly in great old age at his residence in St Peter Street, Winchester, on Nov 27th, 1876. He married in 1835 Miss Dennis, the daughter of a clergyman, and of his two sons one was Dr Charles Mayo of Fiji, Fellow of New College, Oxford, the other the Rev James Mayo. There were two daughters of the marriage. Mayo was one of the last of those who had been “in practice prior to 1815”. PUBLICATIONS: “Successful Case of Lithotomy.” - *Med.-Chir. Trans.*, 1820, xi, 54. “Case of Aneurism in which a Ligature was placed on the Subclavian Artery.” - *Ibid.*, 1823, xii, 12. “Case of Axillary Aneurism Successfully Treated by Tying the Subclavian Artery.” - *Ibid.*, 1830, xvi, 359. “A Report on Lithotomy.” - *Prov. Med. Jour.*, 1846, 439. “Case of Strangulated Femoral Hernia Successfully Treated by Opium.” - *Ibid.*, 1847, 319. “Lithotomy and Hernia.” - *Prov. Med. Jour*., 1846-7. “Cervical Encysted Tumour.” - *Lancet*, 1847, i, 667.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000523
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
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First Title value, for Searching Hollis, David George Hanbury (1924 - 2006)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Neil Weir
Publication Date 2008-06-19
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000500-E000599
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372708372708
Occupation ENT surgeon
Details David Hollis was an ENT surgeon in south London. He was born in Northwood, Middlesex, on 16 June 1924, the elder son of Frederick James Hollis, a priest and university lecturer, and Christina Mary née Hanbury. Educated at Ovingdean Preparatory School, Brighton, and Lancing College, David Hollis read medicine at King’s College, London, and King’s College Medical School. Here he was influenced by those two ENT giants, Sir Victor Negus and Sir Terence Cawthorne, which, coupled with his own childhood experience of otitis media, led him to choose ENT as his specialty. He was a house surgeon and later a registrar in ENT at King’s College Hospital and senior registrar at the Royal National Throat Nose and Ear Hospital. He was subsequently appointed consultant ENT surgeon to the Lewisham, North Southwark and Greenwich Health Authorities. He married Barbara Moore, a radiotherapist, later to become a consultant, in 1947. They had two sons, one of whom became a child psychiatrist, and two daughters (the eldest of whom became a state registered nurse and later a chiropractor). His principal interests outside his work were campanology, horticulture and cycling. He died on 28 September 2006.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000524
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
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First Title value, for Searching Jenkins, Terence Percy Norman (1913 - 2007)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2008-06-19 2008-11-14
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Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000500-E000599
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372709372709
Occupation General surgeon
Details Terry Jenkins was a general surgeon to St Luke’s and the Royal Surrey County hospitals in Guildford. He was born in Shoreditch, London, on 21 April 1913, the second son of Harold and Louise Jenkins, who had a chemists’ shop. They moved to Harrow a few years later. He was educated at the John Lyon and Harrow county schools, from which he won a scholarship to University College Medical School. On qualification in 1936 he won the Magrath scholarship, and went on to be house surgeon to William Trotter. At the outbreak of war he joined the RAMC and served in France, Belgium and North Africa, mostly doing orthopaedics, and reaching the rank of major. On demobilisation, he was appointed to the Guildford hospitals as a general surgeon. There he built up St Luke’s from a Poor Law institution to a respected hospital. An experienced general surgeon, his particular contribution was to the prevention of burst abdomen by the use of a continuous looped nylon suture, placed with centimetre bites, without tension. The method had been introduced by Gordon Gill, his colleague, and the results were published in 1976. Terry married twice. His first wife was Kathleen Creegan, by whom he had two sons, Tony (an engineer) and Edward (an architect). He then married Rosemary Dockray, by whom he had a son Andrew (a senior retail manager) and a daughter, Philippa (a management accountant). He died on 16 July 2007.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000525
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
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First Title value, for Searching Selsnick, Frances (1917 - 2007)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2008-06-19
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000500-E000599
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372710372710
Occupation General surgeon
Details Frances Selsnick, one of the most remarkable women of her generation, was the first female general surgeon in the United States and the first female American Fellow of our College. Frances was born in New York on 23 December, 1917, the daughter of Harry Selznick and Florence née Greenfield. Having been a child prodigy on the piano, performing ‘the Dance of the Hours’ at Carnegie Hall, Frances was educated at New York University and then went to the Anderson College of Medicine, Glasgow, to study medicine. She returned to New York to do a residency at the New York Infirmary for Women and Children in 1948 and then on to Sea View Hospital, Staten Island, and the Knickerbocker Hospital, New York, in 1953. After completing a fellowship at the New York Sloan Kettering Memorial Hospital for Cancer and Allied Diseases in New York, she returned to the United Kingdom in 1955, where she was a house surgeon at the Royal Marsden Hospital. This was followed by posts as a senior house officer in Stoke-on-Trent and registrar posts at the Royal Infirmary, Gloucester, St Luke’s and the Royal Infirmary, Bradford. She returned to the USA to work in the Veterans Administration Service, first at Martinsburg, West Virginia, in 1965, and then in Reno, where she became successively senior surgical coordinator for surgical services, and then assistant and associate chief of the surgical service. For these services she was awarded the John D Chase and Mark Wolcott awards for leadership skills and clinical care delivery. She continued to be an active surgeon right up until the week before she was admitted to hospital. Frances never married, but was an ever-popular member of an extended family, who nicknamed her ‘the General’ because of her fiesty manner: nobody enjoyed the joke more than she. She died of heart failure on 10 June 2007. Howard Amster
Resource Identifier RCS: E000526
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
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First Title value, for Searching Bowen, David Ivor (1937 - 2007)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Harris, Nigel Henry (1924 - 2007)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2008-06-26
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000500-E000599
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372712372712
Occupation Orthopaedic surgeon
Details Nigel Harris was respected in the orthopaedic world, particularly for his participation in British Orthopaedic Association (BOA) conferences, where his pertinent questions often brought meetings to life. He had outspoken views on medico-social and medico-political issues and wrote many letters to *The Times* in defence of the interests of patients and the freedom of the NHS from political interference. Nigel Harris was born in Grimsby on 24 November 1924, the eldest son of Archibald Harris, a general practitioner. His mother was Lily Nove. He was educated at the Perse School, where he shone at athletics and cricket, and on one occasion when the school entertained a visiting Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) team, he stumped the mighty Jack Hobbs. From Perse he went up to Trinity College, Cambridge, and then to the Middlesex Hospital for his clinical training. He qualified in 1948 and completed house jobs in the orthopaedic department at the Middlesex and the North Middlesex Hospital, where he was greatly influenced by Philip Wiles and Philip Newman. He then served in the RAF, reaching the rank of squadron leader, and was involved in the Berlin Air Lift of 1949, during which on one occasion he wandered by mistake into the Russian sector and narrowly escaped capture. On completing his training in orthopaedics he was appointed consultant orthopaedic surgeon at St Mary’s Hospital in 1964. He published on osteomyelitis, congenital dislocation of the hip and osteoarthritis, and was one of the first to replace hips and knees. He contributed chapters to *Clinical surgery* and edited the *Postgraduate textbook of clinical orthopaedics* (Bristol, Wright, 1983, second edition: Oxford, Blackwell Science, 1995). Having had experience as a house surgeon in the athletes’ clinic which had been set up at the Middlesex Hospital for the Wembley Olympic Games of 1948, he set up a sports clinic at St Charles Hospital, where he became interested in the symphysis pubis strain – the ‘groin strain’ of athletes. He became orthopaedic surgeon to Arsenal Football Club and consultant to the Football Association, where he was highly respected as ‘Nigel the knife’. Nigel was a friendly extrovert; quick in thought and action and never slow to speak his mind. He campaigned for the rights of patients and for freeing medicine from political constraints. He campaigned to set up the Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Wing at St Mary’s and was secretary to the Fellowship of Freedom in Medicine. Among his many outside interests, he was interested in medico-legal work, joined the Academy of Experts, where he was respected for his impartiality and, together with Michael Powers QC, wrote *Medical negligence* (London, Butterworths, 1990, second edition: 1994). He was concerned at the increased numbers of injuries to policemen and was instrumental in setting up Flint House in Goring for their rehabilitation. In 1949 he married Elizabeth Burr. They had two sons, Andrew and Mark, who became an anaesthetist. He continued to play cricket and golf for many years, and was a keen hill walker. Unknown to many of his colleagues he owned a racehorse ‘My Learned Friend’. Frank, friendly and open, he never bore a grudge and was always the patient’s friend. He died on 8 July 2007. M Edgar
Resource Identifier RCS: E000528
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
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First Title value, for Searching Clark, Charles Denley (1908 - 2001)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2008-07-10
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000500-E000599
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372713372713
Occupation Accident and emergency surgeon General surgeon
Details Denley Clark was a consultant surgeon at Pinderfields Hospital and Pontefract General Infirmary. He was born in Thailand (then Siam) on 12 August 1908. His father, Percy Leonard Archibald Clark, was a missionary, as was his mother, Mary Lenore née Denley. He was educated in Thailand until the age of ten, when he was sent to boarding school in Devon, and thence to Leeds Central High School. He qualified from Leeds Medical School in 1933, and spent three years in junior posts at Leeds General Infirmary and at St James’s and passed the Edinburgh Fellowship, before going to Labrador, Canada, for two years to serve with the International Grenfell Association. He published an account of these experiences, in which he told of the difficulties of managing ten huskies, the high prevalence of tuberculosis, and the widespread lack of food. On returning to the UK, he became resident surgical officer at the Woolwich Memorial Hospital, and completed his surgical training at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, St Peter’s and St Mark’s. In 1943 he joined the RAMC as surgical specialist, serving in Chester before being posted to the Far East, where he served with 33 Field Surgical Unit, 13 CCS in Burma, and 14 Mobile Surgical Unit and 53 Indian General Hospital. In 1946 he was appointed officer in command of 72 Indian General Hospital, in Malaya, with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. After demobilisation, he was senior registrar in Woolwich and at the Brook Hospital, and became consultant surgeon to the Royal Herbert Military Hospital in 1949. In 1950 he was appointed consultant surgeon to Pinderfields Hospital and Pontefract General Infirmary. After retiring at 65, he returned full-time for the next five years to set up the first consultant-led accident and emergency department at Pinderfields. He married Margaret Eileen Canneva (née Goulden) in 1954. There were no children of the marriage, which ended in divorce in 1965. He married for the second time, to June Elizabeth Nichols, in 1976. There were no children. He was a keen skier and gardener. He died from Alzheimer’s disease on 27 January 2001.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000529
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Power, Sir D'Arcy (1855 - 1941)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2008-08-07
JPEG Image
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000500-E000599
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372714372714
Occupation General surgeon
Details D’Arcy Power was born on 11 November 1855 at 3 Grosvenor Terrace, afterwards 56 Belgrave road, Pimlico, SW, the eldest of the six sons and five daughters of Henry Power, then assistant surgeon at the Westminster Ophthalmic Hospital and Ann, his wife and first cousin, youngest daughter of Thomas Simpson, banker and shipowner of Whitby. He was educated at St Marylebone and All Souls Grammar School, 1 Cornwall Terrace, Regent’s Park, 1866-70. The school was set up by the Rev Henry North, father-in-law of Sir James Paget, and drew its pupils from the sons of neighbouring doctors. He was at Merchant Taylors School, then in Suffolk Lane under Cannon Street Station, from 1870 to ’74, having been admitted on the presentation of Mr Foster White, Treasurer of St Bartholomew’s Hospital, and he won the Pigeon and Pugh prize for “the best boy fitted for a merchant’s office”. He matriculated at Oxford in 1874 as one of the earliest non-Wykehamists at New College, and came under the influence of George Rolleston and E Ray Lankester, and of Huxley in London. As biology was not taught at New College he migrated to Exeter College with an open exhibition in 1877. In this year he was demonstrator to C J Yule of Magdalen, the University lecturer in physiology. He graduated BA 1878 with a first in natural science, MA in 1881, and BM in 1882. He entered St Bartholomew’s Hospital Medical School with a perpetual student’s ticket in 1878. His father sent a cheque for 100 guineas, but by return of post the school treasurer, G W Callender, sent back the cheque, saying “Dog does not eat dog”. From Christmas 1878 until 1881 he was assistant demonstrator of physiology to Dr V D Harris. In November 1883, when James Shuter, the assistant surgeon, died from an accidental overdose of morphia, Power became curator of the anatomical and pathological museum, a post he held for six years. He was demonstrator of practical surgery from 1889 and of operative surgery from 1889 to 1901, except in 1896-97 when he was not re-elected as a warning from the Medical Council that he must contest the next vacancy for an assistant surgeon. He was demonstrator of surgical pathology 1901-4, and lecturer on surgery 1906-12 with W Bruce Clarke and from 1912 to ’20 as one of the surgeons to the Hospital. In the Hospital itself he was ophthalmic house surgeon to his father and to Bowater Vernon, 1882, house surgeon to W S Savory, 1882-83, and won the house-surgeons’ prize. On 28 April 1898 he was elected assistant surgeon, after a contest like a Parliamentary election against his friend James Berry, the votes being 71 and 60, in a vacancy caused by the resignation of Sir Thomas Smith and promotion of W J Walsham. He had charge of the throat and nose department 1902-04, as it was still the custom for an assistant surgeon to act as a specialist. Speaking of this period at a lunch given by the President of the College in honour of his eighty-fifth birthday, Power said: “When I wanted advice I went to Sir James Paget; I went to him at breakfast-time, 7.30, that was the only time you could catch him. Or I went to Sir William Savory, my master; when his son Borradaile was away I took the head or at least the vice-chair at his dinner parties, which were very formal and very long. We went to Mr Hulke at tea-time, just as tea was coming in; we were always great friends with Mr and Mrs Hulke. We were friends too with Lord Lister; his testimonial helped me greatly when I stood for assistant surgeon at St Bartholomew’s, it impressed the Governors and I was elected.” In 1904 he was appointed surgeon to succeed John Langton, and resigned in 1920 when he was elected consulting surgeon and a governor of the Hospital. He was chairman of the visiting governors’ sub-committee in 1927-32. From 1906 to 1920 he had been surgical instructor of probationary nurses. In 1934 he was appointed archivist and honorary keeper of the muniments, and began with Gweneth Hutchings, DPh (Mrs Whitteridge) a systematic survey of the Hospital’s archives, one of the longest and most complete collections in Europe. He was amused to find that the muniment room had been so long untouched that the dust on the documents was sterile. He printed some of the earliest documents in a contribution to the issue of the *Bulletin of the History of Medicine* dedicated to Arnold Klebs on his seventieth birthday, 17 March 1940. At the Royal College of Surgeons Power was examiner in physiology for the Fellowship 1889-92 and 1897-1902 and for the Membership 1892-97, Hunterian professor 1896-97, Bradshaw lecturer 1919, Vicary lecturer 1920, and Hunterian orator 1925. He was a member of Council 1912-28, and vice-president in 1921 and 1922. In 1929 he became Honorary Librarian, a post created for him on the death of the librarian, Victor Plarr; and he was elected a trustee of the Hunterian Museum in the room of Lord Rosebery in 1930. In 1878-79 he had been demonstrator of biology to Ray Lankester at University College; and he was professor of histology 1890-1903 and assistant professor of physiology 1893-1903, with Bland Sutton as his colleague in anatomy, at the Royal Veterinary College, where as he wrote: “the cockney wit of Sutton and the sarcasm of Power reduced the disorderly classes to order.” Power held many hospital appointments in and round London, and took an active part in many professional and other societies. He was consulting surgeon to the Metropolitan Dispensary, the Victoria Hospital for Children and the Bolingbroke Hospital, Wandsworth. He was on the court of the Royal Sea-bathing Hospital, Margate, and on the board of management of the Royal Masonic Hospital, in the rebuilding of which he took an active interest. He was president of the Harveian Society in 1908 and of the Medical Society of London in 1916. At the British Medical Association he was president of the section of surgery for the Nottingham meeting in 1926, but an attack of pleurisy prevented his attendance. At the Royal Society of Medicine he was president of the section of the history of medicine in 1918-20 and of the section of comparative medicine in 1926-28. He was président d’honneur of the Société internationale de l’Histoire de Médecine at Geneva in 1925. He was a member of the Physiological Society from 1879, and served various offices in the Pathological Society, the British Orthopaedic Society, the Medical Research Club, and the Society for the Study of Disease in Children, among others. He took an active part in the International Medical Congresses and in the Société internationale de Chirurgie. He was for many years chairman of the Royal Medical Benevolent Fund, in whose work he took a deep interest, the president being Sir T Barlow. Outside the profession he was eminent as a freemason and achieved high rank in the Grand Lodge of England. He was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1897, and was president of the Bibliographical Society in 1926-28. He was a founder of the Samuel Pepys Club in 1903 and its president in 1924, and a founder of the Anglo-Batavian Society in 1920, his great-grandmother having been a Dutchwoman. He was a corresponding member or honorary fellow of many learned societies at home and abroad, including the Académie de Médecine de Paris, the American Surgical Association and the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons. He joined the Volunteer Medical Staff Corps in 1888 and was commissioned major *à la suite* on the formation of the RAMC territorial force in 1908. During the war of 1914-18 he was lieutenant-colonel in command of the 1st London General Hospital at Camberwell. He represented the RCS on the Statutory Committee of Reference and was a member of the appeal board. In the peace *Gazette* of June 1919 he was created KBE. He had been ambulance lecturer to the Birkbeck Institute in 1890-98. He served on the Metropolitan Asylums Board and on the Advisory Committee on the administration of the Cruelty to Animals Act. He was in 1912 a member of the Royal College of Physicians committee on the nomenclature of disease, and from 1908 to 1929 a visitor for King Edward’s Hospital Fund for London. He was for many years on the councils of the Imperial Cancer Research Fund and the British Empire Cancer Campaign. He examined in surgery for several universities, including Oxford and Cambridge, for the RCS, the RAMC and the IMS, and was a member of the Faculty of Medicine in the University of London 1902-20. Power was a good all-round surgeon, who showed at his best in an emergency operation. But while eminent as a surgeon and as a writer on surgery, and taking an active part in the administrative and social life of the profession, he made his real mark as a scholar and historian. On his seventy-fifth birthday his many friends joined with the Osler Club to give him a volume of his *Selected* writings. The book contains sixteen of his articles and a bibliography of 609 items, and during the remaining ten years of his life books and articles continued to come from his pen almost as prolifically as before. Besides making so many contributions to medicine and scholarship Sir D’Arcy was throughout life a journalist, reviewing regularly for the *British Medical Journal* and frequently for *The Lancet*, *The Times Literary Supplement* and other papers. It is an open secret that he contributed the obituary notices of surgeons to *The Times* for many years. His first published writing appeared when he was twenty-two: “On the albuminous substances which occur in the urine in albuminuria”, written with Lauder Brunton for *St Bartholomew’s Hospital Reports* in 1877, and his first clinical paper appeared in the same *Reports* in 1882: “A case of hereditary locomotor ataxy.” In the meantime he had joined Dr Vincent Harris in writing a *Manual for the Physiological Laboratory* 1880, which ran to five editions in twelve years. In 1886 he edited the *Memorials of the Craft of Surgery in England* from materials collected by J F South, a book of some 400 pages; this work first turned him to historical writing. He then began his long series of unsigned historical articles in the *BMJ*, under the editorship of Ernest Hart, and later contributed an historical article to almost every number of the *British Journal of Surgery* from its beginning in 1913. From 1893 he contributed some 200 “lives” to the *Dictionary of National Biography*, and thence acquired the method of precision and compactness which he used in revising the material collected by V G Plarr for the *Lives of the Fellows of the College*, published in 1930. Between 1930 and 1940 he wrote, largely from personal knowledge, the lives of the Fellows (nearly 400) who died in those years. He had the pleasure of presenting these lives in typescript to the College Council on his eighty-fifth birthday. This was his last public appearance. These lives of 1930-40 are printed in the present volume. Power’s professional interests were wide and he wrote on many subjects. He made a thorough study of intussusception and his Hunterian lectures were enlarged to form a book on this subject in 1898. He also wrote several papers on “wiring” for aneurysm. But his life-long interests were in the surgical diseases of children on which he published a manual in 1895, in cancer (Bradshaw lecture 1919 on cancer of the tongue), and in syphilis: with J Keogh Murphy he edited the *System of Syphilis* issued by the Oxford Press in 1908-10. He was an editor of *St Bartholomew’s Hospital Reports* from 1898 to 1902 and treasurer of the *British Journal of Surgery* for many years. During the war of 1914-18 he wrote on *War wounds* for the Oxford medical war primers, of which he was an editor. He first became known to the general reader by his *William Harvey*, 1897, written to order in a few weeks; it remains after fifty-five years the best short study of its great subject. Sixteen years later he broke new ground with his *Portraits of Dr William Harvey*, compiled at Sir William Osler’s suggestion and published anonymously, and partly at Power’s expense, for the Royal Society of Medicine in 1913, with many illustrations. His most scholarly work was his edition of the *Treatises* of John Arderne, the xiv century surgeon “edited from an early xv century translation with introduction, notes, etc.” for the Early English Text Society in 1910; and followed in 1922 by Arderne’s *De arte phisicali et de cirurgia*, which he translated from the Latin. Power stated the he had seen over sixty manuscripts of Arderne’s and later gave the transcripts, which he had used for his editions, to the College library. In pure bibliography he published a masterly study of *The Birth of Mankind*, in which he cleared up the difficulties of distinguishing the sixteenth- and seventeenth-century issues of Raynalde’s book by means of elaborate “tables of comparison of the initial letters”. In 1924 he was visiting surgeon at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital at Boston, Massachusetts, and in 1930 he paid a second visit to America, when he renewed his old friendships with Fielding Garrison, Harvey Cushing, and other surgeons and scholars. He gave a course of lectures at the W H Welch Institute of the History of Medicine in the Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, subsequently published as *The Foundations of medical history*, 1931. In this he explains that his method as bibliographer and historian was to seek the man behind the book; he was in full agreement with Garrison in approaching medical history from the biographical aspect, and had no use for philosophical generalizations. In 1935 he gave the inaugural address at the opening of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons at Melbourne. On the voyage to Australia he dictated his autobiography; he later wrote a family history; both remained unpublished at his death. Among his later writings were *A Mirror for surgeons*, a collection of outstanding case-reports by surgeons of many dates and countries ; a complete genealogy of the family of Percivall Pott; and a paper on Thomas Johnson, the xvi century translator of Paré, in which he cleared up the biographical puzzles which had defeated earlier writers. Like his father, of whom he wrote that “he neither affirmed nor denied”, Power was an agnostic. The age of the Reformation made a special appeal to him and he wrote much about the surgeons of Elizabeth’s reign, whose books he collected. His lively interest in human types was shown in his studies of Pepys, including the paper “Why Pepys discontinued his diary”, with its prescription for spectacles for Pepys which attracted much attention. He transcribed the xvii century diary of John Ward, which was long in the possession of the Medical Society of London and was later sold and published. He wrote on Benvenuto Cellini, in whom he was interested as a connoisseur of silversmith’s work. While always open to new ideas and new methods Sir D’Arcy was a man of genuine *pietas*. He loved Oxford, the College of Surgeons, and Bart’s, and was an authority on their great men, particularly Bodley, Hunter, and Harvey. Though simple in his way of life he was fond of good food and an excellent judge of wine, and was for many years chairman of the International Exhibition [of 1851] Co-operative Wine Society. He formed a remarkable collection of editions of the *Regimen of Salerno*, the dietetic classic of the middle ages, and wrote several papers on the history of fashions in food. He believed in dining clubs as the best dissipators of professional jealousies, and particularly valued his membership of the Confrères Club, which met regularly for dinner and debate, being himself a good informal speaker. As a man Sir D’Arcy endeared himself to all with whom he came in contact. Modest and unselfseeking, he carried his learning most lightly and always brought forward his assistants. Having been a poor man in early life, “we married on £60” he used to say, he remained always simple and approachable, and made no parade of his achievements. He was a very shrewd judge of men, absolutely straightforward and upright himself, with a puckish amusement at the foibles of others. He attributed to his Yorkshire Quaker ancestry the dogged determination with which he overcame the bitterness of bereavements which clouded a happy married life, ignored his physical disabilities, and set himself to carry through to completion the many tasks which he voluntarily undertook. Power married on 6 December 1883 Eleanor, youngest daughter of George Haynes Fosbroke, MRCS 1835, of Bidford-on-Avon, Warwickshire. Lady Power died on 26 June 1923. They had three children: a daughter who died in childhood; one surviving son, Air Vice-Marshal D’Arcy Power, CBE, MC, MRCS, RA Medical Service, and a second son who was missing and presumed killed at the battle of Ypres in 1915. For the second half of his life Power lived in the little old-fashioned house, 10a Chandos Street, Cavendish Square, next door to the Medical Society of London; it became almost a museum, and he knew the associations of every book and piece of furniture in it. His heart failed soon after his eighty-fifth birthday, and when his house was damaged in the air-raids of the autumn of 1940 he moved to his son’s house, 53 Murray Road, Northwood, Middlesex, where he died on 18 May 1941. He was buried at Bidford-on-Avon; a memorial service was held at St Bartholomew-the-Less on 28 May, at which G E Gask gave the funeral oration. His library was sold at Sotheby’s on 9 and 10 June 1941. A portrait in oils, by Sir Matthew Williams Thompson, Bt, Fellow of the Society of Portrait Painters, who presented it to the College, shows Sir D’Arcy, three-quarter length, seated, in his Fellow’s gown and wearing the insignia of his knighthood, aged 79, 1934. There is a photograph, aged 56, in Henry Power’s *Brief sketch of my life*, 1912, page 31; another, aged about 70, in D’Arcy Power’s *Selected writings*, 1931, frontispiece; and a third, aged 75, in *Brit J Surg*. 1930, 18, 184. Power appears in the group-portrait of the College Council of 1927-28; this painting has been engraved. There are other photographs in the College collections. *Bibliography*: Power’s typescripts were presented to the College by his son; they include a number of unpublished lectures and speeches, and are bound in 23 volumes covering the years 1895 to 1933. *Selected writings 1877-1930*. Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1931, with a bibliography of 609 items compiled by A H T Robb-Smith and Alfred Franklin. Power’s chief subsequent publications were : Some bygone operations of surgery, 1-11 *Brit. J. Surg.* 1930-33, vols. 18-20. Some early surgical cases, 1-2: The Edwin Smith papyrus. *Ibid.* 1933-34, 21, 1 and 385. Ipsissima verba, 1-13. *Ibid.* 1934-37, vols. 21-24. Hyman Maurice Cohen. *Brit. J. Anaesth.* 1930, 7, 49. John Abernethy. *Brit. med. J.* 1931, 1, 719. *The foundations of medical history*. Baltimore, 1931. Touchpieces and the cure of the King’s evil. *Ann. med. Hist.* 1931, 3, 127. Roubilliac, Cheselden, and Belchier. *Brit. med. J.* 1931, 2, 820. Century of British surgery. *Brit. med. J.* 1932, 2, 134. St Bartholomew’s Hospital 1880-1930. 7th Finlayson memorial lecture. *Glasg. med. J.* 1932, 118, 73-102. Natural science and medicine, in *Johnson’s England*, Oxford, 1933, vol. 2. *A short history of surgery.* London, 1933. Medical history of Mr and Mrs Samuel Pepys. *Brit. med. J.* 1933, 1, 325. Richard Gill. *St Bart’s Hosp. Rep.* 1933, 66, 1. The idea of the new Freemasons’ Hospital in Ravenscourt Park. *Architect. Rev.* August 1933, p. 53. Films in surgery. *Sight and sound,* 1933, 2, 43. Some great English surgeons: what they did and what they looked like; the Bolingbroke lecture, abstract only. *S. W. London med. Soc. Ann. Rept*. 40, 1933-34. Merchant Taylors School, the Charterhouse, and St Bartholomew’s Hospital. *St Bart’s Hosp. J.* 1933, 40, 5. Compulsory consultations. *Lancet,* 1934, 1, 746. The history of the amputation of the breast to 1904. 16th Wm. Mitchell Banks memorial lecture, 13 Nov. 1933. *Lpool med.-chir. J.* 1934, 42, 29. History of venereal diseases, in W. R. Bett *A short history of some common diseases*, Oxford, 1934. The Royal Australasian College of Surgeons. *Brit. med. J.* 1935, 1, 930. How surgery came to Australia. *Aust. N. Z. J. Surg.* 1935, 4, 368-383. Some early English doctors and their descendants [Harman, Banester, Harvey, Browne, Sloane, Pott, Hunter, Baillie, Abernethy]. *Genealogists Mag*. 1935, 7, 55 and 97. Questions and answers. *St Bart’s Hosp. J.* 1936, 43, 221. Speech at unveiling of tablet to John Hunter at 12 South Parade, Bath, where Hunter lived in 1785, (16 May 1936). *Med. Press*, 1936, 192, 490; for an account of the ceremony, see *Nature*, 1936, 137, 864. Sir Thomas Bodley’s London House. *Bodl. quart. Rec.* 1936, 8, No. 90. New blocks of the past. *St Bart’s Hosp. J.* 1937, 44, 222. Foreword to C. Wall *History of the Surgeons’ Company*, 1937. The Treasurer of the Hospital. *St Bart’s Hosp. J.* 1937, 45, 29. Removal of the upper jaw; an historical operation. *Surgery*, 1937, 2, 780. The cultured surgeon. *Aust. N. Z. J. Surg.* 1937, 6, 243. A urological cause célèbre: Bransby Cooper v. Wakley. *Brit. J. Urol.* 1937, 9, 330. Clap and the pox in English literature. *Brit. J. ven. Dis.* 1938, 14, 105-118. A letter written in 1637 giving advice to a patient suffering from stone in the bladder. *Brit. J. Urol.* 1938, 10, 109-113. The hospital beer. *St Bart’s Hosp. J.* 1938, 45, 298. Foreword to Calvert’s *John Knight, serjeant-surgeon*, 1939. St Bartholomew’s Hospital. *Med. Press*, 1939, 202, 281. *A mirror for surgeons*. Boston, Massachusetts, 1939. The muniment room at St Bartholomew’s Hospital, London. *Bull. Hist. Med.*, Baltimore, 1940, 8, 392-402. Thomas Johnson (1597?-1644), botanist and barber-surgeon. *Glasg. med. J*. 1940, 133, 201. Pedigree of Percivall Pott. *St Bart’s Hosp. J.* 1940, war edit., 2, 21. Purchase of land by the family of Dr Wm. Harvey. *Ann. med. Hist.* 1940, 2, 308. The journal and the profession: some memories. *Brit. med. J.* 1940, 2, 437. Power edited two volumes of articles reprinted from the *Medical Press and Circular: British masters of medicine*, 1936, including at p. 131 his own article “James Paget”; *British medical societies*, 1939, including at p. 58 his own article “The Abernethian Society.”
Resource Identifier RCS: E000530
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Radley Smith, Eric John (1910 - 2003)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2005-10-26
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000100-E000199
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372317372317
Occupation General surgeon
Details Eric John Smith was a consultant surgeon at the Royal Free Hospital, London. He was born on 31 March 1910 in Norwood, Surrey, the second son of Robert Percy and Edith Smith. His early life was overshadowed by the death from Hodgkin’s disease of his elder brother who had been a child prodigy, and Eric spent his schooldays trying to fulfill the promise of his brother. In this he was far from unsuccessful, winning prizes and commendations at all his schools – Paston’s in Norfolk, Haverford West Grammar and Sutton County Grammar (the moves being occasioned by his father’s work as a construction engineer). He went up to King’s College Hospital at the age of 17 and again distinguished himself, being rewarded with the Jelf medal and Huxley prize, as well as gaining four distinctions in his finals. A keen sportsman, he represented the college at cricket and rugby. He was proud of being the last house surgeon of Lord Lister’s last house surgeon (Arthur Edmunds) and was appointed as a surgical registrar at King’s, and later house surgeon at the National Hospital for Nervous Diseases. At the age of 29 he was appointed to consultant sessions at Brentford Hospital, thereby beginning an association with Brentford Football Club, one that lasted for the rest of his life, as he became in turn medical adviser, director and President. At the outbreak of the second world war he was appointed consultant general surgeon in the Emergency Medical Service at Horton Hospital, Epsom, in which over 60,000 patients were treated during the war. His special contribution was to act as triage officer at Epsom station when trainloads of casualties arrived, and with his quick assessment and remarkable memory he directed each one to the appropriate ward in the hospital. At the same time he was working at Hurstwood Park Neurological Hospital. When in 1946 he joined the Royal Air Force as a surgical specialist, he undertook further neurosurgical specialist duties. In 1948 he spent a year with Olivecrona in his neurosurgical unit in Sweden, one of the world’s pre-eminent centres. He was appointed as a consultant general surgeon at the Royal Free Hospital, continuing his interest in neurosurgery by undertaking some of the earliest prefrontal leucotomies in the UK. He also pioneered hypophysectomy in the treatment of breast cancer. It is curious that this most conservative of men should have made his special contribution in two of its most radical fields. He was also surgeon to the Royal Ear Nose and Throat Hospital, and much valued the work he was called upon to undertake in close association with his colleagues there, especially in the area of intracranial sepsis. During his active years, and indeed long into retirement, his expert opinion was much sought in legal cases, due to his clarity of thought and expression. In 1937 he married a King’s sister, Eileen Radley, not only incorporating her name with his as ‘Radley Smith’, but being called ‘Radley’ thereafter by all his colleagues and acquaintances. They had a son, Nigel, and three daughters, of whom the eldest, Rosemary, qualified in medicine and had a distinguished career as a paediatric cardiologist. Sadly his son predeceased him as a result of lung cancer. Despite the time he gave to football, almost never missing a Brentford match, Radley took a great interest in farming, specialising in raising dairy cattle. He died on 19 January 2003.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000130
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
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First Title value, for Searching Starr, Philip Alan John (1933 - 2003)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Stell, Philip Michael (1934 - 2004)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2005-10-26
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000100-E000199
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372319372319
Occupation Otolaryngologist ENT surgeon
Details Philip Stell had an outstanding career as a reconstructive surgeon, dealing with head and neck cancers, and went on to a successful second career in mediaeval history. He was born in Dewsbury, Yorkshire, on 14 August 1934, the son of Frank Law Stell, a tailor’s manager, and Ada née Davies. He was educated at Archbishop Holgate Grammar School, York, and Edinburgh University. After junior posts in Edinburgh and Liverpool, he won a fellowship to Washington University, St Louis, in 1956. He returned to Liverpool as a senior lecturer. In 1976 he wrote his masters thesis on skin grafting techniques, and in 1979 he became a professor. He dealt with all aspects of head and neck malignancies, and developed exceptional expertise in reconstruction, keeping detailed outcomes of his operations using a computerised database. He published some 346 articles in scientific journals, edited 12 books and contributed to a further 39. In 1975 he founded the journal *Clinical Otolaryngology* and set up the Otorhinolaryngological Research Society in 1978 (he was President from 1983 to 1986). He was President of the laryngological section of the Royal Society of Medicine, the Association of Head and Neck Oncologists of Great Britain and the Liverpool Medical Institution. He was Hunterian Professor of our College in 1976 and a regional adviser in ENT for the Mersey region. He was the recipient of numerous awards and medals, including the Yearsley gold medal, the Semon prize of the Royal Society of Medicine, the Harrison and the George Davey Howells prizes of the University of London, the Sir William Wilde gold medal of the Irish Otorhinolaryngolical Society in 1988, the Walter Jobson Horne prize of the British Medical Society in 1989, the gold medal of the Maria Sklodowska-Curie Memorial Cancer Center and the Institute of Oncology, 1989, and the gold medal of the German ENT Society in 1991. An associate member of the Institute of Linguists, he was fluent in Dutch, German, French and Spanish, and made it his practise to deliver overseas lectures in the local language, though his size (he was 6 feet 7 inches) made air travel uncomfortable. He translated 11 foreign language textbooks into English. In 1992, when he was only 57, he took early retirement due to ill health. He moved to York, the city he had grown up in, and began a second career in mediaeval history. He enrolled for an MA at York University, writing a thesis on medical care in late mediaeval York. He taught a speech recognition computer programme to recognise Latin, and set up unique databases for mediaeval Yorkshire wills and other documents, some going back to the 13th century, more than 300 years before parish registers began. For his contribution to history he was made a fellow of both the Society of Antiquaries and the Royal Historical Society. He married Shirley Kathleen Mills in 1959, by whom he had four sons and a daughter. Shirley predeceased him in April 2004. He died on 29 May 2004.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000132
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
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First Title value, for Searching McMullin, Joseph Patrick O'Byrne (1921 - 2003)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2006-12-19
JPEG Image
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000300-E000399
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372502372502
Occupation General surgeon
Details Joseph Patrick O’Byrne McMullin (initially known as ‘Shos’) was a general surgeon at St Vincent’s Hospital, St Stephen’s Green/Elm Park, Dublin. He was born in 1921, the eldest son of Joseph Columba McMullin, a surgeon at the Shiel Hospital, Ballyshannon, and later county surgeon in Cavan, and Mary Frances O’Byrne. He was educated at Clongowes Wood College, for which he played scrum half, and University College Dublin. After qualifying he was a house officer at St Vincent’s, St Stephen’s Green. He then went to London, where he was casualty officer at the Westminster Hospital and surgical registrar at St John and Elizabeth’s Hospital. In 1956 he was appointed surgeon to St Vincent’s Hospital, St Stephen’s Green, Dublin, from which he won a travelling scholarship to the Lahey Clinic in 1957. He was also general surgeon to St Luke’s and St Anne’s hospitals. He was president of the Irish Society of Gastroenterology from 1983 to 1984. In Dublin he was generally known to his colleagues as ‘Joe Mac’. After he retired he went to Baghdad as medical director and general/transplant surgeon at the Ibn Al Bitar Hospital until 1990. There he carried out more than 300 live donor renal transplants, as well as a large range of complicated general surgery, especially of the thyroid and biliary tree. Apart from surgery, his passion was his home, ‘Hawthorn’ in Blackrock. There he designed and built a tennis court and swimming pool, and re-roofed and redecorated the entire house with his own hands. An avid skier, he continued into his seventies, and was devoted to classical music and opera. He married Raphael Aglaia Devlin in 1949. They had two daughters, Daireen and Raphael (both nurses), and three sons, one of whom, Liam, is a general surgeon at the County Hospital, Roscommon. McMullin died on 10 May 2003.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000315
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
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First Title value, for Searching MacFaul, Peter Alexander James Marsh (1935 - 2003)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2008-01-24
Unknown
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URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372624372624
Occupation Ophthalmic surgeon
Details Peter MacFaul was a consultant ophthalmic surgeon in London. He was born on 17 April 1935 in Leigh, Lancashire, to Alexander MacFaul, a general practitioner, and Constance, a pharmacist. He had two elder siblings. The children initially had a governess for tuition at home, but then in September 1940 he began his formal education at Loretto Convent, Altrincham, and sang in the choir as a treble. In spite of illness at school, he had notable success: he was a member of several societies, played games and was awarded class medals. His medical education was at the Middlesex Hospital Medical School, where he qualified in November 1959. He specialised in ophthalmology, lectured at the Institute of Ophthalmology, and in 1970 was appointed consultant ophthalmic surgeon to the Middlesex Hospital. He was also consultant ophthalmic surgeon to the Royal National Orthopaedic and Royal Marsden hospitals (from 1978), the latter appointment reflecting his great expertise in ocular tumours. Many of his colleagues relied on his help in this field. Later he was appointed honorary consultant ophthalmic surgeon to the Western Ophthalmic Hospital. He travelled abroad, lecturing in Essen, Bonn, Amsterdam, Paris, Rome, Munich, Barcelona, Madrid, Copenhagen and the American University in Beirut. In 1980 he was appointed regional consultant to the DHSS. Sadly his health deteriorated and he retired from active work in the NHS in October 1982, though he was well enough to accept invitations from the Royal Commonwealth Institute for the Blind to visit Gambia, Nairobi and Harare, to advise on ophthalmic provision in these countries. He married Rosamund Machray, a nurse, in May 1967. They had a daughter, Alexandra and twin sons, Andrew and George. His daughter works in hotel management and catering. Andrew is a civil servant and George a gastroenterologist. Gradually, his health became worse and he was cared for full-time in a home in Bognor Regis. He died on 14 June 2003 from chronic pulmonary disease.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000440
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
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First Title value, for Searching Hodgson, Joseph (1788 - 1869)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2006-01-25 2012-03-22
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URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372377372377
Occupation General surgeon
Details Born at Penrith, Cumberland, the son of a Birmingham merchant. He was educated at King Edward VI's Grammar School and was apprenticed to George Freer, who was Surgeon to the Birmingham General Hospital from December, 1793, to the day of his death in December, 1823. Hodgson thus had much experience at the hospital, but, his father having fallen on evil days, owed the completion of his education to an uncle, who gave him £100. He entered St. Bartholomew's Hospital, and in 1811 gained the Jacksonian Prize for his essay on "Wounds and Diseases of the Arteries and Veins". The essay was expanded and was published in 1815 with a quarto volume of illustrative engravings from drawings made by the author. It was well received and was translated into French by M. Breschet. The drawings show that Hodgson was no mean artist. He practised at King Street, Cheapside, and eked out his scanty resources by taking pupils and acting as editor of the *London Medical Review*. He also served at the York Military Hospital, Westminster, where he remained for some time in comparatively comfortable pecuniary circumstances, but insufficient practice and a desire to marry his future wife, who was a sister of J. F. Ledsam, took him back to Birmingham in 1818, where he was welcomed and elected Surgeon to the Birmingham General Hospital in December, 1821, on the death of Samuel Dickenson. He soon attained a good practice, and had amongst his patients Sir Robert Peel and many members of his family, who were living at Drayton Hall, near Tamworth. Many years later - in 1850 - he was in personal attendance when the Prime Minister, who had just resigned his office, fell from his horse in Constitution Hill and received the injury which proved fatal. Hodgson resigned his post of Surgeon to the Hospital in April, 1848, and the Governors presented him with the portrait which now hangs in the Committee Room. In the autumn of 1823 he started a movement to establish an Eye Infirmary in Birmingham. It was successful, and the Charity was opened for the reception of patients on April 13th, 1824. He acted as sole Surgeon until May, 1828, when at his request Richard Middlemore (q.v.) was elected as his colleague. He was asked in 1840 to become Surgeon to the Middlesex Hospital and Professor of Surgery at King's College, but declined both offers. It was not until 1849, after having made a considerable fortune in Birmingham, chiefly by lithotomy, that he gave up his house in Hagley Road and returned to Westbourne Terrace, Hyde Park. He was elected a Member of the Council of the Royal College of Surgeons in 1849 and held office until 1868, being elected to the Court of Examiners, 1856-65; Chairman of the Midwifery Board, 1863; Vice-President, 1862 and 1863; and President, 1864. He delivered the Hunterian Oration in 1855. He was admitted F.R.S. on April 14th, 1831, and was President of the Medico-Chirurgical Society in 1851. He died on February 7th, 1869, twenty-four hours after his wife, and left one daughter. With the exception of Joseph Swan, Joseph Hodgson was the first provincial surgeon to become a Member of the Council of the Royal College of Surgeons, and he was the first surgeon from the provinces to be elected President. He was chosen because his reputation was not confined to the locality of a country town, but was great even in London. He was not brilliant as an operator, and, like most provincial and many London surgeons his contemporaries, he acted as a family practitioner. He was celebrated for the accuracy of his diagnosis, but his caution and his pessimistic prognosis did something to limit his practice. He was a good teacher and was fortunate in his pupils; in Birmingham he taught D. W. Crompton, S. H. Amphlett, Alfred Baker, and Oliver Pemberton; in London, William Bowman and Richard Partridge. Born a Conservatice, he had some lively passages at arms with his Radical fellow-citizens, but his benevolence and kindness of manner made him respected and beloved. He was consistently opposed to all reforms and steadfastly opposed the formation of a School of Medicine in Birmingham. The presentation portrait by John Partridge, painted in 1848, was engraved by Samuel Cousins in 1849. A proof, 'for subscribers only', is in the College Collection.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000190
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First Title value, for Searching Wormald, Thomas (1802 - 1873)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2006-01-25 2012-03-08
Unknown
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URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372378372378
Occupation General surgeon
Details Born at Pentonville in January, 1802, the son of John Wormald, who came of a Yorkshire family, a partner in Child's Bank, and Fanny, his wife. He was educated at the Grammar School of Batley in Yorkshire, and afterwards by the Rev. W. Heald, Vicar of Bristol in the came county. He was apprenticed to John Abernethy in 1818, lived in his house and became a friend. Abernethy used him as a prosector, caused him to teach the junior students, and made him assist Edward Stanley (q.v.) in his duties as Curator of the Hospital Museum. During his apprenticeship he visited the schools in Paris and saw something of the surgical practice of Dupuytren, Roux, Larrey, Cloquet, Cruveilhier, and Velpeau. When Abernethy resigned his lectureship Edward Stanley was appointed in his place, and it was arranged that Wormald should become a Demonstrator. But when the time arrived Frederic Carpenter Skey (q.v.), an earlier apprentice of Abernethy, was chosen, and 'Tommy', as he was known to everyone, was disappointed. He therefore became House Surgeon to William Lawrence, who was of the opposite faction, in October, 1824. It was not until 1826 that Wormald became Demonstrator of Anatomy conjointly with Skey, and when Skey seceded from the medical school to join the Aldersgate School of Medicine, Wormald remained as sole Demonstrator, and held the post for fifteen years. He was elected Assistant Surgeon to St. Bartholomew's Hospital on Feb. 13th, 1838, on the death of Henry Earle, and spent the next twenty-three years teaching in the out-patient department without charge of beds. He became full Surgeon on April 3rd, 1861, on the resignation of Eusebius Arthur Lloyd (q.v.), and was obliged to resign under the age rule on April 9th, 1867, when he was elected Consulting Surgeon. He was Consulting Surgeon to the Foundling Hospital from 1843-1864, where his kindness to the children was so highly appreciated that he received the special thanks of the Court of Management and was complimented by being elected a Governor. At the Royal College of Surgeons he was a Member of Council from 1840-1867, Hunterian Orator in 1857, a Member of the Court of Examiners from 1858-1868, and Chairman of the Midwifery Board in 1864. He served as Vice-President in 1863 and 1864, and was elected President in 1865. He married Frances Meacock in September, 1828, and by her had eight children. He died of cerebral haemorrhage after a few hours' illness whilst on a visit to the sick-bed of his brother at Gomersal, in Yorkshire, on Dec. 28th, 1873, and was buried in Highgate Cemetery. A pencil sketch by Sir William Ross (1846) is in the Conservators' Room at the Royal College of Surgeons, and a photograph taken later in life hangs by its side. Wormald was the last pupil of John Abernethy, and his death snapped the link connecting St. Bartholomew's Hospital with Hunterian surgery; but it is as a teacher of clinical surgery and not as a surgeon that Wormald is remembered. The long years first as a Demonstrator of Anatomy and afterwards in the out-patient room made him a teacher of the highest class. He was so perfect an assistant that it was said in jest he ought never to have been promoted. He is reported to have been cool, cautious, and safe as an operator, and in diagnosis remarkably correct, particularly in diseases and injuries of joints. He had some mechanical skill, for he invented a soft metal ring which was passed over the scrotum for the relief of varicocele, known as 'Wormald's ring', and would forge his own instruments. He read but little and trusted almost entirely to observation and experience. He exercised a great influence over students and put a permanent and effective stop to smoking and drinking in the dissecting-room. His manner was brusque but not offensive, and was modelled upon that of his master, John Abernethy, whose gestures and eccentricities he often mimicked. He drew well, and illustrated his demonstrations and lectures with freehand sketches on the blackboard. His style of speaking was easy, clear, and forcible. There was no hurry or waste of words, and he had the art of arresting and keeping the attention of his class, partly by his quaintness and originality, partly by his frequent reference to surgical points in the anatomy he was discussing, and partly by his inexhaustible fund of humour and of anecdotes, many of which were not quite proper. In person he was of a ruddy countenance, with light-brown hair lying thin and lank over his broad forehead, his eyes twinkling and roguish; his coat and waistcoat were 'farmer-like', his trousers tight-fitting, with pockets in which he usually kept his hands deeply plunged; his boots were thick and laced. He looked, indeed, more a farmer than a surgeon. PUBLICATIONS:- *A Series of Anatomical Sketches and Diagrams with Descriptions and References *(with A. M. MCWHINNIE, q.v.), 4to, London, 1838; re-issued in 1843. These sketches from one of the best series of anatomical plates made for the use of students. They are true to nature and not overloaded with detail.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000191
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First Title value, for Searching Partridge, Richard (1805 - 1873)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2006-01-25 2012-03-13
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Occupation General surgeon
Details The tenth child and seventh son of Samuel Partridge, of Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire. He was born on January 19th, 1805, and was apprenticed in 1821 to his uncle, W. H. Partridge, who practised in Birmingham. During his apprenticeship he acted as dresser to Joseph Hodgson (q.v.) at the Birmingham General Hospital. He entered St. Bartholomew's Hospital, London, in 1827 and attended the lectures of John Abernethy, acting afterwards as Demonstrator of Anatomy at the Windmill Street School of Medicine. He was appointed the first Demonstrator of Anatomy at King's College, London, when the medical faculty was instituted in 1831, and held the post until 1836, when he was promoted Professor of Descriptive and Surgical Anatomy in succession to Herbert Mayo (q.v.). John Simon (q.v.) became Demonstrator in his place two years later, in 1838. On November 5th, 1831, occurred the 'resurrectionist' case in London which was instrumental in causing the passing of the Anatomy Act in 1832. Bishop, Williams, and May brought the body of Carlo Ferrari, an Italian boy, to King's College asking nine guineas for it. Partridge, being on the alert owing to the Burke and Hare case in Edinburgh in 1830, suspected foul play and delayed payment until the police were informed, saying that he only had a £50 note for which he must get change. Bishop and Williams were hanged, May was respited and sentenced to transportation for life. On Dec. 23rd, 1836, Partridge was elected Visiting or Assistant Surgeon at Charing Cross Hospital; he was promoted to full Surgeon on January 8th, 1838, and resigned the office on April 13th, 1840, when he was appointed Surgeon to the newly established King's College Hospital in Clare Market. He remained Surgeon to King's College Hospital until 1870. In 1837 he was elected F.R.S. He held all the chief positions at the Royal College of Surgeons, serving as a Member of Council from 1852-1868; he was a Member of the Court of Examiners from 1864-1873; Chairman of the Midwifery Board in 1865; Hunterian Orator and Vice-President in the same year; and President in 1866. He filled many offices at the Royal Medico-Chirurgical Society, where he was elected a Fellow in 1828; he was Secretary from 1832-1836; a Member of Council 1837-1838, and again in 1861-1862; Vice-President, 1847-1848, President, 1863-1864. Partridge succeeded Joseph Henry Green (q.v.) as Professor of Anatomy at the Royal Academy in 1853. He had himself some skill in drawing, having taken lessons from his brother John, the portrait painter. In the autumn of 1862 he went to Spezzia, at the request of Garibaldi's English friends, in order to attend the general, who had been severely wounded in the right ankle-joint at the Battle of Aspromonte. Having no previous experience of gunshot wounds, he unfortunately "overlooked the presence of the bullet", which Nélaton afterwards localized by his porcelain-tipped probe, and it was subsequently extracted by Professor Zanetti. This failure did him much harm professionally, though Garibaldi himself always wrote to him in the kindest terms, and he died a poor man on March 25th, 1873. Partridge has been described as a fluent lecturer, an admirable blackboard draughtsman, an excellent clinical teacher, and one who, though he operated nervously, paid close attention to the after-treatment of his patients. He was a painstaking but not a brilliant surgeon; minute in detail and hesitating in execution - a striking contrast to the brilliant performances of his colleague, Sir William Fergusson. He was somewhat of a wit, and it is recorded of him that, being asked the names of his very sorry-looking carriage-horses, he replied that the name of one was 'Longissimus Dorsi', but that the other was the 'Os Innominatum'. This was to a student. He wrote very little, and his copiously illustrated work on descriptive anatomy was never printed. There is a portrait of him by George Richmond, R.A., which was engraved by Francis Holl. There are in addition a lithograph by Maguire, dated 1845, and a photograph of a picture by an unknown artist representing Partridge attending the wounded Garibaldi; it is reproduced in the centenary number of the Lancet (1923, ii, 700, fig. 10).
Resource Identifier RCS: E000192
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First Title value, for Searching Hilton, John (1805 - 1878)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2006-02-01 2012-03-22
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Occupation Anatomist General surgeon
Details Born at Sible Hedingham, a small village on the River Colne in the heart of Essex, on September 22nd, 1805, the first son of John and Hannah Hilton. His parents were in humble circumstances when he was born, but his father afterwards made money in the straw-plaiting industry, became the owner of some brickfields, and built the house in Swan Street which is still called Hilton House. In addition to John, the Hilton family consisted of a brother, Charles, who inherited his father's property, and two sisters, one of whom, Anne, married Charles Fagge on December 27th, 1836. Hilton was educated at Chelmsford and afterwards at Boulogne, and became a student at Guy's Hospital about 1824. Guy's separated from St. Thomas's during his student career, and he was appointed Demonstrator of Anatomy under Bransby Cooper (q.v.), his fellow-demonstrator being Edward Cock (q.v.), in 1828. The two demonstrators worked together in friendly rivalry, and when Sir Astley Cooper proposed that they should investigate the origin and distribution of the superior laryngeal nerve, Cock undertook the comparative and Hilton the human anatomy side of the question. The results were largely instrumental in causing his election as F.R.S. in 1839. From 1828 Hilton devoted himself so assiduously to the dissecting-room as to acquire the sobriquet 'Anatomical John'. When he was not dissecting or teaching he was making post-mortem examinations, and after sixteen years of this work he had gained an unrivalled knowledge of the anatomy of the human body and had become a first-rate teacher and lecturer. About 1838 he was engaged in making those dissections which, modelled in wax by Joseph Towne, still remain as gems in the Museum of Guy's Hospital. For this purpose Hilton spent an hour or two every morning in making a most careful dissection of some very small part of the body - usually not more than an inch or two. He then left, and Towne copied the dissection in wax. Towne worked alone in a locked room, and the secrets of his art died with him. Hilton was elected Lecturer on Anatomy in 1845 and resigned in 1853. As a lecturer and teacher he was admirable, for he had the power of interesting students by putting the trite and oft-told facts of anatomy in a totally new light, the result of his own observation and experience. He combined, too, elementary physiology with anatomy, for the two subjects had not then been separated. He was, however, a confirmed teleologist and tried to prove that anatomical distribution was due to design rather than to development. He had neither the education nor the inclination to appreciate anatomy in its scientific aspects. Hilton was elected Assistant Surgeon to Guy's Hospital in 1844, Thomas Callaway and Edward Cock being his colleagues, whilst John Morgan, Aston Key, and Bransby Cooper were full Surgeons. He thus had the distinction of being the first surgeon at one of the large London hospitals who was appointed without having served an apprenticeship either to the hospital or to one of its Surgeons. In 1847 James Paget was elected to a similar position at St. Bartholomew's Hospital without either of these qualifications, and the rule previously looked upon as inviolate soon became more honoured in the breach than in the observance. Hilton's period of probation in the out-patient room was of short duration. Aston Key (q.v.) died of cholera after an illness of twenty hours in 1849, and Hilton as the Senior Assistant Surgeon was promoted to fill his place. The ordeal was trying, for he had been an anatomist all his life and had never had charge of beds, but he came well through it. He did not acquire the brilliancy or expertness of the older surgeons, but the very exactness of his anatomical knowledge made him a careful operator. His caution is still remembered by that method of opening deeply-seated abscesses with a probe and dressing forceps after making an incision through the skin, which is known as 'Hilton's method'. He shone especially in clinical lectures, where he brought out the importance of every detail in a case, and so linked them together as to form a continuous chain which interested even the idlest student. He attracted to himself the best type of men, and to be a dresser to Hilton was considered a blue ribbon at the hospital. Yet he was no easy master to serve, for he was rough in speech and was prone to indulge in personalities designed to hurt the *amour propre* of those to whom they were addressed. At the Royal College of Surgeons Hilton was chosen a life-member of the Council in 1854. He lectured as Hunterian Professor of Human Anatomy and Surgery from 1859-1862, but it was not until 1865 that he became a Member of the Court of Examiners, a post he held for ten years. He served as Vice-President during the years 1865 and 1866, and was elected President in 1867, the year in which he delivered the Hunterian Oration. He resigned the Lectureship on Surgery at Guy's Hospital in 1870, though he continued to practise at 10 New Broad Street, E.C. In 1871 he was appointed Surgeon Extraordinary to Queen Victoria, and in the same year he was President of the Pathological Society. He married twice, and his children survived him. He died at Clapham of cancer of the stomach on September 14th, 1878. Hilton's claim to remembrance rests upon his essay "On the Influence of Mechanical and Physiological Rest in the Treatment of Accidents and Surgical Disease and the Diagnostic Value of Pain". The essay was delivered as his course of Arris and Gale Lectures at the Royal College of Surgeons in the years 1860, 1861, and 1862, with the title "Pain and Therapeutic Influences of Mechanical and Physiological Rest in the Treatment of Surgical Diseases and Accidents". It was published as an octavo volume in 1863; the second edition, with the shortened title *On Rest and Pain*, edited by W. H. A. Jacobson (q.v.), appeared in 1877; the third in 1880; the fourth in 1887; and the fifth in 1892. All the issues except the first are duodecimos; the third, fourth, and fifth contain no material changes. *Rest and Pain* is interesting historically as showing the state of surgery in a large general hospital when its practice was based entirely upon anatomy and was devoid of the assistance it now derives from histology, bacteriology, and anaesthetics. It bears perhaps the same relation to modern surgery as Chambers's *Vestiges of Creation* bears to modern geology and biology. There is much morbid anatomy, and great common sense mingled with very crude speculation. It remains a fascinating work, written by one who, though a master of one side of his subject, was unable to see the whole, partly because he was insufficiently acquainted with advances of his contemporaries, and partly because the means for developing the scientific aspects of surgery were not in existence. The particular points upon which Hilton laid stress in his lectures were the blocking of the foramen of Magendie in some cases of internal hydrocephalus; the cautious opening of deep abscesses; the pain referred to the knee by patients with hip disease and its anatomical explanation; the cause of triple displacement in chronic tuberculous disease of the knee; and the importance of the early diagnosis and treatment of hip disease. All this and many other things which are now the commonplaces of surgery, Hilton set out in *Rest and Pain*, in which the naïve description of his cases and their treatment is by no means the least attractive feature. It was said that no one looking at Hilton would have taken him for a great surgeon: he appeared much more like a prosperous City man. Short, rather stout, and plodding in his walk; dapper in a plain frock-coat with a faultless shirt front, a black stock or bow-tie, a fancy waistcoat festooned with a long gold chain which was hung from the neck; always in boots irreproachably blackened at a time when Warren's and Day & Martn's blackings were at the height of their vogue - such was the picture of Hilton as he sat on the bed of a patient in one of his wards examining an inflamed ulcer with a probe to determine the position of any exposed nerve. A life-size half-length oval portrait of Hilton by Henry Barraud (1811-1874) hangs in the Conservator's room at the College. It was presented by Mrs. Hilton in 1879. There is a photograph in the New Sydenham Society's "Portraits by President" portfolio; and a medallion given by Mrs. Oldham to C. H. A. Golding-Bird, F.R.C.S., in 1894 hangs in the Librarian's room at the College.
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First Title value, for Searching Quain, Richard (1800 - 1887)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2006-02-01 2012-03-09
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URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372381372381
Occupation General surgeon
Details Born in Fermoy, Co. Cork, in July, 1800, the third son of Richard Quain, of Ratheahy, Co. Cork, by his first wife - a Miss Jones. Jones Quain (1796-1865), the anatomist, was his full brother, and Sir John Richard Quain (1816-1876), Judge of the Queen's Bench, was his half-brother. Sir Richard Quain, Bart. (1816-1898) was his cousin. Richard Quain was educated at Adair's School in Fermoy, and after apprenticeship to an Irish surgeon came to London and entered the Aldersgate School of Medicine under the supervision of Jones Quain, his brother, for whom he acted as prosector. He afterwards went to Paris and attended the lectures of Richard Bennett, who lectured privately on anatomy and was an Irish friend of his father. Bennett was appointed in 1828 a Demonstrator of Anatomy in the newly constituted School of the University of London - now University College - and Quain acted as his assistant. Bennett died in 1830 and Quain became Senior Demonstrator of Anatomy, Sir Charles Bell being Professor of General Anatomy and Physiology. When Bell resigned the Chair Richard Quain was appointed Professor of Descriptive Anatomy in 1832, Erasmus Wilson (q.v.), Thomas Morton (q.v.), John Marshall (q.v.), and Victor Ellis (q.v.) acting successively as his demonstrators. He held office until 1850. Quain was elected the first Assistant Surgeon to University College - then called the North London - Hospital in 1834. He succeeded, after a stormy progress, to the office of full Surgeon and Special Professor of Clinical Surgery in 1848, resigning in 1866, when he was appointed Consulting Surgeon and Emeritus Professor of Clinical Surgery. At the Royal College of Surgeons he was a Member of the Council from 1854-1873; a Member of the Court of Examiners, 1865-1870; Chairman of the Midwifery Board, 1867; Vice-President, 1866 and 1867; President, 1868; Hunterian Orator, 1869; and Representative of the College at the General Medical Council, 1870-1876. He was elected F.R.S. on Feb. 29th, 1844, and was Surgeon Extraordinary to Queen Victoria. He married in 1859 Ellen, Viscountess Midleton, widow of the fifth Viscount, but had no children. She died before him. He died on Sept. 15th, 1887, and was buried at Finchley. The bulk of his fortune of £75,000 was left to University College to encourage and promote general education in modern languages (especially the English language and the composition of that language) and in natural science. The Quain Professorship of English Language and Literature and the Quain Studentship and Prizes were endowed from this bequest. Quain himself had received a liberal education, and one of his hobbies was to write and speak English correctly. Quain was a short and extremely pompous little man. He went round his wards with a slow and deliberate step, his hands deep in his pockets and his hat on his head. As a surgeon he was cautious rather than demonstrative, painstaking rather than brilliant, but in some measure he made up for his lack of enterprise with the knife by his insistence on an excellent clinical routine, and he was a careful teacher. He had a peculiar but intense dread of the occurrence of haemorrhage. He devoted especial attention to diseases of the rectum. "Even such a matter as clearing out the scybala had to be performed in his wards in a deliberate manner, under his own superintendence." He had certain stock clinical lectures which he delivered each year, and one of these was on the ill consequences attending badly fitting boots, which he illustrated profusely by the instruments of torture called boots devised by some shoemakers. He edited his brother's *Elements of Anatomy* (5th ed., 1843-8), and was author of a superbly illustrated work, *The Anatomy of the Arteries of the Human Body* (8vo, with folding atlas of plates, London, 1844), deduced from observations upon 1040 subjects. The splendid plates illustrating this were drawn by Joseph Maclise (q.v.), brother of the great artist, and the explanation of the plates is by his cousin Richard Quain, M.D. (afterwards Sir Richard). He also published *Diseases of the Rectum* (8vo, London, 1854; 2nd ed., 1855), and *Clinical Lectures* (8vo, London, 1884). He was an unamiable colleague, for he was of a jealous nature and prone to impute improper motives to all who differed from him. He quarrelled at one time or another with most of the staff of University College Hospital. In these quarrels he sided with Elliotson and Samuel Cooper against Liston and Anthony Todd Thomson. At the College of Surgeons he was strictly conservative, and apt to urge views on educational subjects which did not commend themselves to the majority of his colleagues. A life-size half-length portrait in oils painted by George Richmond, R.A., hangs in the Secretary's office at the Royal College of Surgeons, and in the Council Room is a bust by Thomas Woolner, R.A.; it was presented by Miss Dickinson in December, 1887.
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First Title value, for Searching Halton, John Prince (1797 - 1873)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2006-02-01 2012-03-28
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000100-E000199
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372382372382
Occupation General surgeon
Details The eldest son of the Rev John Halton, MA, St Peter's, Chester; educated at the University of Edinburgh and at Guy's Hospital under Sir Astley Cooper. After Continental travel he settled in Liverpool, and in 1820 was elected Surgeon to the Royal Infirmary, an appointment he held until 1856, when he became Consulting Surgeon. In 1844 he published a pamphlet attacking the heavy mortality following operations at the Liverpool Northern Hospital, as compared with that at the Royal Infirmary during the previous twenty-two years. The reply by the Surgeons of the Northern Hospital as to the salubrity and ventilation of the building breathes a considerable spirit of deference to Halton. He caused a rule to be passed excluding the Surgeons at the Royal Infirmary from the practice of pharmacy, for a surgeon, he said, should restrict himself to cases in surgery. Further, he advocated education at universities and large centres of population. Thus, as a successor of Park and of Hanson, Halton did much to advance the reputation of surgery in Liverpool. He retired from practice in 1885 and died at Woodclose, Grasmere, Westmorland, on Jan 27th, 1873. He married in early life; his wife, a daughter of John Foster, of Liverpool, died in 1871.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000195
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
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First Title value, for Searching Fergusson, Sir William (1808 - 1877)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2006-02-01 2012-03-22
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Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000100-E000199
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372383372383
Occupation General surgeon
Details Born at Prestonpans on March 20th, 1808, the son of James Fergusson. He was educated at Lochmaben, Dumfriesshire, at the High School, and at the University of Edinburgh. He was placed by his own desire in a lawyer's office at the age of 15, but finding the work uncongenial he changed law for medicine when he was 17. He became a pupil of Robert Knox, the anatomist, then at the height of his reputation, who appointed him demonstrator in 1828, when the class consisted of 504 students and the lectures had to be repeated thrice daily. Fergusson quickly became a skilled anatomist, and it is said that he often spent sixteen hours a day in the dissecting-room, and he soon began to lecture in association with Knox. He was elected Surgeon to the Edinburgh Royal Dispensary in 1831, and in that year tied the third part of the right subclavian artery for an axillary aneurysm, an operation which had been published only twice previously in Scotland. He described the appearances seen at the post-mortem examination in the *London and Edinburgh Journal of Medical Science* (1841, i, 617). In 1855 he employed the dangerous method of direct compression of a subclavian aneurysm (*Lancet*, 1855, ii, 197). He married Helen Hamilton Ranken on Oct. 10th, 1833. She was the daughter and heiress of William Ranken, of Spittlehaugh, Peebleshire, and the marriage at once placed Fergusson in easy circumstances. He continued zealous in his profession, and in 1836, when he was elected Surgeon to the Royal Infirmary and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, he shared with James Syme (q.v.) the best surgical practice in Scotland. In 1840 Fergusson accepted the Professorship of Surgery at King's College, London, with the Surgeoncy to King's College Hospital, which was then situated in the slums of Clare Market. He settled at Dover Street, Piccadilly, whence he removed in 1847 to George Street, Hanover Square. His fame brought crowds of students to King's College Hospital to witness his operations. He became Member of the College of Surgeons in 1840, Fellow in 1844, was a Member of Council from 1861-1877, and of the Court of Examiners from 1867-1870, Vice-President in 1869, President in 1870, and Hunterian Orator in 1871. As Arris and Gale Lecturer he delivered two courses on "The Progress of Anatomy and Surgery during the Present Century", in 1864 and 1865. In these lectures Fergusson mentioned three hundred successful operations for hare-lip performed by himself. In 1849 he was appointed Surgeon in Ordinary to Prince Albert, and in 1855 Surgeon Extraordinary to H. M. the Queen. He was made a baronet in 1866, and Serjeant-Surgeon in 1867. The occasion of his receiving a baronetcy was seized upon to make a presentation of a dessert service of silver plate which was subscribed for by three hundred of his old pupils. He was elected F.R.S. in 1848, President of the Pathological Society in 1859-1860, and of the British Medical Association in 1873, and Hon. LL.D of Edinburgh in 1875. He resigned the office of Professor of Surgery at King's College in 1870, but retained the post of Clinical Professor of Surgery and Surgeon to the hospital until his death. He invented the term 'conservative surgery', by which he meant the excision of a joint rather than the amputation of a limb. He introduced great improvements in the treatment of hare-lip and cleft palate, and his style of operating attracted general attention and admiration. As an operator, indeed, he is justly placed at the pinnacle of fame. Lizars said he had seen no one, not even Liston himself, surpass Fergusson in a trying and critical operation, and his biographer, Mr. Bettany, says in the *Dictionary of National Biography*: "His manipulative and mechanical skill was shown both in his mode of operating and in the new instruments which he devised. The bulldog forceps, the mouth-gag, and various bent knives for cleft palate, attest his ingenuity. A still higher mark of his ability consisted in his perfect planning of every detail of an operation beforehand; no emergency was unprovided for. Thus, when an operation had begun, he proceeded with remarkable speed and silence till the end, himself applying every bandage and plaster, and leaving, as far as possible, no traces of his operation. So silently were most of his operations conducted, that he was often imagined to be on bad terms with his assistants." Fergusson was celebrated as a lithotomist and lithoritist, and it was said that to *wink* during one of his cutting operations for stone might involve one's seeing no operation at all, so rapidly was the work performed by that master hand. On one occasion when performing a lithotomy the blade of the knife broke away from the handle. He at once seized the blade in his long deft fingers, finished the operation, and quietly told the class: "Gentlemen, you should be prepared for any emergency." He died in London of Bright's disease on Feb. 10th, 1877, and was buried at West Linton, Peebleshire, beside his wife, who died in 1860. He was succeeded in the title by his sons, James Ranken; a younger son, Charles Hamilton, entered the Army, and there were three daughters. Fergusson's personality was marked. Tall and of fine presence, with very large and powerful hands, he was genial and hospitable. He was beloved by hosts of students whom he had started in life, and of patients whom he had aided gratuitously. Those who could afford to pay sometimes gave him very large sums for an operation. Like John Hunter, he was a good carpenter, and had besides a number of social pursuits and accomplishments. He was a staunch friend, forgiving to those, such as Syme, who opposed him, and his best monument is the life and work of the many pupils whom he influenced and stimulated as few have ever done. He made many contributions to surgical literature, and wrote a *System of Practical Surgery*, of which a fifth edition appeared in 1870. An expressive and nearly full length oil painting of Fergusson by Rudolf Lehmann hangs in the Secretary's office at the College, and there are numbers of portraits in the College Collection. The portrait was painted in 1874, and a replica hangs in the Edinburgh College of Physicians. He was extremely social and given to kind and friendly hospitality in private life. He sometimes invited a small circle of friends to dine at a well-known city hostelry, The Albion Tavern. On one of these occasions he invited the then Editor of *Punch*, who responded in these terms: "Look out for me at seven, look after me at eleven. - Yours, Mark Lemon." PUBLICATIONS:- *A System of Practical Surgery*, of which the first edition in 18mo was published in London, 1842; 2nd ed., in 12mo, 1846; 3rd., 1852; 4th ed., 1857; 5th ed., 1870. The work deals with the art rather than the science of surgery, and was a good text-book for medical students. Paper on lithotrity in the *Edin. Med. and Surg. Jour.*, 1835, xliv, 80. Paper on cleft palate in the *Med.-Chir. Trans.,* 1845, xxviii, 273. The Hunterian Oration, 8vo, 1871, is chiefly remarkable for the generous eulogium of James Syme, his former colleague, with whom relations had been somewhat strained.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000196
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
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First Title value, for Searching Busk, George (1807 - 1886)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Humby, Martin Douglas (1939 - 2007)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2009-02-26
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Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000500-E000599
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372779372779
Occupation General surgeon
Details Martin Humby was a surgeon at Lymington Hospital in the New Forest, Hampshire. An outstanding surgeon, dedicated family man, accomplished musician, sailor and furniture maker, he served his community well. He was born in Ashurst, in the New Forest, on 26 December 1939, the son of Lester Humby, an insurance agent, and Kathleen Anne Humby, a housewife. He was educated locally at Colbury and in Southampton, leaving at the age of 16 without any qualifications. He applied to join the Royal Navy, but failed to gain entry, so undertook casual labouring jobs, cutting hedges in the New Forest. His first hospital job was as a porter at Southampton General hospital, which was followed by becoming first a laboratory assistant and then a theatre technician at the age of 18. There he was so efficient and outstanding that Shackleton, the senior consultant anaesthetist at the hospital, urged Martin to attend evening classes at Southampton Technical College, to gain the necessary qualifications to try for medical school. He began his medical training at University College Hospital in 1966 at the age of 26. In 1970 he met Rosalind (‘Ros’), who was nursing at the Royal South Hampshire Hospital. They married just before he qualified at the age of 31 in 1971. He began his house jobs at Southampton General Hospital. He was then appointed as an anatomy demonstrator, rotating with a senior house officer post in the accident and emergency department, from which he passed the primary FRCS. He went on be a senior house officer at Salisbury District Hospital under Bonar Mackie. He was then appointed to the surgical registrar rotation post between Bournemouth and Southampton, during which he passed the final FRCS. He was then appointed to locum senior registrar positions in Basingstoke, Chichester and London, but had difficulty in obtaining a substantive senior registrar post, so in 1978 he began a GP training post in Lyndhurst, combining this with a temporary lecturer post at Southampton University in general surgery and urology, during which he carried out a review of the results of treatment of renal cell carcinoma. By now he had family responsibilities, and was advised to give up the quest for senior registrar posts. He began work as a part-time hospital practitioner at Lymington Hospital under Frank McGinn and Chris Smart, and combined this with a part-time general practice appointment at Lyndhurst. He was very successful in both posts: his patients loved him. He was so conscientious that he began extra fracture clinics and theatre lists in the hospital. He also became a local police surgeon and in 1993 became the hospital manager at Lymington. In 1994 new regulations obliged him to choose between general practice and surgery: he chose the latter, despite a reduction in salary, and he was appointed associate specialist surgeon at Lymington in general surgery and urology. He continued regular fracture clinics for the orthopaedic surgeons and performed cystoscopy and endoscopy lists. His general surgery included colectomies, cholecystectomies and thyroidectomies. He was chairman of the Lymington Hospital medical staff committee from 1991 to 1993. He took up the trombone in 1988 and this gave way to the drums in 1990. He had a natural musical talent and played regularly for the Foresters Jazz Band. He was a keen and skilful sailor, competing at Lymington and Cowes in his beloved, all-wooden sailing boat. Martin’s carpentry and furniture making was of a high standard and his chairs, drawers and dressers are fine testimonies to his skill and manual dexterity. Martin developed pain in the back in 1993 while antifouling his boat. X-rays revealed multiple myeloma with collapse of the atlas vertebra. Despite radiotherapy and two marrow transplants, during subsequent years he relapsed. Martin became part-time in 2005. His last operating list was performed three weeks before he died from pneumonia on 18 May 2007. He left his widow Ros, who is still working as a nurse at Lymington Hospital, three daughters, Ellinor (a GP in Bristol), Rebecca and Isabel, and two grandchildren. He is sorely missed at Lymington Hospital, where one of the two new theatres is named after him.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000596
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
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First Title value, for Searching Smith, George Malcolm Ross (1936 - 2008)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Orr, Wilbert McNeill (1930 - 2008)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2009-02-26
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URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372781372781
Occupation General surgeon Transplant surgeon
Details Wilbert McNeill Orr, known as ‘Willie’, was a renal transplant researcher and surgeon, and later a general surgeon in Manchester. He was born on 3 April 1930 in Trim, County Meath, Ireland, the son of David Orr, a bank manager, and Wilamena McNeill, a teacher. He attended Sligo Grammar School and entered Trinity College, Dublin, for his medical studies. In addition to his scholastic work, he became an enthusiastic oarsman and was captain of the senior eight rowing team that came third in the head of the river race at Putney and made the final of the Ladies’ Plate at Henley. In the last year of his studies he was a demonstrator in physiology at Trinity College Dublin Medical School and took a house physician’s post at Steeven’s Hospital, Dublin, under the watchful eye of P B B Gatenby. Wilbert Orr then went to the England for a house surgeon post, working at the Birmingham Accident Centre, before undertaking his first senior house officer post at the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre in Oxford in 1956. Deciding on a surgical career, he studied for the primary FRCS at the College on the basic sciences course. He passed this examination, before becoming senior house officer to Sir Stanford Cade at the Westminster Hospital, London. Going further north to gain more experience, he undertook a senior house officer post at the Manchester Royal Infirmary (MRI) and showed his teaching skills shortly afterwards as tutor in surgery at the MRI. During two years’ of National Service in the RAMC, he was a junior specialist in surgery with the rank of captain, serving with the Cameroon Force in West Africa. Returning as tutor in clinical surgery at the Manchester Royal Infirmary, Willie spent a year in this post in 1962, before becoming assistant lecturer. An early joint publication with Kenneth Bloor was a case report on ‘haemorrhage from ileal varices due to portal hypertension’: this was the forerunner of many joint papers and lectures over the years. In 1964 he was research fellow at the Paterson Laboratories of the Christie Hospital and Holt Radium Institute, the first of many academic posts with a research interest in surgery. Senior registrar training was undertaken at a combined post at the Postgraduate Medical School, Hammersmith Hospital, London, with Ralph Shackman, before he returned to Manchester as a lecturer in surgery. Some research work on renal function with Geoffrey Chisholm, then in London, led to other publications, as did his later stay in Manchester with Athol G Riddell on such diverse subjects as ‘the management of arterial emboli’ and ‘chemotherapy in the treatment of cancer’. Riddell was later translated to the chair in Bristol. During this lectureship he worked in the research laboratories of the Harvard Medical School under Francis D Moore, Moseley professor of surgery and surgeon-in-chief at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston. Willie became involved in the dog liver transplantation work, or the ‘Sputnik’ programme, as did so many other research fellows. Some of this work was later submitted for the degree of master of surgery at the University of Manchester. He also worked with Joseph E Murray, who in 1990 received a Nobel prize for his pioneering renal transplantation work. Some joint publications and lectures followed on the survival of both liver and kidney transplants from this one year stay in the USA. Returning to Manchester as lecturer in surgery with honorary consultant status in 1967, he was promoted to senior lecturer and became director of the renal transplantation unit. He was a founder member of the British Transplantation Society and, from 1969 to 1985, an elected non-professorial member of Senate, sub-dean of clinical studies at the University of Manchester and for 10 years Royal College of Surgeons of England tutor at the Manchester Royal Infirmary. His last 16 years, from 1974 until retirement in 1990, were spent as a consultant in general surgery, where he was happy to display the diverse range of ‘specialties’ in which he had been trained. He remained a member of the Vascular Society, the Surgical Research Society and the British Society for Immunology. As a fellow of the Association of Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland he served on its council. Wilbert McNeill Orr married Ann Fullerton, a physiotherapist, in 1955. They had five children: Jane became a nurse, Michael an orthopaedic surgeon and a fellow of the College, Anthony a general practitioner, Robert an actor and Susan a speech therapist. Willie Orr maintained a balanced lifestyle with outside interests in fly fishing, clock making and gardening. He died on 30 June 2008.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000598
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
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First Title value, for Searching Cooke, Timothy Gordon (1947 - 2008)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Sir Barry Jackson
Publication Date 2009-03-13
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000500-E000599
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372782372782
Occupation General surgeon
Details Tim Cooke, St Mungo professor of surgery at the University of Glasgow, was tragically killed at the age of 60 in a car accident when returning from a continental holiday with his wife and two of his six children. He was one of the UK’s leading academic surgeons, contributing extensively to research in surgical oncology with a special interest in breast disease. He was born in Birkenhead, on the Wirral. His father, Gordon George Cooke, was a sales consultant and his mother, Jeane Catherine Bremner née Mathieson, a ward clerk. He received his schooling at the Birkenhead Institute, before spending a year in Ghana working with Voluntary Services Overseas. He then proceeded to Liverpool University Medical School, qualifying in 1973. After house jobs, he entered surgical training at Royal Liverpool Hospital, including a two-year research appointment in the professorial surgical unit under the direction of Robert (later Sir Robert) Shields. His research centred on aspects of the biology of breast cancer and led to a successful MD thesis, a Hunterian professorship in 1980 and a lifelong interest in malignant breast disease. In 1980 Tim Cooke moved to Southampton as a lecturer in surgery, where he undertook research into colorectal cancer and in 1983 was appointed senior lecturer at the Charing Cross and Westminster Medical School, where he remained for three years. In 1986 he moved back to the academic department of surgery in Liverpool with honorary consultant status at the Royal Liverpool Hospital. In 1989 he was appointed to the St Mungo chair of surgery at the University of Glasgow. Over the next 20 years he contributed enormously to the research literature on breast cancer. He published almost 200 peer-reviewed papers, supervised some 25 postgraduates to obtain higher degrees, was a member of several editorial boards, edited two books, contributed chapters to several more and examined for 13 universities in the UK and abroad. He gave many invited lectures and brought substantial funding to his department. In 1996 he was elected to the prestigious James IV Association of Surgeons, a body whose active membership comprises only 100 practising surgeons worldwide. In addition to his academic endeavours he played a major part in improving NHS breast services in the Glasgow region and was also heavily involved in the wider NHS reorganisation which became necessary in greater Glasgow. He was a keen and enthusiastic teacher and universally popular with students. Outside of work, Tim led a full and varied life. He was widely read and, having attended the same school as the First World War poet Wilfred Owen, was especially knowledgeable about war poetry. He was a keen sportsman, enjoying sailing, skiing and riding. He played tennis and squash, ran marathons and rode mountain bikes. He was a longstanding supporter of Liverpool Football Club, a saxophonist, a bon vivant and a superb storyteller. Married to Lynn (née Russell), a consultant ENT surgeon, he had six children – Emma, Sophie, Ben, James, Esme and Cameron. He died returning from a sailing holiday on 20 July 2008.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000599
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
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First Title value, for Searching Bond, Alec Graeme (1926 - 2004)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2005-09-07
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000000-E000099
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372211372211
Occupation Gynaecologist
Details Alec Graeme ‘Chick’ Bond was a gynaecologist in Melbourne, Australia. He was born in Geelong, Victoria, on 18 September 1926, the son of Alec William Bond, a civil engineer, and May née Webb, the daughter of a grazier. He was educated at Wesley College, Melbourne, and then went on to Melbourne University. He spent time studying in the UK, gaining the fellowships of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and of England. When he returned to Australia he became a fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons and of the Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, serving as secretary to the Australian Regional Council in 1975 and 1976. He was head of the gynaecology unit of Prince Henry’s Hospital, Melbourne, from 1968 to 1991 and was universally recognised as a skilled surgeon. He married June Lorraine née Hanlon, a trained nurse, in 1953 and they had two children, a son who became a solicitor and a daughter who became a teacher. He died on 27 January 2004.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000024
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
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First Title value, for Searching Boustany, Wa'el Seifeddin (1931 - 2004)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2005-09-14
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000000-E000099
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372212372212
Occupation Orthopaedic surgeon
Details Wa’el Seifeddin Boustany was a consultant orthopaedic surgeon. He was born in Damascus, Syria, into a medical family. He studied medicine in Damascus and then came to England for postgraduate training. After completing several house posts, he went to the Adelaide Hospital, Dublin, as an orthopaedic registrar. He then moved to the South Infirmary in Cork, where he worked for many years. In 1978 he returned to Damascus, where he was in private practice. In 1989 he went to work at Al-Noor Hospital, Abu Dhabi, where he remained until he retired in 1998. He died of prostatic cancer on 16 December 2004, leaving a wife, Catherine, and four sons.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000025
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
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First Title value, for Searching Paget, Sir James (1814 - 1899)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2006-02-13 2012-03-13
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Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000200-E000299
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372388372388
Occupation General surgeon
Details Born at Great Yarmouth on Jan. 11th, 1814, the eighth of seventeen children of Samuel Paget by Sarah Elizabeth, his wife, daughter of Thomas Tolver, of Chester. Sir George Edward Paget (1809-1892), Regius Professor of Physic at Cambridge, was a brother. The father was a brewer and a shipowner who served the office of Mayor of Great Yarmouth in 1817. He got into financial difficulties when shipping fell away after the Napoleonic Wars, and incurred debts which were afterwards honourably discharged by the self-denying efforts of George and James Paget. James Paget went to a private school in Yarmouth, and subsequently extended his education, which included a knowledge of German, by private study. He was apprenticed in 1830 to Charles Costerton, who had been educated at St. Bartholomew's Hospital, was admitted a Member of the College of Surgeons in 1810, and was Surgeon to the Yarmouth Hospital and Dispensary. During his apprenticeship James Paget found time to write, with his brother Charles, *A Sketch of the Natural History of Yarmouth and its Neighbourhood, containing Catalogues of the Species of Animals, Birds, Reptiles, Fish, Insects and Plants at present known,* printed by F. Skill at Yarmouth in 1834 and sold at the price of half a crown. It was written in the hope of making a little money for current expenses, but it had the good fortune of bringing the authors under the notice of Sir William Hooker, the Regius Professor of Botany in Glasgow, who had been educated in Norfolk. Paget came to London and entered St. Bartholomew's Hospital as a medical student on Oct. 1st, 1834. Whilst dissecting on Jan. 2nd, 1835, his attention was drawn to numerous gritty specks in the muscles of the subject. He took some of the tissue to John George Children, principal Keeper of the Zoological Department at the British Museum, who sent him on to Robert Brown, Keeper of the Botanical Collection, as Children did not own a microscope. Paget made a careful study of the parasite, and his original sketches are preserved in the Library of the Royal College of Suregons. The preparation was examined by Richard Owen (q.v.), who determined the nematoid nature of the worm, named it *Trichina spiralis*, and took the credit. In 1835-1836 Paget acted as Clinical Clerk to Dr. Peter Mere Latham (1789-1875), because he could not afford the 'dressing fee' payable to the Surgeons of the Hospital, and he therefore never became a house surgeon. He was admitted a Member of the Royal College of Surgeons of England in the spring of 1836, and after a short visit to Paris settled in London and supported himself by teaching and writing. He was sub-editor of *The Medical Gazette* from 1837-1842, and in 1841 he was elected Surgeon to the Finsbury Dispensary. At St. Bartholomew's Hospital Paget was appointed Curator of the Museum in succession to W. J. Bayntin in 1837, and in 1839 he was chosen Demonstrator of Morbid Anatomy. He proved himself so good a teacher that on May 30th, 1843, he was promoted to be Lecturer on General Anatomy and Physiology. On Aug. 10th, 1843, he was elected Warden of the College for Resident Students, then newly established at St. Bartholomew's Hospital, a post he resigned in October, 1851. In 1846 he drew up a catalogue of the anatomical and pathological museum of the Hospital, which showed evidence of the careful descriptions and literary excellence which marked his later work at the Royal College of Surgeons. He was elected Assistant Surgeon to the Hospital on Feb. 24th, 1847, after a severe contest. The opposition was based on the ground that he had never filled the office of dresser or house surgeon, posts which had always been considered essential qualifications in every candidate for the surgical staff. Paget, however, came out at the top of the poll with 142 votes - Andrew Melville Mcwhinnie (q.v.), who was Demonstrator of Anatomy and Lecturer on Comparative Anatomy, receiving 78, and Robert Rainey Pennington, nephew of a well-known and fashionable apothecary, 22 votes. He lectured on physiology in the medical school from 1859-1861; became full Surgeon in 1861; held the Lectureship on Surgery from 1865-1869, and resigned the office of Surgeon in May, 1871, although he gave an occasional lecture as Consulting Surgeon. He was Surgeon to the Bluecoat School (Christ's Hospital), then situated in Newgate Street, from 1862-1871. At the Royal College of Surgeons he prepared the descriptive catalogue of the pathological specimens contained in the Hunterian Museum, which appeared at intervals between 1846 and 1849. He was Arris and Gale Professor of Anatomy and Surgery from 1847-1852; a Member of the Council from 1865-1889; a Vice-President in 1873 and 1874; Chairman of the Midwifery Board in 1874; and President in 1875. He was also the representative of the College at the General Medical Council from 1876-1881; Hunterian Orator in 1877; the first Bradshaw Lecturer in 1882, when he took as his subject "Some New and Rare Diseases"; and the first Morton Lecturer on cancer and cancerous diseases in 1887. Paget was appointed Surgeon Extraordinary to Queen Victoria in 1858, when he was only Assistant Surgeon at his Hospital. He attended Queen Alexandra, when Princess of Wales, during a long surgical illness, and was gazetted Surgeon to King Edward VII, whom as Prince of Wales he attended during the attack of typhoid fever in 1871. From 1867-1877 he held the office of Sergeant-Surgeon Extraordinary, and in 1877 he became Sergeant-Surgeon on the death of Sir William Fergusson (q.v.). He was created a baronet in August, 1871. He was President of the three chief medical societies of his time in London. He filled the chair of the Clinical Society in 1869, of the Royal Medico-Chirurgical Society in 1875, and of the Pathological Society in 1887. He acted as President of the International Medical Congress of Medicine held in London in 1881 with conspicuous success. In 1860 he became a member of the Senate of the University of London, and in 1883 he acted as Vice-Chancellor on the death of Sir George Jessel. He was elected F.R.S. in 1851, and held honorary degrees at Oxford, Cambridge, Edinburgh, Dublin, Bonn and Würzburg. He married in 1844 Lydia, daughter of the Rev. Henry North, domestic chaplain to the Duke of Kent and master of a private school at 1 Cornwall Terrace, Regent's Park, which was affiliated to King's College, London. She died in 1895, having made his home ideally happy. The family consisted of four sons and two daughters. The eldest son, John, was a barrister and inherited the title; the second son, Francis, was successively Dean of Christ Church and Bishop of Oxford; the third, Henry Luke, became Bishop of Chester; Stephen (q.v.) inherited much of the talent of his father as a very skilful writer and an excellent speaker. The elder daughter married the Rev. H. L. Thompson, Warden of Radley College and afterwards Vicar of St. Mary's (the University) Church, Oxford; the younger daughter, Mary Maude, remained unmarried. Paget after leaving the Warden's house at St. Bartholomew's Hospital, where his children were born, moved to 24 Henrietta Street, Cavendish Square, in 1851, and in 1858 to 3 Harewood Place, Hanover Square, then shut off from Oxford Street by locked gates. Here he spent all his professional life, the accommodation for patients consisting of a single waiting-room which served as the dining-room, and a small consulting-room looking out on to a tiny garden; yet through these two rooms passed nearly all the interesting cases and many of the nobility of England. After he retired from practice he lived at 5 Park Square West, Regent's Park, and here he died peacefully of old age on Dec. 30th, 1899. He was buried in the Finchley Cemetery after the funeral service in Westminster Abbey. There is a tablet to his memory on the west wall of the church of St. Bartholomew-the-Less. A bust of Paget by Sir V. Edgar Boehm, Bart., R.A., is on the College staircase. It is a good likeness and there is a replica in the Museum at St. Bartholomew's Hospital. A three-quarter-length in oils by Sir John Everett Millais, R.A., of which there is an engraving, represents Paget lecturing at the age of 57, and hangs in the Great Hall at St. Bartholomew's Hospital. The portrait is a telling likeness, but shows signs of his recent recovery from a severe attack of blood poisoning caused by a post-mortem wound. It represents him with a sad expression, which was not usual with him. An admirable caricature by 'Spy' appeared in *Vanity Fair*; the likeness is poor, but the attitude is characteristic and perfect. It is reproduced in the *St. Bartholomew's Hospital Journal* (1925, xxxiii, frontispiece). He also appears in Jamyn Brooke's portrait group of the Council, 1884. Paget occupied a prominent position in the surgery of his day. He founded a school which would have been larger and more influential had it not been almost immediately eclipsed by the birth of bacteriology and the teaching of Lister. It is the peculiar merit of Paget that he made use of the microscope to elucidate the true nature of morbid growths. He was a good and efficient but not a great operating surgeon; his strength lay in diagnosis, which was perfected by his robust common sense, and in later life by his unrivalled experience. His sound knowledge of morbid anatomy, gained partly in museums and partly in the more perilous field of the post-mortem room, where he twice nearly lost his life, made him a link connecting the surgery of John Hunter with that of the present day. His perfect tact, his courtesy, and his real eloquence gave him ready access to the best circles in the Victorian era. The position he occupied as a teacher at St. Bartholomew's Hospital, and the classical English of his writings, enabled him to exercise a much wider influence than would have been expected from his modest demeanour and somewhat retiring disposition. He was a great teacher because he was able to grasp principles and clothe them briefly and clearly in exquisite language. Those who will read aloud his Hunterian oration can still hear the cadences but not the actual tones of the orator. The influence of heredity was well shown in each of his distinguished sons, who reproduced quite unconsciously his attitude, his facial appearance, and many of his traits of character. Scrupulously honest and fair-minded, he acquired the chief surgical practice in London. During the busiest period of his life he was never outwardly in a hurry nor was he ever unpunctual in keeping an appointment. He had strong religious convictions and was always careful in the religious observances of the Church of England. In person he was slightly built and a little above medium height, his face rather long, his cheeks somewhat flushed, and his eyes bright. His voice was soft and musical; he spoke quietly, fluently, and apparently extemporaneously. His public utterances were carefully prepared beforehand, and were given an air of spontaneity by slight pauses, as though hesitating for an instant in the flow of thought. They were in reality flawless and were delivered without gesture of any sort. W. E. Gladstone thought so highly of his public speaking that he said he divided people into two classes, those who had and those who had not heard Sir James Paget. It was his habit to write in his carriage short paragraphs on torn pieces of paper, which, being placed together, formed a lucid and continuous statement. The names of Sir James Paget is associated with a chronic eczematous condition of the nipple associated with cancer of the breast, and with a chronic inflammation of the bones to which the name osteitis deformans has been given. A bibliography is given in the *Index Catalogue of the Surgeon General's Library* (series I and ii). The most interesting, and perhaps the most lasting, of his writings are *Studies of Old Case Books*, published in 1891.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000201
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
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First Title value, for Searching Hewett, Sir Prescott Gardner (1812 - 1891)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2006-03-01 2012-03-22
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000200-E000299
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372389372389
Occupation Anatomist General surgeon
Details Born on July 3rd, 1812, the son of William N. W. Hewett, of Bilham House, near Doncaster, by his second wife. His father was a country gentleman whose fortune suffered from his love of horse-racing. Prescott Hewett received a good education and passed some years in Paris, where he acquired a perfect mastery of French, and learnt to paint in the studios, having at first intended to become a professional artist - a notion which he relinquished on becoming intimate with the son of an eminent French surgeon. He thus became inspired with a love for the surgical profession, and remained always an admirer of the French school of surgery. He never abandoned the practice of art, and his "delightful and exquisitely elaborate drawings" were exhibited, shortly before his death, in the Board Room at St. George's Hospital, "where one of these charming pictures now hangs near Ouless's portrait of its painter". He learned anatomy in Paris and became thoroughly grounded in the principles of French surgery. On his return to England he entered at St. George's, where he had family influence, his half-brother, Dr. Cornwallis Hewett, having been Physician to the hospital from 1825-1833. The excellence of his dissections recommended him to Sir Benjamin Brodie, and he was appointed Demonstrator of Anatomy and Curator of the St. George's Hospital Museum when he was on the point of accepting a commission in the service of the H.E.I.C. He became Curator of the Museum about 1840, the first record in his handwriting being dated Jan. 1st, 1841. Here he began in 1844 the series of post-mortem records which have been continued on the same pattern ever since, and constitute a series of valuable pathological material which for duration and completedness is perhaps unmatched. Many of Brodie's preparations in the Museum of St. George's were put up by Hewett. He was appointed Lecturer on Anatomy in 1845 and Assistant Surgeon on Feb. 4th, 1848, becoming full surgeon on June 21st, 1861, in succession to Caesar H. Hawkins (q.v.), and Consulting Surgeon on Feb. 12th, 1875. He was elected President of the Pathological Society of London in 1863, and ten years later occupied the Presidential Chair of the Clinical Society. He was admitted F.R.S. on June 4th, 1874. He was appointed Surgeon Extraordinary to Queen Victoria in 1867, Sergeant-Surgeon Extraordinary in 1877 on the death of Sir William Fergusson (q.v.)., and Sergeant-Surgeon in 1884 in succession to Caesar Hawkins (q.v.). He also held from 1867 the appointment of Surgeon to the Prince of Wales, afterwards King Edward VII, and on Aug. 6th, 1883, he was created a baronet. At the Royal College of Surgeons he was Arris and Gale Professor of Human Anatomy and Physiology from 1854-1859, a Member of the Council from 1867-1883, Chairman of the Board of Examiners in Midwifery in 1875, Vice-President in 1874 and 1875, and President in 1876. Prescott Hewett married on Sept. 13th, 1849, Sarah, eldest daughter of the Rev. Joseph Cowell, of Todmorden, Lancashire, by whom he had one son, who only survived his father a few weeks, and two daughters. He died on June 19th, 1891, at Horsham, to which place he had retired on being created a baronet. As a teacher Hewett was admirable, for he could make his pencil explain his work. Gradually - for he was of a shy and retiring disposition - he became known first in professional circles as a first-rate anatomist and one of the best lecturers in London, then as an organizer of rare energy and power; lastly, as a most accomplished surgeon and an admirable operator. He was equally skilful in diagnosis, and his stores of experience could furnish cases in point in all medical discussions. Hewett, when Professor at the College of Surgeons, delivered a course of lectures on "Surgical Affections of the Head" which attracted the universal admiration of all surgeons; their author could never be persuaded to publish them, though when his friend and pupil Timothy Holmes (q.v.), afterwards edited a *System of Surgery*, Hewett embodied their contents in the exhaustive treatise on "Injuries of the Head" which forms part of that work. His fastidious taste made him shrink form authorship, as indeed he shrank from all forms of personal display, for he had much professional learning which was always ready at command, and an easy lucid style. Lecturing he loved, and few lectured better. "He was," said one who knew him, "one of the fittest men in the world to instruct students, for he had all the clearness of expression which is required to impart knowledge of subjects teeming with difficulties of detail, his ready pencil would illustrate the most complicated anatomical descriptions, and his stores of experience could furnish cases in point in all discussions; the clinical instruction which he was wont to give in the wards was equally admirable. He was one of the most trustworthy of consultants, never failing to point out any error in diagnosis, yet with such perfect courtesy and delicacy that it was a pleasure to be corrected by him." He presided over the Clinical and Pathological Societies, but his increasing engagements prevented him from allowing himself to be nominated for the Presidency of the Royal Medico-Chirurgical Society, though he was deeply interested in its work, and had enriched its *Transactions* with some papers which became standard authorities on their respective subjects. Hewett started life as a poor man, and had every reason to feel the truth of the line, "Slow rises worth by poverty opprest". But he did rise gradually to eminence and distinction among the surgeons of London, and few men were more beloved by those who were connected with him in practice, whether as pupils or patients. "The reason", as one of his old pupils said, "was that he was emphatically a gentleman - a man who would not merely scorn a base action, but with whom anything base would be inconceivable." Hewett's collection of water-colour sketches was presented to the nation after his death, and were exhibited at the South Kensington Museum at the beginning of 1891. A half-length subscription portrait painted by W.W. Ouless, R.A., hangs in the Board Room at St. George's Hospital, and there is a photograph in the Council Album.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000202
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
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First Title value, for Searching Barton, George Kingston (1815 - 1890)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Barton, Samuel (1790 - 1871)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Barwell, Richard (1827 - 1916)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2009-11-25
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000700-E000799
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372967372967
Occupation General surgeon
Details Born at Norwich of an old Norfolk family; entered St Thomas’s Hospital and was dresser to Joseph Henry Green in 1847, and later House Surgeon. During the cholera epidemic of July to September, 1849, he superintended the admission of cholera patients, and subsequently recorded his experiences. “Beyond all doubt,” he stated quite erroneously, “cholera spreads by an epidemic or atmospheric quality, and contagion has little or nothing to do with it. Hence there is nothing about the spread of cholera through pump water infected by sewage.” He acted as Demonstrator of Anatomy in the Medical School until 1855 when he was appointed Assistant Surgeon to Charing Cross Hospital. Among his seniors Hancock was the most distinguished. He lectured on comparative anatomy from 1856-1866, and on anatomy from 1866-1874, when he was appointed Lecturer on Surgery. In 1872 he became Surgeon to the hospital, and retired in 1888. His chief attention was devoted to orthopaedic surgery, on which he gained additional experience as Surgeon to the Homes for Crippled Boys and Girls. For the treatment of club-foot he advocated instrumental methods, and opposed the excessive adoption of tenotomy by the so-called subcutaneous surgery then prevailing. Scoliosis was at the time excessively common among girls and young women, and he elaborated a mass of devices, hardly needed at all now that girls prevent themselves from becoming the subjects of lateral curvature. Barwell wrote about antiseptic surgery, and whilst expressing appreciation of Lister’s methods, appears not to have adhered to the strictest Listerian precautions, at a time when there was no alternative way of performing an operation aseptically. Hence his recommendation to ligature the right common carotid and right subclavian artery on the distal side of an innominate aneurysm was not free from danger. Barwell used a strip of the aorta of an ox, first dried. This was a broad ligature, which when tightened round an artery did not divide the inner and middle coats. In that particular Barwell correctly anticipated the more careful aseptic procedure of Sir Charles Ballance. The danger of a septic ligation of the common carotid in its continuity was experienced when Barwell did this for a case of unilateral hypertrophy of the head and face; death followed from secondary haemorrhage. Later he described the case of a thoracic aneurysm, treated by electro-puncture, an even more hazardous way than distal ligation, of promoting intra-aneurysmal clot formation. Barwell was an enthusiastic skater at the Skating Club in the Toxophilite Gardens, Regent’s Park, and this, along with fishing, contributed to his hale old age. “No one would imagine that his trim figure and almost boyish step and carriage belonged to a man approaching 90 years of age”, said his obituary notice. His photograph is in the Fellows’ Album. After being for several years Senior Fellow of the College he died at Norwich on Dec 27th, 1916. He married Mary Diana Shuttleworth, of Preston, Lancashire; his son Harold Shuttleworth Barwell followed his father and took the FRCS diploma. Publications: *On Asiatic Cholera*, 1855. *On Aneurysm, Especially of the Thorax and Root of the Neck*, 1880; also in Ashhurst’s *Surgery*, iii. “Experience and Specimens of Ox Aorta Ligature.” – *Med.-Chir. Trans*., 1881, lxiv, 225. “Case of Unilateral Hypertrophy of the Head and Face.” [Specimen in Charing Cross Hospital Museum]. – *Pathol. Soc. Trans.*, 1881, xxxii, 282. *On the Cure of Club Foot without Cutting Tendons, and on Certain New Methods of Treating other Deformities*, 1863, 1865. *Lateral Curvature of the Spine*, 1868, 1877, 1895, 1905. The 4th and 5th editions contain a description of the scoliosis gauge for obtaining a precise measurement of all deviations. *Diseases of Joints*, 1861, 1881; also in Ashhurst’s *Surgery*, iv. An edition appeared in Philadelphia in 1861 and in New York in 1881. “Case of Thoracic Aneurysm Treated by Electro-puncture.” – *Lancet*, 1886, i, 1058.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000784
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Bass, Frederick (1852 - 1899)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Bassett-Smith, Sir Percy William (1861 - 1927)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2009-11-25
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Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000700-E000799
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372969372969
Occupation General surgeon
Details Born at St Albans, the son of William Bassett-Smith, and educated at St John’s College, Hurstpierpoint. He then entered the Middlesex Hospital, and after acting as House Physician passed into the Navy in 1883. He was promoted to Staff Surgeon in 1895; Fleet Surgeon in 1899, Surgeon Captain in 1917, and retired with the rank of Surgeon Rear-Admiral on April 1st, 1920. During the Sudan campaign of 1884-1885 he served at Suakim as Surgeon on HMS Rambler, receiving the Egyptian medal and the Khedive’s bronze star. During this commission he made valuable reports on the geology and biology of coral reefs, and many of the specimens which he collected were transferred to the British Museum. He served in the surveying ship Penguin from 1891-1893, made valuable reports on subjects of natural history, collected many specimens, and received the thanks of the trustees of the British Museum. In 1899 he was specially promoted to Fleet Surgeon and was awarded the Gilbert Blane Gold Medal for his journal “evincing the proofs of skill, diligence, humanity and learning in the execution of his professional duties”. He was also Cragg’s Research Prizeman at the London School of Tropical Medicine in 1906. Bassett-Smith lectured on tropical medicine and bacteriology at Haslar from 1912-1921, when he became Professor of Clinical Pathology at the Royal Naval Hospital, Greenwich. He did most valuable work in this position, and on his retirement received a letter from the Lords of the Admiralty expressing appreciation of his services. He practised as a consultant in tropical diseases at 61 Queen Anne Street, W, after retiring from the Navy, and was elected Physician to Out-patients at the Hospital for Diseases of the Chest, Victoria Park, and at St John’s Hospital, Lewisham. He was Naval Secretary of the Section of Epidemiology at the Royal Society of Medicine from 1912 until his death, having also served as Vice-President of the Section of Tropical Disease at the annual meetings of the British Medical Association in 1903 and 1912, and of the Army, Navy, and Ambulance Section in 1910. He became a member of the Naval and Military Committee of the British Medical Association in 1921 and served continuously on the Council. In 1922 he was appointed a member of the Committee to consider the expansion of the Army Medical Service in time of national emergency. He married Constance Brightman (d. 1925), daughter of the Rev F Hastings, and by her had two daughters. For her services during the war she was decorated MBE. He died at his home, 8 Aberdeen Terrace, Blackheath, SE, after a short illness on Dec 29th, 1927. Bassett-Smith was for many years the authority on all things pathological in the Royal Navy, combining clinical teaching with his scientific knowledge. He was quiet and somewhat retiring in manner, with a charming personality, but so enthusiastic in advancing scientific knowledge in the Navy that he imperilled his promotion by preferring the laboratory and the hospital to service afloat.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000786
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
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First Title value, for Searching Bateman, Henry (1806 - 1880)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2009-11-25
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000700-E000799
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372970372970
Occupation General surgeon
Details Born at Burton-on-Trent, and after education at the Grammar School was apprenticed for five years to Septimus Allen. Entered St Bartholomew’s Hospital in October, 1825, dissected, with Richard Owen, a fellow-student, and attended the lectures of John Abernethy. He was appointed Librarian of the Medical School. After acting as assistant to Mr Jones for two years at Henley-in-Arden he returned to St Bartholomew’s to qualify as LSA in 1828, and MRCS, in 1829. He attended the Moorfields Eye Infirmary, the École de Médecine in Paris, and Dupuytren’s lectures at the Hôtel Dieu. He was appointed Surgeon to the Islington Dispensary in Jan, 1830, and began the practice which he carried on for the ensuing fifty years. During the epidemic of cholera in 1832 he acted as Surgeon to the Islington Cholera Hospital in River Lane. The general belief in infection through the air from dead bodies involved the belief in the danger of making post-mortem examination. Having first made his will, Bateman examined post mortem every patient who died under his charge. He married three years later, resigned the active post at the dispensary for the appointment of Consulting Surgeon, and then started what became well known afterwards, the practice of seeing patients gratuitously from 6 o’clock in the morning, or even earlier in summer time, until 9 o’clock, when the door of his room at the end of his garden was closed with severe punctuality. As many as fifty to a hundred patients attended of a morning, who preserved his prescriptions with a reverence that testified to their utility. For eight years he continued this course daily, and subsequently three times weekly until a few years before his death. He was a most ardent believer in the mystical doctrines of Swedenborg, and was one of the mainstays of the ‘New Church’, Devonshire Street, Islington, in which he used to preach on Sundays. This and his large private practice absorbed his time, so that he said he never dined out except on the occasion of the Hunterian Festival at the College. In middle life he had an attack of haemoptysis, but continued active work until the long and trying illness from which he died on Nov 21st, 1880, at 13 Canonbury Lane, N. He left a son in the medical profession, Alfred G Bateman, who was secretary of the Medical Defence Union. Publications: Bateman found time to publish accounts of cases in his practice including: “On Strangulated Hernia.” – *Lond. Med. Gaz.*, 1832, x, 154. “On Cancer.” – *Med. and Surg. Jour.*, 1832, i, 595. “Case of Lyssa (Hydrophobia).” – *Lancet*, 1844, i, 13. “Successful Operation for Hare-lip four Hours after Birth.” – *Med. Times*, 1850, xxii, 383. “The Treatment of Naevus.” – *Lancet*, 1869, ii, 660.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000787
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
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First Title value, for Searching Bates, William (1819 - 1874)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Batt, Frederic Collins (1810 - 1854)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Batten, Thomas ( - 1885)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Baxter, Francis Hastings (1819 - 1888)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Beale, John Evans (1794 - 1858)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Beaman, George (1803 - 1874)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Beard, Francis Carr (1815 - 1893)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Bearn, Andrew Russell (1886 - 1927)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Bearpark, George Edmundson (1806 - 1871)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Beatson, William Burn (1825 - 1911)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Beaumont, Thomas Mills (1812 - 1879)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Beaumont, William Rawlins (1803 - 1875)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2009-12-11
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000700-E000799
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372982372982
Occupation General surgeon
Details Born in Beaumont Street and entered as a student at St Bartholomew’s Hospital, where he gained the favourable notice of John Abernethy, and subsequently of Amussat, under whom he studied anatomy in Paris. He was for a time Surgeon to the Islington Dispensary. In 1841 he settled in Toronto and was appointed Professor of Surgery in King’s College, now the University, in 1843, retaining the Chair until 1853, acting at the same time as Dean of the Faculty of Medicine. He succeeded Dr Widmer as Consulting Surgeon to the Toronto General Hospital, and had charge of the hospital at Port Colborne during the Fenian raid in 1866. Whilst he was Surgeon to the Islington Dispensary he invented an instrument for the insertion of quilled sutures in cases of vesicovaginal fistula. It is described and figured in the *London Medical Gazette*, 1836-7, xix, 335, and also in *Medico-Chirurgical Transactions*, 1838, xxi, 29, P1. 1. The instrument had scissor handles and lock, the blades were curved like calipers; one blade ended as a curved pointed-eyed needle and was armed with a loop of thread. The other arm ended in a slot. On closing the instrument the pointed end penetrated the two margins of the fissure and carried the suture loop through the slot. On the outer side of the slot was a slide ending in a blunt point, which being pushed down, the point passed into and held the loop as the instrument was reopened. A quill could be passed through the loop, and the free ends of the sutures were then knotted over a second quill on the opposite side of the approximated fissures. The title of the paper in the *Medico-Chirurgical Transactions* adds a use for cleft palate. The operation was limited to the soft palate of young children. For this the instrument appears unsuitable. But Beaumont invented a modification, or rather a different instrument altogether, of which an example is preserved in the College Museum (D 34), entitled “Beaumont's Sewing Machine Suture Carrier for Operations on Cleft Palate”. It is a straight instrument carrying a needle, like the present sewing-machine needle armed with thread; the thread was caught by a fine hook and held as the needle was drawn back. At right angles are two flat jaws closing like a bracket by pushing down a slide. These grasped the margins of the cleft palate, and the needle carried the loop of thread through them. The hook held the loop as the needle was withdrawn, and on shifting the grasp on the palate and again protruding the needle, a chain stitch was made by the second loop passing through the first. This is apparently the instrument referred to by Sir James Paget as tried by Mr Lawrence at St Bartholomew’s Hospital. An annotation in the *Lancet*, 1866, i, 302, stated that Singer took his idea from the Beaumont instrument exhibited in the shop of Freeman, a surgical instrument maker in New York. But the statement is not confirmed by the *Encyclopoedia Britannica*, Art. “Sewing Machine”. (*Vide* A E J Barker.) Beaumont also described and figured in the *London Medical Gazette*, 1837, xx, 122 (Figs. 1, 2) a vaginal speculum which revived an idea found in Hippocrates. He had used it in his vesicovaginal fistula operations. Five steel blades were hinged at one of their ends, much as the ribs of an umbrella. The place of the projecting stick of the umbrella was taken by a rounded cap, over the ends of the blades. After the instrument had been passed closed into the vagina, a handle occupying the place of the stick of an umbrella, was rotated to separate the blades, after which the handle was withdrawn and the fistula came into view between two of the separated blades. Beaumont also published papers in 1833, “On the Treatment of Fracture of the Leg and Forearm by Plaster of Paris”, and in 1838, “On Polypi of the Uterus, Nose, and Ear”. In 1841 he went to Canada, and in 1843 was elected Surgeon to the University, then of King’s College, later of Toronto; and Surgeon to the Toronto General Hospital, where he gave Clinical Lectures. He described in the *Medico-Chirurgical Transactions*, 1850, xxxiii, 241, with woodcut, the case of a boy, aged 7, from whom he had removed a cartilaginous tumour weighing 8 oz and measuring 3 4/16 x 2 8/10 in in diameter. The tumour first noticed three months before, being then the size of a nutmeg, had replaced completely the left side of the mandible, except the condyle and its neck, as far forwards as the second bicuspid tooth. The boy healed quickly after disarticulation of the left half of the lower jaw. Increasing difficulty of vision ending in blindness enforced Beaumont’s retirement in 1873, and he was elected Emeritus Professor of Surgery at the University of Toronto. He died on Oct 13th, 1875, in Toronto. Beaumont was an accomplished anatomist, perfectly versed in surgery, most painstaking and correct in diagnosis, most skilful in the use of the knife, engrossed in his subject, and capable of communicating knowledge. As a man he was singularly polite, as gentle as a woman, neat in person, and possessed of a charity which thinketh no evil. His work at the Toronto General Hospital, where he delivered his clinical lectures, was worthy of his great teacher Abernethy. Publications: In addition to the articles already mentioned, Beaumont also published: Clinical lectures on *Traumatic Carotid Aneurysms*, 1854, and on *The Several Forms of Lithotomy*, 1857. Beaumont’s Lithotomy Knife is preserved in the Museum of the College (G 106 and 8). In the *Med.-Chir. Trans.*, 1863, xlvi., 174, drawing, p.176, Beaumont described a variation of Langenbeck’s and Graefe’s iridectomy hook or forceps. A fine pointed hook protected by a guard was passed through a corneal puncture, and on withdrawing the guard the hook caught in the iris. In 1862 he described a wound of the orbit penetrating 5 1/2 in, yet followed by recovery.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000799
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
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First Title value, for Searching Beavan, James (1830 - 1879)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Beck, Marcus (1843 - 1893)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2009-12-11
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Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000800-E000899
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372984372984
Occupation General surgeon
Details Born at Isleworth of the same Quaker family that produced Lord Lister and Rickman J Godlee, as is shown in the following genealogy. Edward Beck married twice, his second wife being Susannah Lucas, of Hitchin, who numbered among her ancestors Thomas Young (1773-1829), physician, physicist, and Egyptologist. She died at the age of 84, a few years before her son, Marcus. Marcus Beck was educated at Queenwood College, Hants, under George Edmonstone whose science masters were Frankland, Tyndall, and Debus; and afterwards at Hitchin, in the school kept by Arthur Abbott. He entered the University of Glasgow in 1860, where Joseph Lister, his first cousin once removed, was Professor of Surgery, and with him he lived during his residence in the University. He returned to London in 1863, entered University College Hospital, and was appointed in due course House Surgeon to Sir John Eric Erichsen (qv). He also served as Physician’s Assistant to Sir William Jenner and to Dr C J Hare, and acted as Demonstrator of Anatomy under Professor Viner Ellis (qv). He was appointed Surgical Registrar to the hospital in 1870 and at once established his reputation by the elaborate analysis of surgical cases which he published in the *University College Hospital Reports*. During this period, and with the assistance of S G Shattock (qv) and Charles Stonham (qv), he catalogued the surgical pathological specimens in the Museum of University College. He was appointed Assistant Surgeon to University College Hospital in 1873; in 1875 he succeeded Christopher Heath (qv) as Teacher of Operative Surgery; in 1883 he became Professor of Clinical Surgery; and in 1885 was elected Surgeon to the Hospital and Professor of Surgery in succession to John Marshall (qv). He was elected a Member of the Council of the Royal College of Surgeons in 1890, and a Member of the Court of Examiners in 1892. He was then practising at 30 Wimpole Street. He died unmarried at Isleworth on Sunday, May 21st, 1893, after suffering for twenty years from diabetes, and was interred in the Friends’ burial ground at Brentford End. Beck became most widely known as the Editor of the 8th and 9th editions of Erichsen’s *Science and Art of Surgery*, which appeared respectively in 1884 and 1888. He had been closely associated with Erichsen and had acted as his private assistant since 1869. He most skilfully included recent advances in the science of surgery and surgical pathology, including the pathology of wounds and septic diseases. The researches of Pasteur and Koch with the work of Lister were thus made known to all students of surgery, for the two volumes were re-issued in America and were translated into German and into Russian. Beck was an inspiring teacher, who was equally good at the bedside and in the lecture theatre. He soon gathered round him assistants who were to become distinguished in surgery: William Meredith, Stanley Boyd, Victor Horsley, and Raymond Johnson were his pupils. His lectures were models of lucidity and were in the highest degree stimulating. An abscess, an ulcer, or a fracture were to him living things and he made the processes of disintegration and repair actually visible to the mind’s eye of his students. He taught that a ground-work of scientific pathology was the only safe basis of surgical practice. The Pathological Society of London was in its full vigour at the time as the focus for the study of morbid anatomy, for bacteriology had not yet come into its own. The Society set up a ‘Morbid Growths Committee’, Beck was elected a member and thus had the opportunity of advancing the systematic histological examination of obscure specimens exhibited before the Society. He was joint author of the *Report on Pyoemia* in 1879. Beck contributed articles on “Diseases of the Kidney and Secondary Affections of the Lower Urinary Tract, misnamed Surgical Kidney,” to Volume V of Reynold’s *System of Medicine*. He also wrote on “Erysipelas” for the 1st edition of Quain’s *Dictionary of Medicine*, and on “Diseases of the Breast” for Heath’s *Dictionary of Surgery*. Beck was a man of most attractive personality, good looking and somewhat cynical. He lived retired at Isleworth, rarely going into society on account of prolonged ill health, though he continued to attend the hospital and to fill the calls of an ever-increasing practice nearly to the end of his life. There is a good portrait of him at the Royal Society of Medicine and a photograph in the Council Album at the Royal College of Surgeons. Mr Roger Beck gave an endowment in 1914 to the Royal Society of Medicine as a tribute to the memory of his brother. It was utilized to establish an experimental laboratory where David Thomson and John Gordon Thomson carried out an able research by cultivating living tissues *in vitro*. After the war it was decided to discontinue the laboratory and use the room for books issued before the beginning of the nineteenth century. This room is known as “The Marcus Beck” Library, and the portrait hangs over the fireplace. Publications: “Descriptive Catalogue of Specimens Illustrating Surgical Pathology in the Museum of University College Hospital, London.” – Part I, edited in collaboration with S G Shattock, 1881; Part II, in collaboration with C Stonham, 1887. “Galvano-puncture of Aortic Aneurysm.” – *Lancet*, 1873, ii, 550. “Three Cases of Trephining for Haemorrhage from the Middle Meningeal Artery.” – *Med. Times and Gaz*., 1877, ii, 199. “Case of Nephrolithotomy.” – *Trans. Clin. Soc.*, 1882, xv, 103. *The Science and Art of Surgery*, by John Eric Erichsen, 8th ed revised and edited by Marcus Beck. 2 vols., 1884, and 9th ed, 1888.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000801
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Beck, Thomas Snow (1814 - 1877)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2009-12-11
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000800-E000899
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372985372985
Occupation General surgeon
Details Born at Newcastle; after a grammar school education in Cumberland, became a pupil of Baird, Senior Surgeon to the Newcastle General Hospital, in which Beck resided for some time as an Assistant House Surgeon. Whilst acting in this capacity he was noted for his zeal in securing post-mortem examinations of the patients. In 1836 he entered University College Hospital, where he took prizes and qualified MRCS in 1839. During the following two years he studied in Paris, where he became Secretary of the Parisian Medical Society. He also visited hospitals in Switzerland and Germany before he settled in practice in the neighbourhood of University College, London. Beck became known from his controversy with Robert Lee (1793-1877), obstetric physician, over the nerves of the uterus. Lee had asserted that these nerves enlarge or multiply during pregnancy, and upon that statement made physiological speculations. Beck obtained from the Strand Union Workhouse the uterus of a woman who had died from haemorrhage early in labour. He proved by dissection that as to multiplication of nerves Lee had confused bands of cellular tissue with nerves. Also there was no evidence of an enlargement of nerves, unless of the fibrous sheaths of nerves, and even that was questionable. Neither controversialist was able to go beyond a naked-eye examination supplemented by a simple lens. Beck gave an improved description, distinguishing cerebrospinal nerves from sympathetic nerves and ganglia. The Royal Society granted him a Gold Medal in Physiology and elected him FRS in 1850. Beck served as Physician to the Farringdon General Dispensary and Lying-in Charity; he was Secretary to the London Medical Society of Observation; in 1852 he was elected on the Committee of the Graduates of the University of London; he was a member of the Pathological Society and a Fellow of the Obstetrical Society. He practised in later life at 7 Portland Place, where he died in 1877. Publications:– *On the Nerves of the Uterus*, 4to, 5 plates, London, 1846. A reprint of this paper communicated by Sir Benjamin Brodie, *Phil. Trans*., 1846, ii, 213. Todd and Bowman, *Cyclopoedia of Anatomy and Physiology*, V [Supplementary volume], 641. “Uterus Nerves”, also p.651, “Do the Nerves of the Uterus Enlarge or Multiply during Pregnancy?” with bibliographical note.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000802
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
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First Title value, for Searching Beckingsale, John Edgar (1810 - 1885)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2009-12-11 2013-08-07
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000800-E000899
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372986372986
Occupation General surgeon
Details Educated at St. Bartholomew's Hospital. He was a member of the British Medical Association and Medical Officer of the Coastguard in the Isle of Wight. He practised at Newport, IOW, and died there on August 10th, 1885.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000803
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
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First Title value, for Searching Beddard, James ( - 1889)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Beddoe, David Morgan (1869 - 1921)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2009-12-11
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000800-E000899
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372988372988
Occupation General surgeon
Details Born in December, 1869, the son of William Beddoe, solicitor, of Merthyr Tydfil, Glamorganshire. Educated at Brecon College and at Guy’s Hospital, where he was House Surgeon and Resident Obstetrician. He also won the Treasurer’s Prize Essay and the Prize of the Guy’s Physical Society. He specialized in diseases of the throat and was for a short period House Surgeon at the London Throat Hospital, but was soon appointed Resident Medical Officer at the Newport Hospital. Here he contracted a severe illness, which ultimately necessitated his removal to a warm climate. For a time, however, he practised at 1 Courtland Terrace, Merthyr Tydfil, or appears so to have done, for he retained his Welsh address after going abroad. He visited Egypt, and as the outbreak of the South African War had created a shortage of medical men in Cairo, he worked for some time for the Army at the citadel. He then settled in general practice in Cairo, and soon made his mark. He became eventually Surgeon to the Anglo-American Hospital, and for many years was Examiner in Surgery at the Kasr-el-Aini Hospital. Latterly he had been compelled to relinquish the last-mentioned post owing to the calls of a large practice. His address was at 34 Sharia Kasr-el-Nil, and he was a prominent member of the Cairo community. He died unmarried, on a Sunday in March, 1921. Publications: *A War Surgeon at the Red Cross Hospital*, Cairo. A number of short stories for English magazines, and two novels *The Honour of Henri de Valois* and *The Last of the Mamelukes*. At the time of his death two other novels had been accepted by the publishers.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000805
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
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First Title value, for Searching Bedford, Edward Samuel Picard ( - 1875)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Bedwell, Henry ( - 1873)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Beecroft, Samuel (1821 - 1880)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Beevor, Charles (1805 - 1872)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Belcher, Robert Shirley ( - 1901)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2009-12-17 2013-08-07
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000800-E000899
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372993372993
Occupation General surgeon
Details Educated at Trinity College, Dublin, Guy's and St Thomas's Hospitals. Practised at Burton-on-Trent, where for many years he was Surgeon and then Consulting Surgeon to the Infirmary. After his retirement he lived for some twenty years at 'The Heath', Stapenhill, Burton-on-Trent, and died in 1900-1901.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000810
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
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First Title value, for Searching Bell, Hugh ( - 1897)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Bell, Hutchinson Royes (1842 - 1886)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2009-12-17
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000800-E000899
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372995372995
Occupation General surgeon
Details Born in Sydney, New South Wales; he came of a Yorkshire family long established near Leconfield in the East Riding, and of the large estate once possessed by them, he retained to the last a small portion. Educated at a private school in Jersey, after his family had returned to England, and at King’s College School, he entered King’s College as a medical student in 1859 and was a private pupil of Henry Smith (qv). He obtained the Leathes’ Prize and held various offices at the Hospital and College, including the House-Surgeoncy and then the Assistant Demonstratorship of Anatomy, the Surgical Registrarship and Administratorship of Anaesthetics. He was also Prosector at the Royal College of Surgeons. On his return to London after a period of professional study in Vienna and Paris, he came under the observation of Sir William Fergusson, who made Bell his constant associate in private practice. The two remained friends till Fergusson’s death, and Bell always spoke of Fergusson with the utmost reverence. He was appointed Surgeon to the St Pancras and Northern Dispensary, and, in 1877, Surgeon to King’s College Hospital with charge of out-patients and several beds. He was also appointed, in 1877, Demonstrator of Operative Surgery. In January, 1886, he fainted in the presence of his class when giving his customary demonstration, and on Whit Monday, 1886, when on a visit to Folkstone, he had a cerebral haemorrhage, and died on June 15th, 1886, sixteen hours later without recovering consciousness. He was buried at the Brompton Cemetery. His address latterly had been 12 Queen Anne Street, W. Bell was unmarried, and his two sisters had resided with him. Of his two brothers, at the time of his death, one was a medical practitioner in the Isle of Wight and the other was Lieut-Colonel Mark Bell, VC, RE. Besides the offices above mentioned at King’s College, Mr Royes Bell had been Hon Secretary, Hon Librarian, and Lettsomian Lecturer of the Medical Society of London. He was also a member of the Pathological Society of London. Publications: “Injuries and Diseases of the Male Genital Organs” in Ashhurst’s *Encyclopaedia of Surgery*, vi [published after his death]. Lettsomian Lectures on “Diseases of the Testis and their Coverings,” 1882. “Case of Excision of Proximal Phalanx of Right Thumb for Enchondroma.” – *Lancet*, 1872, ii, 346. Various papers in the *Med. Times and Gaz*. and *Lancet*.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000812
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
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First Title value, for Searching Bell, James Vincent (1839 - 1919)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Ancrum (or Ancrum), William Rutherford (1816 - 1898)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2009-09-25 2013-08-06
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000600-E000699
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372863372863
Occupation General surgeon
Details Born at the Manor House, Weston, near Bath, on Feb 5th, 1816. Educated at private schools, and apprenticed at the age of 15 to T Taylor Griffith (qv) at Wrexham, where he is said to have had Sir William Bowman (qv) as a fellow-apprentice. Three years later he entered as a student at University College, had a brilliant career, and was elected House Surgeon, with such success that Robert Liston (qv) invited him to become his private assistant. He accepted and acted in this capacity for three years. In 1843 he left England and practised in the City of Mexico. In 1848 he was appointed Surgeon to the Naval Hospital at Valparaiso, a post he held for eleven years, during which he built up a large and lucrative practice. Returning to England, he took the FRCS on Dec 12th, 1850, having been admitted MRCS on Oct 11th, 1839. During this visit he also became a member of the Royal College of Physicians of London. He resigned his practice in Mexico in 1859, returned to London and took a house, 75 Inverness Terrace, Bayswater. He retired from all practice in 1863 and bought St Leonard's Court, Gloucester. From 1863 until his death in 1898 Ancrum took an active part in the public life of Gloucester. He served for twenty-seven years as Chairman of the County Infirmary, bringing method, order, and financial soundness into the working of the institution. A ward in the infirmary is named in his memory "The Ancrum Ward." He was appointed Chairman of the Committee of the Wotton County Asylum in 1878, and was mainly instrumental in founding and financing the second County Asylum in 1882. In 1878 he was also elected Chairman of the Barnwood House Private Asylum, which was much enlarged during his tenure of office. He was an active magistrate and was at one time Chairman of the Gloucester County Bench, a member of important Committees of the old Court of Quarter Sessions, and an Alderman of the County Council, where he was Chairman of the Prison Visiting Committee. He married in 1852 the youngest daughter of Arthur Lewis, of Brighton, and by her had three sons and two daughters. He was an invalid during the last three years of his life, died at St Leonard's Court, Gloucester, on Oct 9th, 1898, and was buried in the neighbouring churchyard of Upton St Leonard's.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000680
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
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First Title value, for Searching Bowsher, Winsor Graham (1957 - 2004)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2005-09-14
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000000-E000099
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372213372213
Occupation Urological surgeon Urologist
Details Winsor Bowsher was a consultant urological surgeon at Royal Gwent Hospital, Newport. He was born on Barton-on-Sea, Hampshire, the son of Graham Walter Bowsher, an art teacher, and Marjorie Wilfred née Munday, who taught public speaking. He was educated at Brockenhurst Grammar School and then Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, where he won a blue for golf. He did his clinical studies at the Royal London Hospital and was house surgeon to John Blandy, who inspired his interest in urology. He completed his general surgical training at Nottingham and Cardiff, before starting the senior registrar rotation at the Institute of Urology and St Bartholomew’s. He was then a lecturer and senior registrar at the Royal London, where he completed the research for his MChir thesis. In 1990 he was awarded the Shackman and Sir Alexander McCormack travelling fellowships of our college, going to St Vincent’s Hospital, Melbourne, as visiting fellow and later staff consultant. There he carried out innovative laparoscopic surgery and radical prostatectomy for cancer. Shortly after his return he was appointed to the Royal Gwent Hospital in 1993 with Brian Peeling, where he rapidly established a reputation. He set up a trial of radical prostatectomy, published widely, edited *Challenges in prostate cancer* (Malden, MA, Blackwell Science, 2000), and was on the editorial board of the *British Journal of Urology*, *Prostate* and the European Board of Urology *Update* series. He set up a support group for prostate cancer patients called Progress, which was the first of its kind in the UK, and in 1996 was medical adviser to the BBC series *The male survival guide*, which won six BMA gold awards. He was married to Pauline and had three children, Harry, Abigail and Nicholas. A man of great charm and enthusiasm, Winsor was a keen fly fisherman, skier and mountaineer. In his last years he had a brief but successful battle with alcohol, but, having completely recovered, died suddenly from cardiac arrhythmia on 12 May 2004.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000026
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
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First Title value, for Searching Bradfield, William John Dickson (1924 - 2003)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2005-09-14
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000000-E000099
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372214372214
Occupation General surgeon
Details William John Dickson Bradfield, or ‘Bill’, was a consultant surgeon at Kingston Hospital in Surrey. He was born in London on 23 June 1924, the only son and second child of John Ernest Bradfield, a businessman, and Marjorie Elizabeth née Dickson, the daughter of a silk merchant. Bill was educated at Dulwich College and Sandhurst. In 1942, he went on to St Thomas’s to study medicine as a Musgrave scholar, but interrupted his training to join the 5th Iniskilling Dragoon Guards. As a troop leader of a tank squadron in Normandy, he was awarded the Military Cross in 1944 for showing leadership and skill in command. He returned to St Thomas’s in 1946, where he was a keen and fearless rugby player. He was appointed consultant surgeon to Kingston Hospital, Surrey, in 1964, but remained honorary president of St Thomas’s rugby club. Bill rejoined the Army as a Territorial in 1950, retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel. He was honorary medical officer to the Commonwealth Ex-Services League from 1985, and worked with the Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture. For a time he was a governor of the Star and Garter home for disabled soldiers, sailors and airman. He married Ellicott Hewes in 1971. They had no children. Throughout the years he kept in touch with the inhabitants of the two small French towns around which he saw action in 1944, and dignitaries from these towns attended his thanksgiving service. He died on 21 November 2003 from renal failure complicating carcinoma of the prostate.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000027
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
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First Title value, for Searching Cook, John Holford (1943 - 2006)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2009-06-23
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000600-E000699
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372801372801
Occupation Anaesthetist Ophthalmologist
Details John Holford Cook began his career as an ophthalmologist, but later re-trained as an anaesthetist. Born on 16 May 1943, in the middle of the Second World War, he did not meet his father until he was three years old. He studied medicine at the Royal Free Hospital, London, and, following qualification, trained as an ophthalmologist. He later switched to anaesthesia, and ultimately became director of the intensive care unit at Eastbourne. There ‘Cookie’, as he was always known, was an enthusiastic teacher and trainer. He was clinical tutor for his hospital and a college tutor for the Royal College of Anaesthetists. He had many interests outside medicine. He had long been an enthusiastic radio ‘ham’ and built his own equipment and branched out into designing circuits for the radio control of the model boats that were built by his step-father. He mastered machine code for his computers and, when his children took up music, he decided to learn the trombone, which he played in the British Legion Band and the Eastbourne Concert Orchestra, using his computer to make new arrangements for his band. He developed adenocarcinoma of the lung and died on 27 December 2006, leaving his wife Lesley, four children and a grandson.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000618
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
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First Title value, for Searching Davidson, Colin Mackenzie (1928 - 2008)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Sir Barry Jackson
Publication Date 2009-06-23
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000600-E000699
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372802372802
Occupation General surgeon
Details Colin Davidson was a general surgeon at Frenchay and Cossham Memorial hospitals. He was born on 11 January 1928 in Glasgow, the son of Norman Davidson, a one-time senior surgeon of the Victoria Infirmary and Mary Scott née Mackenzie, a teacher of classics. He schooled at the Glasgow Academy and Rugby School, before attending Glasgow University for his medical studies. After qualification, he worked with Sir Charles Illingworth at the Western Infirmary and W A Mackie at the Royal Infirmary, Glasgow, before being awarded a McCunn scholarship to visit the Lahey Clinic in Burlington, Massachusetts, where he spent 18 months. On his return to England, he obtained a senior registrar appointment at Bristol Royal Infirmary, working with Robert Milnes Walker. During the tenure of this post he was seconded as senior lecturer to the University of Khartoum, Sudan, where he gained vast operative experience in a wide range of pathology. In 1968 he was appointed consultant general surgeon at Frenchay Hospital, Bristol, where he worked for the rest of his career. He took an active part in local surgical society life, becoming president of the Cossham Medical Society, the South West Surgical Club and the Colston Research Society, Bristol. He was also sometime president of the Moynihan Chirurgical Club. His outside interests included fishing, shooting, golf and photography. He married Robina McMurtrie Macgregor in 1953 and had four daughters and nine grandchildren. He died after a short illness on 30 January 2008.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000619
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
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First Title value, for Searching Davies, William Hugh (1923 - 2008)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by N Alan Green
Publication Date 2009-06-23 2010-01-13
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000600-E000699
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372803372803
Occupation General surgeon
Details Hugh Davies was a consultant general surgeon with an interest in urology to the Hereford Hospital Group. Appointed in 1961, he continued work as a popular and well-loved surgeon, always being reticent about any personal achievements. In spite of his many sporting activities, he was a very self-effacing person. He was born in Swansea into a non-medical household on 25 March 1923. Hugh’s father, William Alfred Davies, owned a tin plate manufacturing firm and his mother, Florence (née Morris), was a housewife. From preparatory school in Malvern, he won a scholarship in 1936 to Marlborough College, where he continued to excel at sport. His excellence was seen in the school’s first teams at rugby football, hockey and cricket, and in his school work. He was awarded a scholarship to Caius College, Cambridge, to study natural sciences during the early years of the Second World War. Proceeding to St Thomas’ Hospital for his clinical studies, his sporting activities continued on the ‘rugger’ field and he gained a regular place in the United Hospitals XV. After house appointments at St Thomas’, he entered National Service as a major in the RAMC for 18 months. When his career veered towards surgery, he underwent general training at St Peter’s Hospital, Chertsey, and then in Portsmouth, before returning to his alma mater as a resident assistant surgeon. His wish to sub-specialise led him to travel north for higher training in the Newcastle urology unit. Hugh Davies obtained his definitive consultant post in Hereford as a general surgeon with an interest in urology, an area of the country he particularly enjoyed as it was close to his native Wales. He was a member of both the Association of Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland and the British Association of Urological Surgeons. One former house surgeon and general practitioner wrote of him: “He was an excellent surgeon to work with and very careful. Perhaps this prolonged his surgery, but we knew he was a perfectionist.” “If asked to do a domiciliary visit, he would not leave it to the next day, but would come that day even if it was late. He would expect me to be there as it was important learning for a GP.” “Certainly we GPs had a high regard for Hugh and knew we would always have an excellent opinion and that our patient would always be very satisfied.” Apparently Hugh had a dry sense of humour: when his hat fell into the wound when operating, his assistants could hardly control their mirth. The surgeon merely raised his head and said “Another hat please, sister!” He married Shirley Peppitt, a general practitioner, in June 1961. Hugh and Shirley had a family of three: Jane, the elder daughter, became a personal assistant to the food critic Egon Ronay and later married; their son, Robert, became a GP and continues to practice in Ledbury, Hereford; the younger daughter, Katie, is a housewife. There are 11 grandchildren. Hugh Davies continued his sporting interests in any spare time by playing golf as a member of the local Worsley Golf Club and, in his earlier years in Hereford, was an active member of the Whitecross (Hereford) Tennis and Squash Club. He enjoyed collecting antiques and water colours and was knowledgeable in both. But above all he was a devoted family man. Shortly before his retirement Hugh he was involved in a road traffic accident and the injuries definitely stifled his latter years. His life continued to revolve around his immediate family, to whom he was very attached. William Hugh Davies died peacefully at Ledbury Cottage Hospital on 3 March 2008 and is survived by Shirley, their children and grandchildren. A service of thanksgiving was held at St Philip and St James Church, Tarrington, Herefordshire. One local general practitioner wrote of this final tribute to a much-loved man: “It was a lovely experience to come to the service and realise what a loving family he had, to hear the grandchildren read and run around the church, to hear of his exploits on the rugby field and to sing ‘Guide me, O thou Great Jehovah’ to the tune of Cwm Rhondda.”
Resource Identifier RCS: E000620
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
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First Title value, for Searching Dawson-Edwards, Paul (1919 - 2008)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by N Alan Green
Publication Date 2009-06-23
JPEG Image
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000600-E000699
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372804372804
Occupation Urologist
Details Paul Dawson-Edwards was appointed consultant surgeon to the United Birmingham Hospitals in 1957 and became a well-regarded urologist based at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and a teacher at the University of Birmingham. His interest in urology was fired by Hugh Donovan, and he formed an excellent unit with his colleague Guy Baines and then, up to his own retirement in 1984, with Michael Hughes. Paul was born in Coventry on 28 October 1919. Albert John Edwards, his father, was an engineer who worked for many years with the ‘Alvis’ racing team and his mother, Gladys Dawson, was a milliner. He was educated at Centaur Road Junior School and then, from 1930 to 1938, at King Henry VIII School, Coventry. There he excelled at most sports and became the school’s leading sportsman. For his medical studies he entered Birmingham University, where he had a good academic record and obtained a clinical prize in surgery. Again he excelled in a wide variety of sports. As vice-captain of the University Rugby XV he played mainly as a wing-three quarter and was a valued member of the athletics team. He also played for both Coventry and Moseley first XV teams. After qualification and house appointments, Paul married (Elizabeth) Jean Button, a nurse, on 14 April 1944. For two years he was a resident surgical registrar at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, where he gained good general experience. At this time he became a flight-lieutenant in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, based at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and later at RAF Northallerton, where he specialised in trauma and orthopaedics. He went abroad from 1946 to 1947 as a squadron leader (orthopaedic specialist) in charge of Surgical Unit No 10 General Hospital, Karachi. Returning to the UK, surgery was obviously his ambition and Paul Dawson-Edwards commenced higher training as a demonstrator of anatomy at Birmingham University for a year before returning to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital as a surgical registrar. This was followed by a four year rotating appointment at senior registrar level in Birmingham. On becoming a consultant in 1957, he obtained study leave for a year in Boston, Massachusetts at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, where he was an assistant in surgery and carried out research at Harvard University. An interest in renal transplantation was fired by Francis D (Franny) Moore. He did animal research work with Joseph Murray, a pioneer in this field, who was awarded a Nobel prize in 1990. Paul was fortunate to be under the wing of Hartwell Harrison, who became a lifelong friend. Returning to Birmingham, the kidney unit was set up as an offshoot of the urology unit. By 1962 a minicoil artificial kidney had been developed by Denys Blainey and permission was given to start renal transplantation at the end of 1967. Paul carried out his first renal transplant in May 1968. He was associated with dialysis and transplantation for many years, before returning to full time ‘general’ urological practice. He amassed a large series of patients with benign and malignant retroperitoneal fibrosis, publishing on this subject, as well as the minicoil artificial kidney and the clinical aspects of renal transplantation. Although he was a fine surgical technician and natural teacher, he was regarded by some as a hard task-master. Certainly he did not suffer fools gladly, but was more than happy when all the ‘team’ pulled together. Paul and his wife, Jean, hosted regular ‘firm’ parties: at one of these he told students that they were more staid than those of his generation. The Dawson-Edwardses woke the next morning to find the entrance to their drive had been bricked up. He was a member of British Association of Urological Surgeons (BAUS) and served on its council (from 1970 to 1974) and on that of the Urological Club of Great Britain and Ireland. He was a founder member of the Midlands Urological Group who met each year at different centres to learn what other urologists were doing. Sport and cars played an important part of his life, although he was not as adept at maintaining the latter as was his father. After giving up rugby, he took up squash and tennis seriously and also enjoyed sailing and mountain walking. All these activities were continued until his knees needed replacing. His love of mountain walking inspired him to set up the Vacancy Club: once a year a group of registrars persuaded their consultant bosses to climb a peak in Snowdonia, perhaps in the hope of creating a vacancy! Paul was a formidable mixed hockey player and always enjoyed the traditional Boxing Day match against the General Hospital. Retiring in 1984, Paul and Jean were able to spend more time at their cottage in north Wales. He was a keen photographer and took up painting late in life, no doubt tutored by his friend and colleague, Arnold Gourevitch. Predeceased by his wife, Jean, he lived in his old home until his health forced him to enter a nursing home. But he enjoyed hearing from his friends and chatting with them at length over the phone: his intellect and memory remained sound. Paul Dawson-Edwards died of heart failure on 6 December 2008 and is survived by his three children (Elizabeth ‘Liz’, a retired company director, John, a civil engineer, and Sarah, a consultant radiologist in Norwich) and by his four grandchildren.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000621
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Mizbah, Geoffrey (1931 - 2005)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by John Blandy
Publication Date 2009-06-23
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000600-E000699
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372805372805
Occupation General surgeon
Details Geoffrey Mizbah was a consultant surgeon in Ontario, Canada. Born on 13 September 1931, he studied medicine at Liverpool University, qualifying in 1945 and later gaining his FRCS. He emigrated to Oakville, Ontario, where he worked at St Michael’s Hospital. He spent much time in charitable work overseas, including visits to the British Methodist Hospital in Ilesha, Nigeria, in 1965 and later to St Kitts and St Nevis. He published a case report of combined intrauterine and extrauterine pregnancy. He died of cancer on 30 June 2005 aged 83, and was survived by his wife of 52 years, Helene.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000622
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Nohl-Oser, Herman Christian (1916 - 2008)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Raymond Hurt
Publication Date 2009-06-23
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000600-E000699
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372806372806
Occupation General surgeon
Details Herman Christian Nohl-Oser was a consultant surgeon at Harefield Hospital, where he specialised in pulmonary and oesophageal surgery, with a special interest in paediatric surgery. He was born Herman Christian Nohl (in the 1960s he add the ‘Oser’) in Jena, Germany, in April 1916, the son of Herman Nohl. His father originally intended to study medicine, but, finding anatomy not to his liking, switched to philosophy and in 1920 was appointed to a chair in Göttingen. In 1937 he was dismissed by the Nazis and sent to work in a factory. After the war, he was reinstated as professor and dean of the philosophy faculty. Despite his first name, Chris was considered one quarter Jewish, and in 1934 he went to England with Kurt Hahn, the founder of Gordonstoun School, who had a very great influence on his life and subsequently became a lifelong mentor and personal friend. Chris was a ‘late developer’, but despite this became head boy at Gordonstoun, where he had a classical education. In 1936 he entered St Peter’s Hall (now College) in Oxford to matriculate and then study medicine. He was interned on the Isle of Man for one year, won a prize for the best medical and surgical dissertation, and qualified at Oxford as a doctor in 1944. Because of his German background, he found it difficult to obtain junior hospital posts but nevertheless gained considerable general surgical experience and obtained his FRCS in 1951. Despite this higher qualification, his application for a senior registrar post at the Middlesex Hospital was rejected in favour of a much junior English doctor and, with the encouragement of Sir Thomas Holmes Sellors, whom he had first met in Oxford during the war, he decided to train in thoracic surgery. Junior posts at the London Chest and Brompton hospitals allowed him to study the lymphatic drainage of the lung and the value of scalene node biopsy in the assessment of bronchial carcinoma. He continued this research following his consultant appointment to Harefield Hospital in 1960 and this led to an Oxford DM the same year and to a Hunterian professorship in 1971. When he was appointed to Harefield Hospital open-heart surgery was just beginning and this he undertook with enthusiasm until the appointment of a specialist cardiac surgeon to the hospital in 1967. Thereafter he confined his work to pulmonary and oesophageal surgery, with a special interest in paediatric surgery. He published his research extensively, both in English and European journals, and lectured widely in England and also in Germany. His magnum opus was a textbook on surgery of the lung, published in Germany, printed in English and later translated into German and Spanish, but unfortunately the book was little known in the UK. His obvious erudition and ability were not always recognised by his colleagues. He was a founder member of Pete’s Club, a travelling surgical club which pioneered the informal discussion of mistakes and errors of judgement – the only rule of the club was that no member was allowed to report a case which reflected credit on himself. He was devoted to his surgical career and to his wife Inge, whom he married in the same week that he qualified and who later suffered increasing disability from multiple sclerosis which presented soon after the birth of their child. His only son died tragically after an accident in 1987 and his wife died in 1991. In 1975 Chris had two coronary vein graft operations which were only partially successful in relieving his angina; thereafter a regime of graduated exercise completely relieved his symptoms. He died from a myocardial infarction on 13 June 2008.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000623
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Anderson, Richard Benjamin (1874 - 1900)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2009-10-02 2013-08-06
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000600-E000699
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372867372867
Occupation General surgeon
Details Born in Lincolnshire, the son of a medical man, he was educated at St Mary's Hospital. Entered the school in 1866, won a prize in 1867, and became Prosector at the Royal College of Surgeons, House Surgeon at St Mary's, and afterwards at the South Devon and East Cornwall Hospital, Plymouth. Admitted FRCS in 1873 and joined his brother, James G Anderson, who was in practice in Tobago, acting as colonial surgeon. By 1889 he was a member of the Legislature, a Justice of the Peace for the Islands, and a landowner. In this year he was consulted by a native woman suffering from necrosis of the lower jaw. The patient and her husband proved troublesome and Anderson declined further attendance. Litigation followed, and Anderson was finally imprisoned by Justices Corrie and Cook for fourteen days in default of finding bail. In 1891 Anderson brought an action in London ("Anderson v Corrie and others") and obtained a verdict in his favour with £500 damages against Mr Justice Cook (Justice Corrie having died). Lord Esher on appeal decided that no action could lie against a judge for an act done in his judicial capacity, and refused to award damages, though he confirmed the verdict of the jury. The rest of Anderson's life was spent in a campaign against the wrongs and injustice done to the medical profession, and he strove to advance his cause by acting as Hon Secretary of the Corporate and Medical Reform Association. This labour and the disappointments no doubt shortened his life, for he died of angina pectoris, in straitened circumstances, at 82 Montague Place, Russell Square, on Sept 8th, 1900, and was buried at the Lambeth Cemetery, near Balham.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000684
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Anderson, William (1842 - 1900)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2009-10-02 2016-01-22
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000600-E000699
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372868372868
Occupation General surgeon
Details Born in London, Dec 18th, 1842, and educated at the City of London School. Studied for a time at Aberdeen and afterwards at the Lambeth School of Art, where he won a medal for artistic anatomy. Entered St Thomas's Hospital in 1864, when Sir John Simon (qv) and Le Gros Clark (qv) were surgeons. There he won the first College Prize, the Physical Society's Prize, and the Cheselden Medal. After acting as House Surgeon at the Derbyshire Royal Infirmary, he returned to St Thomas's Hospital on the opening of the new buildings in 1871, to fill the offices of Surgical Registrar and Assistant Demonstrator of Anatomy. In 1873 he was appointed Professor of Anatomy and Surgery at the Imperial Naval Medical College in Tokio, where he lectured on anatomy, surgery, medicine, and physiology. He remained in Japan until 1880, when he returned to London and was appointed Assistant Surgeon to St Thomas's Hospital and Senior Lecturer on Anatomy in the medical school. He became full Surgeon in 1891. At the Royal College of Surgeons he was elected a Member of the Board of Examiners in Anatomy and Physiology for the Fellowship in 1884, and served as a Member of the Court of Examiners from 1894-1900. In 1891 he was Hunterian Professor of Surgery and Pathology, and in the same year was elected Professor of Anatomy at the Royal Academy in succession to John Marshall (qv). He died suddenly on Oct 27th, 1900, the result of the rupture of a cord of the mitral valve without any other morbid condition of the heart or other organs. He married: (1) In 1873, Margaret Hall, by whom he had a son and a daughter; (2) Louisa, daughter of F W Tetley, of Leeds, who survived him. Anderson may be said to have been steeped in art; [1] form and colour appealed equally to him, and his residence in Japan, when the old world there was changing into the new, gave full scope to his love of art. It enabled him to form a superb collection of Japanese paintings and engravings, most of which are preserved in the British Museum. Between 1882 and 1886 Anderson prepared a *Descriptive and Historical Account of a Collection of Japanese and Chinese Paintings in the British Museum* (London, 1886), which contains a very complete account of the general history of the subject. In 1886 he also published in portfolios to make two volumes, *Pictorial Arts of Japan, with some Account of the Development of the Allied Arts, and a Brief History and Criticism of Chinese Painting*. Many of the plates are reproduced in colour. Anderson was Chairman of the Japan Society from its constitution in January, 1892, until his death eight years later. In 1880 he was decorated by the Emperor of Japan a Companion of the Order of the Rising Sun. Anderson was a good surgeon and a competent operator, but except for a small book issued in 1897 (*The Deformities of the Fingers and Toes*) he published no surgical work. The book was based on his Hunterian Lectures given in 1891, and in it he advised excision in preference to notching of the fibrous bands in Dupuytren's contraction. He was an excellent teacher for art and medical students, his lectures being made especially attractive by the facility with which he sketched on the blackboard. Personally he was a handsome man of distinguished appearance, quiet in voice and manner, highly cultivated but very retiring. Dr Frank Payne says: "To speak of Anderson we must first observe that he was notable for the thoroughness of his work. He continued to give lectures and demonstrations on anatomy at a stage of his career when most surgeons prefer to reserve their mornings for the consulting-room. In operations he was indefatigable. He would go straight through a long list, and at the end of it was quite willing to take two or three cases from the medical ward in addition. All this would be done with unruffled composure and without any outward signs of fatigue. In his intercourse with colleagues, students, and nurses he showed the unaffected sweetness of his nature; it would be difficult to remember an instance of his being impatient or out of temper. Though his retiring disposition prevented him from becoming a prominent personality in the eyes of the public, no one was more highly esteemed or, by those who knew him well, more warmly loved, while all his abilities and attainments were recommended by the conciliatory grace of modesty." Portraits of him appear in the *Transactions of the Japan Society*, iv; in the *Lancet*, 1900, ii, 1869; and in the *St Thomas's Hospital Gazette* 1900, November. [Amendments from the annotated edition of *Plarr's Lives* at the Royal College of Surgeons: [1] An outline of the history of art in its relation to medical science. Introductory address, Medical and physical society, St. Thomas's Hospital 1885- St. Thos. Hosp. Repts. 1886, 15, 151-181]
Resource Identifier RCS: E000685
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Anderson, William Alexander ( - 1882)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Anderson, William John (1821 - 1871)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2009-10-02 2013-08-06
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000600-E000699
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372870372870
Occupation General surgeon
Details Only son of William Anderson, of Paddington, gentleman. Admitted to the Head Master's House (C T Longley) at Harrow in January, 1835, left at midsummer, 1839, and matriculated from Christ Church, Oxford, on Oct 16th, 1839, but never graduated. Educated at St George's Hospital and in Paris. He started practice in Prince's Street, Cavendish Square, removing in 1849 to 10 Welbeck Street, where he restricted his practice to midwifery, was District Accoucheur to St Mary's Hospital, and Accoucheur to the St George's and St James's Dispensary. He was Hon Secretary to the Harveian Society and a member of the Royal Institution. He left this country to reside at Balmain, in New South Wales, and died on a voyage home from Sydney in 1871. Publications: *The Causes, Symptoms and Treatment of Eccentric Nervous Affections*, 8vo, London, 1850: 'Eccentric' affections being such as originate in causes extraneous to the nervous centres. *The Symptoms and Treatment of the Diseases of Pregnancy*, 8vo, London, 1852. *Hysterical and Nervous Affections of Women*, 12mo, London, 1853. "Continued Fever in Children," reprinted from *Assoc. Med. Jour.*, 1854, 751. With which is: "On the Use of Nitrosulphuric Acid in Cholera and Diarrhœa", reprinted from *Assoc. Med. Jour.*, 1853, 964. 8vo, London, 1854. "Remarks on the Treatment of Procidentia Uteri." *Assoc. Med. Jour.*, 1854, 904. "Some Anomalous Cases of Scarlatina." *Lancet*, 1854, i, 327. "On Leucorrhœa." *Med. Times*, 1856, xxxiii, 108, 435. "On the Submucous Section of the Sphincter Ani for Spasmodic Constriction with Anal Fissures." The paper is interesting because it emphasizes the advantages of operative treatment, as practised by Professor Blandin of Paris, over the older method of stretching the sphincter ani in cases of fissure which had been recommended by M Recamier.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000687
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Anderton, Henry (1790 - 1870)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Andrew, Edwyn (1832 - 1887)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2009-10-02
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000600-E000699
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372872372872
Occupation General surgeon
Details Educated at University College Hospital. Held the offices of Resident Medical Officer, House Surgeon, and Physician’s Assistant, as well as President of the University College Medical Society. Practised in Shrewsbury, devoting himself especially to the treatment of diseases of the eye and the ear. He was appointed Surgeon to the Shropshire and North Wales Eye and Throat Infirmary. At that time the building was very small and inadequate, “but under his exertion, and with the aid of others, he lived to see a new hospital erected and completed in 1881, replete with every comfort and with ample accommodation”. The hospital cost £10,000 to erect. It is a fine building and may be regarded as his monument. Andrew was President of the Shropshire and Mid-Wales branch of the British Medical Association, 1883-1884; Hon Local Secretary and Treasurer to the Royal Medical Benevolent College; Surgeon to the Shropshire Eye, Ear, and Throat Hospital; Consulting Surgeon to the Montgomeryshire Infirmary; Certificated Factory Inspector; and Surgeon to Shrewsbury Royal Grammar School. He died at his residence, 12 St John’s Hill, Shrewsbury, on Jan 10th, 1887. Publications: “Extirpation of Lachrymal Gland in Obstruction of Nasal Duct.” – *Brit. Med Jour.*, 1877, ii, 256, 623. “Intestinal Obstruction.” – Ibid., 1878 ii, 470. “On the Extraction of Senile Cataract and its Capsule.” – Ibid., 1883, i, 41.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000689
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Andrew, Henry (1815 - 1875)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Andrews, John Goldwyer (1782 - 1849)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Andrews, William (1784 - 1862)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Angus, Henry Brunton (1867 - 1927)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Annandale, Thomas (1838 - 1907)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2009-10-02 2016-01-29
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000600-E000699
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372877372877
Occupation General surgeon
Details Born at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, the second son of Thomas Annandale, surgeon, [1] by his wife E Johnstone. Educated at Bruce's Academy, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and apprenticed to his father. Matriculated at Edinburgh in 1856 and graduated MD in the University in 1860, gaining the highest honours and winning the Gold Medal for his thesis "On Injuries and Diseases of the Hip-joint". Acted as House Surgeon to James Syme (qv) at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary and as Syme's private assistant from 1861-1870. Appointed a Junior Demonstrator of Anatomy in the University by Professor John Goodsir. He was a lecturer on the principles of surgery in the extramural school at Edinburgh in 1863, and gave a yearly course of lectures until 1871, when he began to lecture on clinical surgery at the Royal Infirmary. In 1864 he won the Jacksonian Prize at the Royal College of Surgeons of England with his dissertation on "The Malformation, Diseases and Injuries of the Fingers and Toes with their Surgical Treatment". The essay was published at Edinburgh in 1865. Annandale was elected Assistant Surgeon to the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary in 1865, and became Acting Surgeon in 1871. He was appointed Regius Professor of Clinical Surgery in the University in 1871 [2] in succession to Joseph, Lord Lister (qv), who migrated to King's College, London. He was made an honorary DCL of the University of Durham in April, 1902. He joined the Royal Archers, His Majesty's Bodyguard in Scotland, as an Archer in 1870, and was Surgeon-General to the corps from May 27th, 1900, until his death. He married in 1874 Eveline, the eldest daughter of William Nelson, the publisher, of Edinburgh, and had by her three sons and three daughters. He died suddenly on Dec 20th, 1907, having operated as usual on the previous day. A bust executed by W G Stevenson, RSA, is in the lecture theatre of the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, and there is a small portrait of him in the collection at the Royal College of Surgeons of England. Annandale lived through the revolution in surgical practice. He kept himself abreast of all the varying phases and combined the good parts of each. He was keenly interested in University matters, and more especially in the welfare of the students. He was prominent at the Students' Union and in the Athletic Club. The 'Annandale Gold Medal' for Clinical Surgery commemorates him at the University of Edinburgh. Publications: Surgical Appliances and Minor Operative Surgery, Edinburgh, 1866. Abstracts of Surgical Principles, 6 Parts, 1868-1870. 3rd ed., 1878. Observations and Cases in Surgery, 1875. On the Pathology and Operative Treatment of Hip Disease, 1876. [Amendments from the annotated edition of *Plarr's Lives* at the Royal College of Surgeons: [1] to the Newcastle infirmary 1854-66; [2] '1871' is deleted and '1877 see *BMJ* 1938, 2, 436' added]
Resource Identifier RCS: E000694
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Appleyard, John (1848 - 1905)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Archer, Edmond ( - 1869)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Archer, John (1809 - 1886)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Archer, William (1809 - 1891)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Archer, William Gammon (1848 - 1890)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Bradley, Samuel Messenger (1841 - 1880)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2010-05-06
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000900-E000999
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/373133373133
Occupation General surgeon
Details Educated at Manchester and the Manchester Infirmary; soon after he was qualified he served as Resident House Physician. He then had a varied experience as locum tenens for six months of a general practice in Bowness, Windermere, and next for twelve months he made several voyages between Liverpool and New York in the Cunard Company’s service. He began general practice at Longsight, which involved him in a warm controversy with the Manchester Board of Guardians over the treatment of the sick. At an inquiry by the Poor Law Board he produced such strong evidence as to justify his statements, and his legal expenses were paid by a public subscription. For a time he acted as Surgeon to the Ancoats and Ardwick Dispensary and lectured on physiology at Stonyhurst College, for he was a successful and popular lecturer on natural history subjects, and a brilliant conversationalist. He published the first of numerous books, a *Manual of Comparative Anatomy and Physiology*, in 1869, of which a third edition appeared in 1875. Having qualified as FRCS in 1869, he was appointed Assistant Surgeon to the Manchester Infirmary and Lecturer on Anatomy at Owens College; later he lectured on practical surgery, and in 1879 became Surgeon to the infirmary. In 1870 he joined Walter Whitehead and edited the *Manchester Medical and Surgical Reports*, later amalgamated with the *Liverpool Reports*. He wrote much in a popular style on the “Shape of English Skulls”, “On Controversial Aspects of Syphilis”, “On the Relationship of Anatomy to the Fine Arts”. Besides he was so skilful a painter as to be elected an honorary member of the Manchester Limners’ Club and exhibited pictures. He was also a member of the Literary Club and a composer of casual verses. He had striking clear-cut features, a slightly aquiline nose, high forehead, and massive jaw; he was a good linguist and possessed of musical talents. His contributions to surgery appear to have been limited to the “Treatment of Hydrocele” (*Brit. Med. Jour.*, 1872), and *Injuries and Diseases of the Lymphatic System*, 1879. His health not being good he went to Ramsgate for rest, where after getting wet he was seized with acute pleurisy and pericarditis, from which he died on May 27th, 1880, and was buried at Ramsgate. Publications: *Retrospect of Advance of Modern Medicine: an Introductory Address, Manchester Royal School of Medicine*, 8vo, Manchester, 1869. “The Unity of the Syphilitic Virus.” – *Med. Press and Circ.*, 1871, ii, 269. *Notes on Syphilis, with an Appendix on the Unity of the Syphilitic Poison*, 8vo, London, 1872. “A New Method of Treating Hydrocele.” – *Brit. Med. Jour.*, 1872, i, 508. *Manual of Comparative Anatomy and Physiology*, 8vo, 1st ed., 1869; 3rd. ed., 1875. “Moral Responsibility,” 8vo, Lewes, n.d.; reprinted from *Jour. Ment. Sci.*, 1875-6, xxi, 251. *A Sketch of the Rise and Progress of the Art of Surgery: a Lecture*, 8vo, Manchester, 1876. *Injuries and Diseases of the Lymphatic System*, 8vo, London, 1879. “The Evolution of Disease.” – *Brit. Med. Jour.*, 1871 ii, 19. *The Collateral Statistics of English Surgery in Public Medical Charities for* 1870 (with Walter Whitehead), 8vo, 1871. “Description of the Brain of an Idiot.” – *Jour. Anal. and Physiol.*, 1872, vi, 65. *The Relationship of Anatomy to the Fine Arts*. A Lecture delivered in the Royal Institution, Manchester, 8vo, Manchester and London, 1880, etc. *A List of S. M. Bradley’s Published Writings* (1863-1876), was issued from the press without date. Bradley was Editor, in conjunction with Walter Whitehead, of the *Manchester Medical and Surgical Reports* in 1870-1871, and remained as an Editor for some time after the amalgamation of the publication with a similar one at Liverpool, when it became the *Liverpool and Manchester Medical and Surgical Reports*. He contributed several papers to these *Reports*, including one on the “Shape of English Skulls”, his object being to show that the existing classification of crania was no longer accurate. With the same object in view he also wrote on Australian crania (1871-1872). His paper on the shape of English skulls was based upon his measurements of the heads of male prisoners in the Manchester Borough Gaol, and he concluded that the skull is greatly modified by civilization.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000950
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Arthur, John (1806 - 1876)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Ashby, Alfred ( - 1922)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2009-10-07
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000700-E000799
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372887372887
Occupation General surgeon
Details Educated at Guy’s Hospital, and then became Surgeon to the Western General Dispensary. Appointed Medical Officer of Health to the united districts of Grantham, Newark, Sleaford, and Ruskington, and afterwards to Caversham, and to the Rural Districts of the Grantham, Newark, and Sleaford Unions. He came to Reading about the year 1882, and served the Borough for over forty years, being at the time of his death Consulting Medical Officer of Health to the Reading and Wokingham Union and Wokingham Rural Districts, Public Analyst, and Gas Examiner to the County Borough of Reading. He died suddenly at the entrance to the Reading Town Hall on Jan 7th, 1922. His official address had been at the Municipal buildings in Valpy Street, and his home address was at Ashdene, Argyll Road. Publications: *Grantham, Newark, and Sleaford combined Sanitary District*: Sec. 1. Precautions against the Spread of Infectious Diseases. Sec. 2. Directions for Disinfection. Sec. 3. Penalties for the Neglect of Precautions....Sec. 4. Directions for Rendering House Drainage free from Danger. Sec. 5. General Directions for the Preservation of Health. 8vo, Grantham, *n.d*. “Illustrations of Arrest of Infectious Diseases by Isolation of the Sick.” *Practitioner*, 1878, xxi, 300, and 1879, xxiii, 148. “Log-wood as a Re-agent.” *Analyst*, 1884. “The Fallacies of Empirical Standards in Water Analysis.” *Proc. Soc. M.O.H.*, 1884. “Powers of Local Authorities in respect of Dairies, Cowsheds, Milk Shops, etc.” * Ibid.*, 1886. “The Medical Officer of Health” in Stevenson and Murphy’s *Treatise on Hygiene*, 1893, ii. “The Detection of Methylated Spirits in Tinctures, Spirits or Ether.” *Analyst*, 1894, xix, 265. “Milk Epidemic of Diphtheria associated with an Udder Disease of Cows.” *Public Health*, 1906.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000704
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Ashe, Evelyn Oliver (1864 - 1925)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2009-10-07 2013-08-06
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000700-E000799
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372888372888
Occupation General surgeon
Details Educated at Owens College, Manchester, and at the London Hospital, where he was Scholar in Anatomy and Physiology (1883-1884), and in Anatomy, Physiology, and Chemistry (1884-1885). He was also Surgical Scholar, and obtained an Honours Certificate in Obstetrics in 1886-1887. After qualification he was House Physician, House Surgeon, Dental Assistant, and Resident Accoucheur at the London Hospital. In 1892 he went out to Kimberley, Cape Colony, as Senior House Surgeon to the Kimberley Hospital. Started practice in Kimberley in 1894, and became Surgeon to the De Beer's Consolidated Mines and Surgeon to the Kimberley Hospital, where he was Senior Surgeon at the time of his death on April 27th, 1925. His qualities were such that he was accorded a public funeral. Publications: *Besieged by the Boers: a Diary of Life and Events in Kimberley during the Siege*. 8vo, New York, 1900. "Galyl in Malta Fever." - *Brit. Med. Jour.*, 1918, i, 454. "Cæsarean Section for Eclampsia - Survival of Mother and Child." - *S. Afric. Med. Record*, 1919.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000705
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Ashley, William Henry (1819 - 1874)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Ashton, Thomas Mather (1812 - 1878)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Ashworth, Percy (1865 - 1929)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Aspland, Alfred (1816 - 1880)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Atherstone, William Guybon (1814 - 1898)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2009-10-07 2016-01-29
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000700-E000799
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372893372893
Occupation General surgeon
Details Eldest son by his first wife of Dr John Atherstone, who married Elizabeth Damant, of Fakenham. He probably came from Atherstone in Warwickshire, she of a Flemish family settled in Norfolk after the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. Commissary-General John Damant married into the Korsten family, of Cradock Place, Port Elizabeth, and induced John Atherstone and Lieut Damant, of Fakenham, in Norfolk, to emigrate in 1820 in the ss *Ocean* as one of the settlers whom the Earl of Bathurst was introducing into the Colony. John Atherstone had been House Surgeon at Guy's Hospital, and he brought his wife, William Guybon, and three daughters with him. In August, 1820, he became District Surgeon of Uitenhage for a year, and then went to Cape Town in 1828, where he practised successfully for five years. In 1828 he was District Surgeon at Grahamstown and practised there until he was killed by falling out of a cart in 1858. Two of his sons by a second wife, and therefore half-brothers to William Guybon Atherstone, also practised medicine in the Colony. William Guybon Atherstone, born at Sion Hill, Nottingham, on May 27th, 1814, accompanied the family to South Africa and was educated at Grahamstown School in the old 'Messenger House' and afterwards at Uitenhage. He went with his father to Cape Town, where he attended the natural history lectures given by Dr Andrew Smith (afterwards Sir Andrew Smith, who, many years later, as Director-General of the Army Medical Department, was made a scapegoat for the medical scandals of the Crimean War). In 1829 he returned to Uitenhage, where he attended the academy kept by Dr Rose Innes, and seems to have stayed there for two years, as he was apprenticed to his father in 1831. In 1834 he acted as staff medical officer under Sir Benjamin D'Urban on the outbreak of the second Kafir war, and in 1886 he received his certificate as a qualified medical man. He then went to Europe and attended the lectures of Stokes and Graves in Dublin during the year 1887, and qualified MRCS Eng in the following year after being one of Michael Faraday's pupils. He was joined by his friend Fred W Barber, spent a year in Paris, and took the degree of MD at Heidelberg in 1839. He then returned to England, and having on April 13th, 1839, married his cousin, Catherine Atherstone, sailed back with her in the Robert Small, a vessel of 1000 tons. He settled in practice with his father in Grahamstown in December, 1839, and spent the rest of his life in the Colony except for a short period in 1876, when he again visited England. He at first acted as Gaol and District Surgeon at Grahamstown, and in 1847 he performed an operation under ether which must have been one of the first administrations in South Africa. He also did some original work jointly with his father in investigating horse-sickness and tick-fever. In 1857 and again in 1866 he was keenly interested in the development of railways, urging the annexation of the Congo area so that a line might be carried from the Cape to Cairo, and in 1878 he tried to get a telegraph line carried overland to Egypt. Both projects were defeated, but he familiarized his contemporaries with these schemes, which were afterwards carried into effect. Although Cecil J Rhodes was in South Africa during his lifetime there is no evidence that the two kindred spirits ever met. He fostered, too, the infancy of ostrich-farming at Heathertown Towers and Table Farm. As a prospector with a sound working knowledge of geology he made many important journeys, visiting Namaqualand in 1854; Stormberg in 1870; Kimberley and the Lydenburg goldfields in 1871. In 1867 he identified the first diamond found at Colesberg Kop - now Kimberley - examining it under a polariscope and trying its hardness on glass. The window pane on which he experimented has been framed and preserved. In 1888 the Kimberley Companies clubbed together and presented him with a 4-carat diamond in recognition of his services. Atherstone maintained his interest in science to the end of his life, for he was much more than a prospector, being a good field botanist, an artist, and a very competent musician. He founded in 1855 the Medico-Chirurgical Society which afterwards became the Albany Museum, esteemed the second best in the Dominion. In 1887 he helped to found the Bacteriological Institute in Grahamstown, and in 1888 he initiated the South African Geologists' Association. He became a member of the Legislative Assembly for Grahamstown in 1881, and in 1884 he was elected to the Legislative Council (the Upper House) for the Eastern District, a position he retained until 1891. His eyesight having failed about 1887 he retired from practice, but in 1896 he consented to serve as President of the South African Medical Congress when it met in Grahamstown. He died at Grahamstown on June 26th, 1898, his family consisting of two sons and three daughters. Atherstone was a man brimful of original ideas, who must be looked upon as one of the great pioneers of South Africa. He was energetic to a marvellous degree and he had the knack of imparting his enthusiasm to all about him. No one excelled him in patriotic feeling; he loved South Africa and everything in it. Geology was his particular branch, and his observations were keen and practical. There were few persons at the Cape in the early seventies of the nineteenth century who understood the bearing of geology on economics; but Atherstone fully appreciated the importance of thoroughly unravelling the geological problems of the country and thus assisting in its development. He had often to battle against adverse influences, but his good work lives after him and science in South Africa owes him much. He received no great recognition:- The Royal College of Surgeons elected him a Fellow of twenty years' standing in 1888, and he was made an Honorary Corresponding Secretary of the Royal Colonial Institute and a Fellow of the Geological Society. He left behind him an account of his life and works in 155 closely written notebooks. They begin in 1843, have not been published, and are still in possession of the family.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000710
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Allgöwer, Martin (1917 - 2007)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by John Blandy
Publication Date 2009-10-21
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000700-E000799
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372894372894
Occupation General surgeon
Details Martin Allgöwer was chair and professor of surgery at the University of Basle, Switzerland. He was born in St Gallen, Switzerland, on 5 May 1917. He received his education at St Gallen and studied medicine at Geneva, Zürich and Basle. After qualifying, he was resident in the department of surgery at Basle under Carl Henschen and Otto Schürch, a distinguished orthopaedic surgeon who encouraged Allgöwer to set up a research institute of experimental surgery in Davos, where his first studies were on sulphonamide antagonists in tissue fluid, work carried out before penicillin was introduced. There he continued to work on tissue biology and wound healing, work which he continued as a visiting fellow in Galveston, Texas, under Pomerat and Blocker. He published the result of his research as *The cellular basis of wound repair* (Springfield, Illinois, Thomas) in 1956. In the same year he was appointed surgeon in chief in the Rätische Kantonsspital at Chur, Switzerland, later moving to be professor of surgery in Basle. He was the recipient of numerous honours, among which was the honorary fellowship of our College. He died on 27 October 2007 in Chur.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000711
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Amen, Amer Abdul Aziz (1944 - 2008)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Ballantyne, John Chalmers (1917 - 2008)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Neil Weir
Publication Date 2009-10-21
JPEG Image
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000700-E000799
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372896372896
Occupation Otolaryngologist ENT surgeon
Details John Ballantyne, a genial, kindly, hard-working man who gave much to British and world otolaryngology, was a consultant otolaryngologist at the Royal Free Hospital, London. He was born during a Zeppelin raid on Nottingham on 26 September 1917. He was a triplet – preceded by his sister, Jeannie, and followed by his identical twin brother, Rollo. His father, the Reverend John Charles Ballantyne, was a Unitarian minister. His mother, Muriel, née Taylor, was ethereal, artistic and musical. All her children, including the triplets’ older brother David, skilfully played the piano. Ballantyne was raised in Liverpool and attended St Christopher’s preparatory school. On the recommendation of their uncle Arthur Ballantyne (professor of ophthalmology at Glasgow), John and Rollo, who had decided to read medicine, took their first MB at St Mary’s Hospital Medical School, London. This was during the deanship of Charles Wilson (later Sir Charles and Lord Moran), who positively encouraged students to take the MB (as opposed to qualifying with the conjoint board examination only). He must have welcomed the versatile Ballantyne twins who enjoyed athletics and swimming and founded the St Mary’s Music Society. They followed an accelerated course to enable them to qualify early, in 1942, in order to join the Services during the Second World War. The captains Ballantyne joined the RAMC and were posted to Gibraltar. John was attached to the Royal Scots and began training as an otolaryngologist with R Scott Stevenson, whose interest in deafness and ease in writing left a marked impression. John’s first paper to be published in the *Journal of Laryngology and Otology* (JLO) was co-authored with his mentor, Scott Stevenson, and was entitled ‘The conservative treatment of chronic suppurative otitis media’. After the war, he completed his Army service in Hamburg and Oxford, before, in 1947, becoming registrar to Jack Angell-James in Bristol. From 1949 to 1950 he combined the posts of registrar to the Royal Cancer Hospital, London, with a research registrar post in the audiology unit at Golden Square Hospital, working with Edith Whetnall. This post stimulated John’s interest in deafness and the structure and function of the inner ear. After three successful years as senior registrar to John Simpson and Ian Robin at St Mary’s he gained his first part-time consultant post at the Royal Northern Hospital in 1953. At the same time he became assistant director to the audiology unit at the Royal National Throat, Nose and Ear Hospital and also otologist to the London County Council (LCC). This experience led to the publication of his first book, *Deafness* (London, J & A Churchill, 1960). It was written to help parents of deaf children and the adult deaf and has been used by generations of audiologists in training. John’s second daughter Deborah, an audiological scientist, translated the book into Italian. After five years at the audiology unit and the LCC, John moved on to a consultant post at the Royal Free Hospital. His senior colleague, W G Scott-Brown, introduced him to private practice in Harley Street and to his textbook *Diseases of the ear, nose and throat* (London, Butterworth), first published in 1952. The two Johns, John Ballantyne and John Groves, helped Scott-Brown with the second (1965), third (1971) and fourth (1979) editions, with each succeeding edition becoming a volume larger. John Ballantyne edited the second and third editions of *A synopsis of otolaryngology* (Bristol, J Wright) in 1967 and 1978 with his former chiefs from St Mary’s. He edited both the ear volume and the nose and throat volume for the third edition of Rob and Smith’s *Operative surgery* (London, Butterworth) in 1976, contributing chapters on stapedectomy and nasal surgery. In 1986, he repeated the exercise for the fourth edition, this time with Andrew Morrison and D F N Harrison as his co-editors of the ear, nose and throat volumes, respectively. Experience gained from a sabbatical with Hans Engstrom resulted in the joint publication of a paper on the morphology of the ‘vestibular ganglion cells’. This work stimulated his collaboration with Imrich Friedmann (who was for many years the JLO’s adviser in pathology) in co-editing a book in 1984 entitled *Ultrastructural atlas of the inner ear* (London, Butterworth). John Ballantyne was much in demand as a teacher, examiner and committee member. He never refused these duties, although in 1971 he is minuted as having seriously questioned the value of the repetitious work of the British Medical Association (BMA) otolaryngology group. It ceased to function the same year. And yet, if he could help to lessen deafness no task was too small. (He agreed, for example, to represent the BMA otolaryngology group on a British Standards Committee studying noise from toys.) At the Royal Society of Medicine (RSM) John chose as the title of his 1976 section of otology presidential address, ‘The hearing ear; variations on a theme of Helmholtz’, which enabled him to utilise his knowledge and love of music. He memorably played the passage in Smetana’s first string quartet (from ‘My life’), in which the composer described his own tinnitus. During his time as honorary secretary of the British Association of Otolaryngologists (from 1972 to 1977), he also represented the association on the council of the Royal College of Surgeons. He examined for the FRCS in England and Ireland, and was a civilian consultant in otolaryngology to the Army. As a distinguished editor of the JLO (from 1978 to 1988), John Ballantyne, with only the help of his tireless secretary, performed all the tasks of sub-editing and proofreading himself, including hand-writing letters to each author. He co-authored with Ted Evans and Andrew Morrison an influential report (published as the first JLO supplement in 1978) on cochlear implantation (CI), which paved the way for further work by the Medical Research Council and then the later adoption of CI by the Department of Health and Social Security (DHSS). As chairman of the DHSS advisory committee on services for hearing impaired people (ACSHIP) from 1974 to 1980, he introduced hearing therapists and contributed to the establishment of specialist audiological physicians. For the British Academic Conference in Otolaryngology, he served as honorary secretary and later chairman of the general committee for the conferences in Edinburgh and London respectively, and was invested as master of the seventh conference in Glasgow in 1987. In the same year, he was elected as an honorary fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow. John Ballantyne delivered the 16th James Yearsley lecture in 1970 on the subject of ototoxicity, the Sir William Wilde lecture in 1975 and the Toynbee lecture in 1984. He was awarded the Harrison prize in otology of the Royal Society of Medicine in 1971, and the Jobson Horne prize of the British Medical Association in 1982, and was a member of the Collegium Oto-Rhino-Laryngologicum Amicitiae Sacrum. For 20 years he was a most supportive director of the Britain Nepal Otology Service. John Ballantyne was honoured with a CBE for services for the deaf in 1984 and received the honorary fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, the College of Surgeons of South Africa and the Royal Society of Medicine. In retirement he was a founder member of the RSM’s Retired Fellows’ Society. The last meeting he was able to attend at the RSM was in December 2006, when fittingly he chaired a lecture given by his daughter, Jane. He for many years was administrator of the RSM Music Society, ending up as president. He never lost his youthful curiosity or humour, and was always reading, learning and wanting to know more. While in Gibraltar in 1942 he met Barbara Green, a Wren from Bristol. They married in 1949 and she survives him with their two daughters, Jane, an anaesthetist and professor of pain control, University of Philadelphia, USA, and Deborah, chief audiological scientist at ‘La Sapienza’ University in Rome. John Ballantyne died on 25 June 2008, aged 90.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000713
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Bateman, Patricia Jane (1943 - 2008)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by John Blandy
Publication Date 2009-10-21
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000700-E000799
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372897372897
Occupation Ophthalmologist
Details Pat Bateman was a consultant ophthalmologist in Cambridgeshire. She was born in Bristol on 11 May 1943, the daughter of Sam Roylance, headmaster of Cottam Grammar School in Bristol, and Emily Grace, a consultant paediatrician. She received her medical education at St Bartholomew’s and, after qualifying, completed junior posts at Bart’s and at Redhill General Hospital, before specialising in ophthalmology. From 1980 to 1998 she was a locum consultant ophthalmic surgeon at Doddington and, from 1992 to 2003, an associate specialist at Hinchingbrooke Hospital, Huntingdon. A modest person with great talents, she lived for serving others, and family, friends and patients were never disappointed. Her incisive mind and endless patience made her a good medical ophthalmologist: her calligraphic hand and clear notes were legendary. Her courage and sense of humour were valued, though she was never afraid to give her moral view when necessary. Her early surgical work ran into conflict with her wish to be a present and supportive mother, and the winners were the many consultants who knew they had a conscientious colleague who would always stay to the end of the clinic and complete what was in front of her. Pat was on her local parish council for 11 years and during her time as chairman made great improvements to the village, turning its clay pit into a nature reserve, where a commemorative stone has now been placed. Pat was a churchwarden at Little Shelford for a time, but in her latter days found her spiritual home and comfort at the Unitarian Memorial Church, Cambridge. She obtained an MSc in medical anthropology before she retired, which was the spring board into her archaeological, anthropological and biographical interests in retirement. She was also a proficient watercolour artist with an excellent sense of colour. She married Anthony Malcolm Bateman, a general practitioner at Great Shelford. Pat was adored by her family: her daughter Wigs works in international public health in Sydney, Australia, where she is married to Zac, an academic psychologist. Pat’s son, David, is a design engineer in London. Her courage in the last weeks of her life was inspiring, after her stage four glioma had been diagnosed. She died on 7 July 2008.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000714
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Benfield, Thomas Warburton (1822 - 1890)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Bennett, Edward Hallaran (1837 - 1907)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2009-12-17
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000800-E000899
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/373001373001
Occupation General surgeon
Details Born April 9th, 1837, at Charlotte Quay, Cork, was the fifth son of Robert Bennett, Recorder of Cork; his mother was Jane Hallaran, daughter of William Saunders Hallaran, MD, of Cork, who wrote on insanity in 1810 and 1818; his grandfather, James Bennett, was a physician in Cork. A kinsman, James Richard Bennett, was a distinguished teacher of anatomy in Paris about 1825. Bennett was educated in Cork at Hamblin’s School and at the Academic Institute in Harcourt Street, Dublin, kept by the Rev Daniel Flynn. He entered Trinity College in 1854 and graduated in 1859, taking also the new degree, MCh, then conferred for the first time. In 1863 he became FRCSI without having previously been admitted a licentiate. He was appointed Surgeon to Sir Patrick Dun’s Hospital and University Anatomist in 1864, in succession to John Kellock Barton. In 1873, on the death of Robert William Smith, he became Professor of Surgery in Trinity College and Curator of the Pathological Museum. In 1880 he was President of the Dublin Pathological Society; from 1884-1885 President of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland; from 1894-1897 President of the Royal Academy of Medicine in Ireland; from 1897-1906 he represented the University of Dublin on the General Medical Council; from 1902-1905 he was Surgeon to the Lord Lieutenant, the Earl of Dudley; and in 1900 was elected FRCS Eng. His photograph, with signature, is in the Album of Honorary Fellows. He married Frances, daughter of Conolly Norman, of Fahan, Co Donegal, and had two daughters. He died on June 21st, 1907, at 26 Lower Fitzwilliam Street, Dublin, and was buried at Mount Jerome Cemetery. Bennett is distinguished by his remarkable collection of fractures, dislocations, diseases, and surgery of bones, which he arranged and catalogued, together with their clinical histories, in the Pathological Museum of Trinity College. In 1880 he described for the first time at the Cork Meeting of the British Medical Association, and in 1881 at the Dublin Pathological Society, the fracture of the metacarpal bone of the thumb, now known universally as ‘Bennett’s fracture’. He began by correcting previous statements, first as to frequency. Malgaigne and Hulke had correctly stated that the first metacarpal was more frequently fractured than its fellows, but not near its distal extremity as Astley Cooper had stated, nor through the middle of its shaft. In five specimens of united fractures there was evidence of an oblique fracture through the base, displacing the articular facet which projects into the palm, with corresponding changes in the articular surface of the trapezium. He made many other important communications, chiefly in connection with bones. He was one of the earliest surgeons in Dublin to adopt Lister’s methods. There are two bronze medallions placed respectively in the School of Physic, Trinity College, and in Sir Patrick Dun’s Hospital by subscription of his pupils. A bronze medal, bearing on one side Bennett’s portrait by Sheppard, and on the other a metacarpal bone showing the fracture, is given to the winner of the Surgical Travelling Prize in the School of Physic. Publication:- Bennett’s original paper appeared in *Dublin Jour. Med. Sci.*, 1882, lxxiii, 72, with plate.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000818
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Bradley, William Henry (1807 - 1881)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Bradshaw, William Wood (1801 - 1866)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Brady, George Fraser (1820 - 1877)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Osborne, David Robert (1943 - 2008)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2009-07-10 2015-09-14
JPEG Image
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000600-E000699
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372808372808
Occupation General surgeon Urological surgeon Urologist
Details David Osborne was a consultant surgeon who established the first urological department in Basildon. He was born in Weston-super-Mare on 12 December 1943, the son of Alan John Osborne, a leading aircraftman, and his wife, Tilly Fleming née Straiton. He was educated at Hazelcroft Primary School and then Weston-super-Mare Grammar School. He studied medicine at the Royal Free Hospital Medical School from 1963 to 1968, winning the Ruth Bowden anatomy prize and the George Quist surgery prize, and playing in the first XV rugby team. After qualifying, he was a house officer at Hampstead General Hospital and then at St Andrew's Hospital. In 1970 he was a casualty officer at the Royal Free. He then held senior house officer posts at Luton and Dunstable, and at Frenchay and Southmeads hospitals, Bristol. He was then a registrar in general surgery at Cheltenham and Gloucester. From 1976 to 1983 he was a lecturer in surgery at the Royal Free Hospital. In 1983 he was appointed as a consultant general surgeon with an interest in urology to Basildon and Thurrock hospitals. In 1985 he became a consultant surgeon to South Ockendon Hospital and in 1991 became head of the department of urology with full-time responsibility for urology services. He established a specialist urology department with three surgeons, each with a subspecialty interest. He was interested in reading, gardening, walking and painting, and loved fine wines. In 1969 he married Brenda Mary Cornforth, a general practitioner and a fellow student at the Royal Free, who was the daughter of Sir J W Cornforth FRS KBE. They had one son, Andrew John (a GP in New Zealand), and a daughter, Catherine Jane (a marketing manager). He died on 17 October 2008. His love of surgery was so great that he continued seeing patients and operating until three weeks before he died.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000625
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
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First Title value, for Searching Shuttleworth, Kenneth Ernest Dawson (1922 - 2006)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Sir Barry Jackson
Publication Date 2009-07-10 2010-12-09
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000600-E000699
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372809372809
Occupation Urological surgeon Urologist
Details Ken Shuttleworth helped establish the urology department at St Thomas' Hospital, London. He was born on 30 April 1922 in Bradford to Frederick and Edith Shuttleworth. His father won a scholarship to Oxford from Bradford Grammar School to read mathematics: his mother was at Girton College, Cambridge. His father won the Military Cross in 1918 for successfully evacuating his gun crew despite a severe wound to his leg. After the war, he became a chartered accountant at Deloitte's, despite his disability, but for a long time it was Ken's mother who kept the family afloat by teaching mathematics at Queen's College in Harley Street. Ken was educated at Watford Grammar School. Despite some early experience in hospital, where he had fainted at the sight of blood every day for a fortnight, he entered St Thomas' Hospital to study medicine in 1939. He qualified in 1944 and at once joined the RAMC, serving in Italy, Egypt and Palestine, an experience which included taking out the appendix of the son of a sheikh, who rewarded him with a feast including the traditional sheep's eyes. On demobilisation, he returned to St Thomas', at first at Midhurst, where he married Phillippa Hartley, and then as a surgical registrar in Lambeth. He was put in charge of an audit of the results of hernia repairs in a large number of policemen, mostly using the nylon darn method, which he published in 1962. He was an exchange fellow at McGill University at the Royal Victoria Hospital, Montreal, where he carried out research into intravenous fat therapy and the metabolism of glyceride clearance under Gavin Miller, and took the opportunity to tour America and visit Johns Hopkins and the Mayo Clinic. On his return he was appointed to the staff of St Thomas' and awarded a Hunterian Professorship in the College in 1962. From the days of Cheselden, the urological tradition at St Thomas' had always been a strong one, and at this time was being upheld by R H O B Robinson and Walter 'Gaffer' Mimpriss, who had taken the trouble to visit the United States to learn the technique of transurethral resection with the cold punch from Gershom Thompson at the Mayo Clinic. Both Robinson and Mimpriss continued with general surgery until they retired in 1962 and 1970 respectively. Shuttleworth replaced Mimpriss as a general surgeon, but at once realised the necessity of setting up a specialist department of urology, entirely separate from that of general surgery. Such specialisation in London was at that time exceptional, and he faced opposition from some colleagues who were keen for the overlap between urology and general surgery to continue. But Shuttleworth stuck to his guns and eventually won the day. He realised too that a specialist department must be seen to be carrying out research if it was to be credible, and if its trainees were to gain higher degrees in surgery. At this time at St Thomas' Brian Creamer was breaking new ground with his measurements of the pressure changes in the oesophagus, and this stimulated Shuttleworth to do the same thing in the urinary tract, long before urodynamics had been dreamed of. He sent several of his brighter protégés to San Francisco to learn the latest techniques from Frank Hinman Jr. He extended these studies to the upper urinary tract in the physiology of the ureter and hydronephrosis. The theoretical advantage of combining of hyperbaric oxygen with external beam irradiation was then being developed at St Thomas', and Shuttleworth was keen to offer its advantages to men with carcinoma of the prostate, among whom were some very distinguished people. He was president of the British Association of Urological Surgeons (BAUS) from 1982 to 1984, at a time when many in the surgical subspecialties were urging the surgical Royal Colleges to set up a higher surgical qualification which would indicate when a candidate had been fully trained in his or her specialty. The Edinburgh College had led the way by setting up specialist assessments in neurosurgery and orthopaedics, and approached Ken on the feasibility of a similar examination in urology. Representatives from BAUS visited Edinburgh to observe the assessment in orthopaedics, which impressed and persuaded them of the need for a comparable assessment in urology. BAUS were persuaded to support this concept, but not without some difficulty and only on condition that it would be set up jointly by all four surgical Royal Colleges. The invention by Dornier of the method of extracorporeal shock wave destruction of urinary stones came at a time when the NHS budget was under unusual strain and the Department of Health asked for bids from different London hospitals. The competition was intense, but Shuttleworth put forward a scheme which won the prize, and for the next decade large numbers of renal calculi were referred to St Thomas' for the new treatment. The results of the first thousand cases were published in the *British Journal of Urology* [1986 Dec; 58(6):573-7]. His publications included his Hunterian Lecture [*Ann Roy Coll Surg Eng* 1963; 32:164-179] and a chapter on urological surgery for De Wardener's textbook, *The Kidney*. In committee he was often dogmatic and, as a consequence, nearly always got his way, although not when he was outvoted in the appointment of the first female surgical registrar! (In his view a surgical career was for men.) Because of his strong personality and strong views he had many detractors in the hospital, and strained relationships were also apparent in relation to his somewhat turbulent private life. He was a lover of sunshine and of Italy, owning a villa in Tuscany, where he retreated each summer and produced his own wine. He had three marriages, all of which failed, and from each of which there were children. This was unusual in the then conformist establishment of St Thomas' and some of his more puritanical colleagues were distinctly disconcerted. He also attracted a circle of devoted supporters. In retirement he moved permanently to his Tuscan farmhouse, where he was happy growing his own vegetables, harvesting his hay field, picking his own grapes and making wine, and entertaining friends who visited him from England. Left alone after the death of his partner Pamela, he continued to be a generous host and kept in touch with several of his family. A hip replacement in London did not slow him up and it was only when he suffered progressive amnesia that his family brought him back to England to a nursing home. He was then diagnosed with prostate cancer from which he eventually died on 8 March 2006. His supporters felt that it was sad there was no memorial service for him at St Thomas', as was customary for a departed senior member of the consultant staff.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000626
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Walker, Victor Gordon (1919 - 2004)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Wapnick, Simon (1937 - 2003)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Smellie, William Alastair Buchanan (1933 - 2010)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by N Alan Green
Publication Date 2010-10-14
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E001000-E001999/E001000-E001099
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/373229373229
Occupation General surgeon
Details Alastair Smellie was a much respected consultant general surgeon to Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge, with breast and endocrine specialist interests, a lecturer at the university and for many years a senior examiner for final MB BChir examinations. He was born on 17 May 1933 in Woking, Surrey, into a family with a long medical tradition. His father, William Buchanan Smellie, was a general practitioner-surgeon. His mother, Marie Louise Stephens, was the daughter of William Edgar Stephens, a solicitor. The medical ‘genes’ can be traced back to William Smellie (1697-1763), the well-known master of midwifery who flourished in London in the heyday of the Hunters, became a leading teacher and obstetrician, and whose name is associated with wooden forceps, later covered with leather. The continuous line of medical practitioners in the family is continued today by William James Buchanan Smellie, a consultant surgeon at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital. Alastair was educated first at Allen House preparatory school in Woking and then at Wellington College, where he boxed for the school and became house captain. He then went to Pembroke College, Cambridge, and on to St Thomas’ Hospital for his clinical studies. There he met Anne Fraser-Stephen, a medical student whom he married five years later. They were devoted to each other for the whole of their 50 years of marriage. Anne was the daughter of Lindley Fraser and granddaughter of Ridley MacKenzie, a doctor. Alastair qualified in 1957 and, after house appointments, entered the RAMC for National Service with the Grenadier Guards from 1960 to 1962, as a captain and surgical specialist. He was posted to the Cameroons, where he found goitre to be endemic. In his spare time he perfected what was to become one of his trademark operations, thyroidectomy. A staff sergeant administered ether for anaesthesia, a fact that Alastair frequently pointed out to anaesthetists in future years. He maintained his interest in the military, becoming an honorary colonel in the Territorial Army from 1985 to 1990. He returned to St Thomas’ as an anatomy demonstrator, and was then appointed to the busy post of resident assistant surgeon, remaining at St Thomas’, apart from a senior house officer post at the Royal Postgraduate Medical School and Hammersmith Hospital, and a year in research into organ transplantation at the Medical College of Virginia, which became the subject of his MChir thesis. During his year in America he became friendly with Tommy Johns, an American surgeon, who adopted the Smellie family. Alastair was able to show at a later date a similar generous friendship to young doctors in training under his supervision. He was then appointed as a senior lecturer in surgery to the University of Cambridge under Sir Roy Calne. From this post he moved to his definitive appointment as general surgeon to Addenbrooke’s Hospital, a position he held for 30 years, endocrine and breast surgery being his preferred specialties. During this period, Cambridge medicine saw huge changes with the building of the large new hospital, the foundation of the clinical medical school and an explosion in research. Alastair Smellie played a key role in Cambridge surgical education from medical students to senior trainees, and was responsible for guiding the paths of many present day UK consultants. He was made a member of the Travelling Surgical Club of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in 1974 and after two years of membership became honorary secretary and treasurer. Alastair was the fifth St Thomas’ graduate to occupy this onerous post, in the steps of William Wagstaffe of Oxford – the guiding force when Lord Moynihan was its’ first president – Philip Mitchiner, Sir Clement Price Thomas, Bob Nevin and Adrian Marston, who handed the baton to Alastair. With Anne at his side, Alastair proved to be very efficient and over the next six years organised many successful meetings at home and abroad. In our College, he was on the Court of Examiners and a regional adviser from 1971 to 1979. At Cambridge he served on the examination committee of the master of surgery and for many years organised the surgical component of the MB BChir. Invited examiners were able to enjoy the ‘Smellie’ hospitality the night before the vivas. On one occasion the snow fell heavily, and during the evening meal complimented with wines from Alastair’s cellar, frequent calls came from students who said they would never make the examination the next day. Alistair’s answer was brief: “Start walking now!” Above all, Alastair is remembered for his clinical work. He was a superb diagnostician and operator. He was very supportive of all hospital activities and will be remembered by those who knew him well for his unstinting support when they found themselves in difficulty. He published widely in general, vascular and the transplantation fields, was on the editorial board of the *British Journal of Surgery* and edited *Cambridge lectures in surgery* (Chapman and Hall, 1981). He had many interests outside medicine. He loved the Barbizon school of art and collected it wisely, just as he did fine porcelain and wine. His love of people and conversation, coupled with a marvellous sense of humour, made him an ideal companion at any scientific meeting or social event. A natural tennis player, he played against colleagues in Oxford most years. Taught to shoot by his father, Alastair loved the countryside, shooting pheasant in the Fens and grouse in Scotland. He was a keen fisherman who loved the serenity of the river banks in Norfolk and Scotland. For 28 years, he took a house on the Boreland estate in Scotland, where friends and their children enjoyed his hospitality and shot their first grouse and deer or caught their first salmon under his guidance. He served as chief medical officer at point-to-points in East Anglia, supported the hunts and withstood the cold weather when treating injured riders, although he was not a horseman himself. After the inaugural university tobogganing race, Alastair tried the sport himself at the age of 51, became addicted and for the next 15 years Alastair led parties of family and friends to St Moritz. He was on the board of governors of Radley and Uppingham schools. Alastair Smellie died suddenly but peacefully on 24 March 2010, and was survived by Anne, their daughter Claire (a teacher), James (a general surgeon) and Thomas (a financial consultant), and eight grandchildren.
Resource Identifier RCS: E001046
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Somerville, Philip Graham (1920 - 2010)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Story, Harold Frederick Rowe (1924 - 2009)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2010-10-14
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E001000-E001999/E001000-E001099
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/373231373231
Occupation Urologist
Details Harold Story was a urologist at the Royal Melbourne Hospital and at the Austin Hospital, Heidelberg, Victoria. He was born in Melbourne on 8 November 1924 and was educated at Melbourne University High School and Melbourne University, where he was awarded a prosectorship and Dwight’s anatomy prize. On qualifying, he was a resident medical officer at the Royal Melbourne Hospital (from 1947 to 1948) and then became a demonstrator in anatomy while studying for the primary, at which he won the Gordon Taylor prize in 1949. He did junior posts at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, as a demonstrator in clinical surgery, in anatomy and in pathological histology. He then went to England to study for the final FRCS. Having passed the fellowship, he became a urological registrar at the Whittington Hospital and was later a clinical registrar and then a senior surgical registrar (resident surgical officer) at St Peter’s Hospital for Stone (from 1955 to 1956), where he worked under Alec Badenoch, John Sandrey and David Wallace. He then returned to the Royal Melbourne Hospital, at first as an associate assistant to J B Somerset and later as an honorary surgeon. He was the first urologist at the Austin Hospital, where he set up a urological department and remained its head for more than 40 years, becoming an expert in the treatment of urological tuberculosis and spinal injuries, and in particular the treatment of the large staghorn stones, which occurred in these patients. He was also the first urologist at the Peter MacCallum Clinic (Cancer Institute). He was a wing commander in the Specialist Reserve for the Royal Australian Air Force He married Jean Lesley McKenzie and they had two sons, Rowan (an oral and maxillofacial surgeon) and Ian. His many interests included the history of surgery and of surgical instruments, and he was the honorary curator of the collection at the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons. In 2005, a Harold Story Memorial annual lecture was inaugurated. He died on 12 July 2009.
Resource Identifier RCS: E001048
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Tainsh, John McNeill ( - 2007)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2010-10-14 2012-03-09
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E001000-E001999/E001000-E001099
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/373232373232
Occupation General surgeon
Details John Tainsh passed the FRCS in 1946 and returned to Vancouver, where his death on 3 January 2007 was notified to the College by his daughter.
Resource Identifier RCS: E001049
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Tooms, Douglas ( - 2007)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Brough, Michael David (1942 - 2004)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2005-09-14
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000000-E000099
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372216372216
Occupation Plastic surgeon Plastic and reconstructive surgeon
Details Michael David Brough was a consultant plastic surgeon at the Royal Free Hospital, London. He was born on 4 July 1942 in London, where his father, Kenneth David Brough, was chairman of Metal Box Overseas Ltd. His mother was Frances Elizabeth née Davies, the daughter of Walter Ernest Llewellyn Davies, a general practitioner in Llandiloes, Montgomeryshire. Michael was educated at the Hall School in Hampstead and then Westminster. He went on to Christ’s College, Cambridge, and completed his clinical studies at the Middlesex Hospital. After graduating he continued his training in Birmingham, Salisbury and Manchester. His first consultant appointment was at St Andrew’s Hospital, Billericay, which was followed by appointments at University College, the Royal Free and the Whittington Hospitals. He became celebrated for his work after the fire at King’s Cross underground station on 18 November 1987, which killed 31 people and caused many severe burns. Michael led the team treating these casualties, an experience which caused him to realise the need for expertise from other specialties (no fewer than 21 consultants from 11 specialties were involved in this instance), as well as ongoing psychological support, especially for those with disfiguring injuries. He urged that all major burns units should be sited in or near teaching or large district general hospitals, and equally, that all major trauma centres should include a plastic surgery and burns unit. He set up the Phoenix Appeal with the Duke of Edinburgh as patron and raised £5m to establish the first academic department of plastic and reconstructive surgery in the UK. In 2002 he set up the Healing Foundation, a national charity chaired by Chris Patten, to champion the cause of people living with disfigurement and to fund research into surgical and psychological healing techniques. Beginning with £500,000 from the British Association of Plastic Surgeons this foundation has raised £4.5m and is setting up a chair of tissue regeneration at Manchester University. He was a former President of the British Association of Plastic Surgeons and also a member of the NHS Modernisation Agency’s Action on Plastic Surgery team. Despite being a non-smoker, he developed lung cancer and died on 18 November 2004. He leaves his wife Geraldine, two daughters and two sons.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000029
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Burgess, Charles Terence Anthony (1913 - 2004)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2005-09-14 2015-09-04
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000000-E000099
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372217372217
Occupation General surgeon
Details Charles Burgess, known as Terence, was born in Hoylake, the Wirral, Cheshire, on 10 January 1913, into a medical family. His father, Charles Herbert Burgess, was a general practitioner, as was his grandfather, Robert Burgess. His mother was Meta Jeanette née Leitch. Terence was educated at Haileybury, and then in 1931 went on to Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge. He completed his clinical training in Liverpool. After junior posts, he served in the RAMC and was awarded an MBE for his part in the rescue of wounded servicemen from a hospital transport ship when it was mined and sunk off the Normandy beaches shortly after D-day. He returned to Liverpool to specialise in surgery, training at the David Lewis Northern Hospital. In 1950, he was appointed as a consultant surgeon at Ormskirk District General Hospital and, the following year, to Southport Infirmary. He retired from both positions in 1978. He kept up his links with the RAMC, retiring from the 8th Liverpool Unit in 1963 with the rank of Colonel. He served on the Southport bench as a magistrate from 1971 to 1983, and after retirement became involved with the movement to found the Queenscourt Hospice in Southport, of which he was first chairman of the committee. The hospice education centre is named after him. He wished to be remembered for the good quality, compassionate care he gave to patients and as an enthusiastic educator of medical and nursing staff. Outside medicine, he was involved with his church, St Cuthbert's in Southport, serving as a churchwarden. He played golf, and was interested in cartography and local history. He was a lifelong supporter of Everton Football Club. He married Stella née Smith in 1951 and they had two daughters, Catherine and Priscilla, an ophthalmologist. There are two grandchildren. He died on 29 January 2004, following a stroke.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000030
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Burkitt, Robert Townsend (1912 - 2005)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Robin Burkitt
Publication Date 2005-09-14 2014-07-18
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000000-E000099
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372218372218
Occupation General surgeon
Details Robert Townsend Burkitt, known as 'Robin', was a highly respected consultant general surgeon at Ashford Hospital. He was born in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland, on 28 September 1912. His father, James Parsons Burkitt, was an engineer and County Surveyor, and also a distinguished ornithologist, an interest which Robin inherited from his father. His mother was Gwendolyn Burkitt née Hill. Robin and his elder brother Denis, were educated at Dean Close School in Cheltenham and he followed his brother to Trinity College, Dublin (TCD), in 1930. At TCD he studied modern languages, anticipating a career as a diplomat, then decided to change to medicine. Denis also decided on a career in medicine and he carried out pioneering research into the cause of a particular form of cancer ('Burkitt's lymphoma'), work for which he achieved world-wide recognition. After qualifying as a doctor, Robin took up a post as a senior house officer at the Royal Cornwall Infirmary, where he met his future wife, Violet, a nurse. They were married shortly after the Second World War broke out. He joined the Army at the end of 1939 and was sent to France, where he was stationed on the Normandy coast until the German advance forced them to retreat in haste. Robin managed to reach Boulogne and take passage back to England. He was then posted as a battalion medical officer to the 9th Battalion, the Seaforth Highlanders. After a period of training in Scotland, he was sent to West Africa, where he worked in hospitals and outlying stations in the Gambia and Nigeria. He returned to England in October 1944 to qualify as a surgical specialist. Early in the following year he was sent to India to join a beach medical unit that was preparing for a planned invasion of Malaya. Returning to England at the end of the war, he joined Ashford Hospital as a surgical registrar and during his time there gained his FRCS. Due to the post-war backlog, there were few opportunities to obtain a consultant post in the UK, and he was persuaded by an old colleague to join his medical practice in Nairobi, Kenya. In 1951, he and his wife sold the family home and most of their possessions and took passage to Africa with their three young children. However, their time in Kenya was not a great success: the medical practice did not grow as anticipated and various other aspects of life, particularly the Mau Mau rebellion, meant it proved an insecure environment for his wife and young children. In 1954 they returned to the UK and Robin took up a post as a senior registrar at Upton Hospital, Slough, which he always considered the most rewarding part of his professional career. During this time he was proud to have played a major role in transforming the reputation of the hospital. When he joined no GP would think of referring a patient to the hospital: when he left they would not consider any other. In 1963 Robin took up a consultant post at Ashford Hospital, which became vacant on the retirement of Norman Matheson. He worked at various hospitals in the area and also treated patients in London. He was highly regarded, not only because of professional skills as a surgeon, but also for his great gifts of communication, which he used to reassure and comfort patients and their families. He worked tirelessly for the Slough branch of the Multiple Sclerosis Society, acting as treasurer for nearly 20 years and then as welfare officer. He did much to help and improve the quality of those suffering from the disease. Robin's own wife died in 1997, having suffered poor health since the early 1970s. Right to the end he continued to visit local people, offering sympathies, advice and comfort, drawing from his great knowledge and experience. Robin was a devout Christian with a very strong faith. He worshipped at the United Reform Church in Beaconsfield for many years and his death was a great loss to the members of the congregation. He died on 19 April 2005, aged 92, and was survived by his three children, Robin, Andrew and Beth, their families, as well as the many people who had enjoyed his friendship.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000031
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Calvert, Paul Thornton (1949 - 2004)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2005-09-14 2012-07-19
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000000-E000099
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372219372219
Occupation Orthopaedic surgeon
Details Paul Calvert was a consultant orthopaedic surgeon at St George's Hospital, London, and at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital. He was born on 17 March 1949, the son of John Calvert, a civil engineer, and Barbara, a barrister. He was educated at the Dragon School and Rugby, where he excelled in all court games, especially rackets. He later went up to Trinity College, Cambridge, to read natural sciences. After his first year, when he played hockey, rackets and real tennis (for which he was later awarded a blue), he changed courses to read medicine. He later went on to Guy's to do his clinical studies. After qualification and house jobs, he and Deborah, whom he married as a student, went to Vancouver, Canada, where he spent a year on rotation as a surgical resident. On his return to the UK, he worked for a while as a general surgical registrar, before specialising in orthopaedics. He was then a senior house officer at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, subsequently becoming a registrar and then senior registrar. He became interested in the shoulder after working with Lipman Kessel and later with Ian Bayley. After serving as senior surgical officer at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital and as lecturer to the professorial unit, he was appointed consultant orthopaedic surgeon to the Hinchingbooke Hospital in 1985. But, finding he missed the excitement of a teaching department, he transferred to a consultant post at St George's Hospital in 1986. The shoulder firm at St George's rapidly expanded under his leadership, with the development of arthroscopic surgery and shoulder replacement. Reluctantly, he dropped his paediatric orthopaedic commitment, but he continued to be involved with trauma and covered general orthopaedic emergencies. He was the lead surgeon at St George's dealing with the aftermath of the Clapham rail crash in 1988. In 1993, he took on sessions at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital to work with Ian Bayley. He published a number of important papers, particularly on shoulder topics, including papers on habitual instability and on the consequences of the Clapham rail crash. He maintained his interest in teaching and was Chairman of the regional specialist training committee. He was appointed trainer of the year by the British Orthopaedic Trainees' Association. He negotiated with the Department of Health on behalf of the British Orthopaedic Association to increase the number of orthopaedic surgeons in training. In 1999, he was found to have an ocular melanoma. Despite the effect it had on his eyesight, he continued to work to enlarge the orthopaedic department at St George's. He also built up a successful private practice, both in Wimbledon and at the Hospital of St John and St Elizabeth in St John's Wood, to whose hospice ward he asked to be admitted shortly before he died. He took early retirement at Christmas 2003, and died on 7 May 2004 of secondary melanoma. He left his wife, Deborah, and two children. His sister, Sandra Calvert, is also a consultant at St George's. The new orthopaedic operating theatres at St George's have been named after him.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000032
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Cameron, Alexander (1933 - 2004)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2005-09-14 2006-12-21
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000000-E000099
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372220372220
Occupation General surgeon
Details Alexander Cameron, known as ‘Alistair’, was a consultant surgeon at Norfolk and Norwich Hospital. He was born in Tranent, East Lothian, on 1 August 1933, the son of Alexander Cameron, a miner who became vice-president of the National Union of Mineworkers for the Scottish area, and Margaret née Hogg, a shop assistant. He was educated at Tranent Public Primary School and then Preston Lodge School, where he gained a distinction in literature and was *dux* of his class. He studied medicine in Edinburgh and then did house jobs at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary. From 1957 to 1959, he served as a surgeon lieutenant, first in Portsmouth, and then as a medical officer aboard HMS *Torquay* and then HMS *Scarborough*, part of the Fifth Frigate Squadron of the Mediterranean fleet, visiting Malta and Syracuse. In July 1958, he was present at the nuclear test explosions on Christmas Island. His meticulous medical records of this and his formal instructions for decontamination and cleansing remain intact for safe keeping with his wife. He then sailed back to the UK via Samoa, Auckland, Sydney, Perth, Sri Lanka and the Suez Canal. Returning to civilian life south of the border as senior house officer at the North Middlesex Hospital, he gained his FRCS in 1962. An appointment as research assistant to Leslie Le Quesne and Michael Hobsley from 1964 to 1967 was followed by a rotating registrar post to the Middlesex and Central Middlesex hospitals, where he fell under the influence of Sir Rodney Sweetman, P Newman, Sir Thomas Holmes Sellors and Peter Gummer. He became senior registrar to O V Lloyd Davies from 1967 to 1970, followed by his appointment as senior lecturer with honorary consultant status in 1970. Gaining his masters degree in 1973, he went to Sweden and Germany to learn the techniques of the Koch continent ileostomy, which he went on to popularise in the UK. Appointed consultant surgeon to the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital in 1973, he was the first person with a specialist colo-proctological interest: the unit is now much expanded. It was usual in those days for the ‘junior’ surgeon in Norwich to have a paediatric interest, so Alistair spent some time at Great Ormond Street to help him in his new venture. He was surgical tutor from 1976 to 1979, and was a popular and outstanding teacher at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. A series of myocardial infarcts obliged him to retire early in 1988. He was operated on at Papworth in 1981 and 1989 by J Wallwork, using a procedure pioneered by his own boss, Sir Thomas Holmes Sellors. Distancing himself from medicine, he was able to continue his interests in astronomy, botany, microscopy, modern languages (French, German, Spanish and Italian), together with his passion for philosophy, poetry, history and politics. It was in these areas he was a formidable opponent in debate. An earlier interest in classical Greek and Latin was rekindled and, with an outstanding knowledge of computer technology, he managed to fill his life restricted by cardiac disability. An article on his experiences as a cardiac patient ‘Reflections in a glass box’, showed true and amusingly thoughtful insight into the NHS, its staff and his own condition. He met Elizabeth (‘Widdy’) neé Padfield when she was a surgical ward sister at the Middlesex. They married in 1970 and had four sons, Duncan, Angus, Hamish and Dougal. Alistair died on 20 February 2004.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000033
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Campbell, Sir Donald (1930 - 2004)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2005-09-14
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000000-E000099
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372221372221
Occupation Anaesthetist
Details Sir Donald Campbell was a former professor of anaesthesia at the University of Glasgow and President of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow from 1992 to 1994. He was born on 8 March 1930 at Rutherglen, near Glasgow, the son of Archibald Peter and Mary Campbell. He attended Hutcheson’s Boys’ Grammar School and then went on to the University of Glasgow, where he studied medicine. After completing resident posts, he left for Canada to begin his training in anaesthesia, working in Edmonton and in Lethbridge, Alberta. In 1956 he returned to Glasgow to complete his training at the Royal Infirmary and Stobhill. From 1959 to 1960, he was a lecturer in anaesthetics at Glasgow Royal Infirmary. In 1960 he transferred to the health service department as a consultant anaesthetist, a post he held for the next 16 years. While training in Canada he had developed an interest in anaesthesia for heart surgery and also noted the early development of intensive care units. Using his diplomatic skills, he succeeded in persuading his colleagues that this was the way forward for their patients. The respiratory intensive care unit was opened in 1966, with Campbell as its first director. His research interests covered the development of ventilators, the pharmacology of new analgesic drugs, and the effects of smoke inhalation on the lungs. His published works included over 100 papers on anaesthesia, intensive care, and related subjects in peer-reviewed journals. He was the author of two textbooks. In 1976 he was appointed to the chair of anaesthesia in Glasgow. In this post he was able to develop his interest in medical education. For a period of four years from 1987 he was dean of the medical school. From 1985 to 1990 he was Chairman of the Scottish Council for Postgraduate Medical Education. As a member of the medical advisory committee of the British Council he was involved in arranging attachments to UK departments for many young trainee anaesthetists from overseas and also from the Royal Navy. On the national stage, he was vice-president of the Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland in 1977, and President of the Scottish Society of Anaesthetists in 1979. He was an examiner and board member of the Faculty of Anaesthetists (the forerunner of the Royal College of Anaesthetists), and was elected dean of the faculty for three years from 1982. He went on to become vice-president of the Royal College of Surgeons from 1985 to 1987. Before he retired, he was elected President of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow, the first anaesthetist to hold this post. He was awarded the CBE in 1987 and he received his knighthood in 1994, in recognition of his contribution to medicine. He suffered a stroke soon after his retirement, and this limited his ability to enjoy his favourite sports of fishing, curling and shooting. It did not, however, suppress his enjoyment of people and his skill as a raconteur. He married twice. His first wife was Nancy Rebecca McKintosh, ‘Nan’. They married in 1954 and had a son and a daughter. After her death in 1974 he married Catherine Conway Braeburn. They had two daughters. He died on 14 September 2004.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000034
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Carr, George Raymond (1922 - 2003)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Cheng, Koon-Sung (1966 - 2003)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Clarke, Samuel Henry Creighton (1912 - 2004)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2005-09-14
JPEG Image
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000000-E000099
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372224372224
Occupation Urological surgeon Urologist
Details Henry Clarke was a consultant urological surgeon in Brighton and mid Sussex until his retirement in December 1976. He was born in Derby on 1 January 1912, the son of Samuel Creighton Clarke, a general practitioner in Derby and the son of a gentleman farmer from Newtownbutler, Ireland, and Florence Margaret Caroline née Montgomery, a descendent of the Montgomery who accidentally killed Henry II of France in a jousting match in 1559. Clarke was educated at Monkton Combe junior and senior schools, and then went on to St Bartholomew’s medical school, where he was a medical clerk to Lord Horder and a surgical dresser to Sir James Paterson Ross. From 1937 to 1938 he was a casualty officer, house surgeon and senior resident at the Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton. He enlisted in July 1939, joining the 4th Field Hospital, as part of the British Expeditionary Force. In 1940, at Dunkirk, he organised the evacuation of men on to the boats, under aerial attack. He left Dunkirk on one of the last boats out. In 1942 he was sent out to North Africa, and was present at the Battle of El Alamein. At the end of the North African campaign, as part of the 8th Army, he took part in the invasion of Italy. He ended the war as a Major in the RAMC. After the war, he returned to Bart’s, where he was much inspired by A W Badenoch. After appointments at Bart’s, as a chief assistant (senior registrar) and at St Peter’s Hospital for Stone (as a senior registrar), he became a consultant in general surgery at the Luton and Dunstable Hospital in 1950. In 1956 he was appointed as a consultant urological surgeon to the Brighton and Lewes, and mid Sussex Hospital groups. He was a member of the council of the British Association of Urological Surgeons from 1961 to 1964, and a former Chairman of the Brighton branch of the BMA. He married Elizabeth Bradney Pershouse in 1947 and they had a daughter, Caroline Julia Creighton. There are three grandchildren – Rachel, Brittany and Alexander. He was interested in rugby, tennis and golf, and collected liqueurs and whiskies. He retired to St Mary Bourne, and became an active member of his parish. He died from heart failure on 15 September 2004.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000037
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Cobb, Richard Alan (1953 - 2004)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Coffin, Frank Robert (1915 - 2004)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2005-09-23
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000000-E000099
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372226372226
Occupation Oral surgeon
Details Frank Robert Coffin was an oral surgeon in London. He was born in Wandsworth, London, on 21 September 1915, the son of a printer. After qualifying at the Royal Dental Hospital in 1938, he completed house jobs at Leicester Square and at the Middlesex (then the only resident dental post in the country). During the war he organised the emergency oral surgery service in London. In 1941, he joined the RAF, where he gained experience of maxillofacial injury in the UK and abroad. After the war, he became a medical student at the Middlesex Hospital and completed an ENT house job there in 1949. He was appointed as a consultant at the Royal Marsden Hospital, where he became interested in head and neck oncology, and was subsequently appointed to the staff of the Royal Dental Hospital and St George’s, Tooting. He was a recognised teacher for the University of London, the Royal Dental Hospital, St Bartholomew’s and the Institute of Cancer Research, London. He was particularly interested in pharmacology and lectured on the subject at the Royal Dental Hospital during the fifties and sixties. He gave many lectures abroad, in Denmark, Holland, Spain, Portugal, Asia and North and South America. He served on many consultants’ committees, and was also President of the hospitals group of the British Dental Association in 1977, and was, for a time, honorary treasurer and Chairman of the Dentists’ Provident Society. A true workaholic, he gave a full commitment to his many NHS hospitals, but still found time to enjoy skiing, sailing, travelling, and furniture and clock restoration. He was also an enthusiastic gardener. He remained unmarried. He died from cardiac failure on 13 January 2004.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000039
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Cohen, Louis Bloom (1915 - 2003)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2005-09-23 2012-03-22
JPEG Image
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000000-E000099
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372227372227
Occupation General surgeon
Details Louis Bloom Cohen spent much of his career as a surgeon in various politically unstable countries in Africa and in Iran. He was born in Glasgow on 16 November 1915, the son of Arthur Israel Cohen, a company director with the Rank Organisation, and Louise née Bloom. He was educated at St Paul's School, London, where he won first prize in science in the seventh form. He studied medicine at St Mary's Hospital, qualifying in 1940. In June 1941 he joined the Navy as a Surgeon Lieutenant, seeing service on *HMS Newark*, *Whitehaven*, *Aldenham* and *Eggesford* in the North Atlantic, eastern Mediterranean and in the Far East. He was demobilised in January 1946. He was a member of the RNVR for a further six years. He was a surgical registrar at St Mary's from 1946 to 1949. He was then a resident surgical officer at Salisbury Infirmary, Wiltshire. From 1951 to 1952 he was a surgical registrar at North Middlesex Hospital. In 1952 he went to Ethiopia, as a surgeon at the Princess Tsehai Memorial Hospital, Addis Ababa, where he stayed for three years. From 1955 to 1963 he was in private practice in Nairobi, Kenya, with beds in the Princess Elizabeth Hospital. The war of independence led to the break up of his medical firm. In 1963 he moved to Nigeria, as surgeon to the Shell-BP Delta Clinic, Port Harcourt, but had to leave quickly, along with other expatriates, because of the civil war. From 1968 to 1972 he was chief surgeon at the National Iranian Oil Company Hospital, Abadan, Iran. He was appointed by London University to chair a proposed university, but the scheme was abandoned because of political pressure. In 1972, he was appointed professor of the faculty of postgraduate studies at JundiShapur University Hospital, where he stayed for a year, but was forced to leave after the radical student element burned down the administrative building and he narrowly escaped a lynching. He returned to Africa in 1973, as a surgeon at the Zambia Medical Aid Society Hospital, Lusaka. The hospital was closed for political reasons, with the government attempting to force the medical staff and patients to transfer to the Lusaka Teaching Hospital. He went on to South Africa in 1975, where he was full-time senior surgeon at the Provincial Hospital, Port Elizabeth. He retired for the first time in 1983, and then worked at the Nkensani, Letaba and Kgapani Hospitals. He finally retired in April 1995. He had attempted to retire to Famagusta in Cyprus, but the Turks invaded the Greek part of Cyprus and his property was seized. He married three times - to Valerie Holmes, Sjoukje Veenstra and Norma Hammond. He had two children, Patricia Louise and David Jared. He enjoyed boxing (representing the United Hospitals at welter and middle weight as a student), golf, swimming, painting and model making. He died suddenly of a heart attack on 9 September 2003.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000040
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Coleman, John Wycliffe (1924 - 2003)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2005-09-23 2012-03-28
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000000-E000099
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372228372228
Occupation Chaplain General surgeon Missionary
Details John Wycliffe Coleman, one of three hostages detained for eight months following the Islamic Revolution in Iran in 1980 and released after the intervention of the Archbishop of Canterbury, was a missionary doctor who worked tirelessly in the Middle East and in the East End of London. He was born on 10 May 1924 in Cairo, where his father, Robert Baxendell Coleman, worked as a missionary doctor. His mother was Enid Louise née Evans, the daughter of a Dublin doctor. He was educated at Westminster School and then Christ's College, Cambridge, and went on to St Thomas's for his clinical studies. He was a house surgeon at St Thomas's and then a medical officer with the Church Missionary Society in Jerusalem, but soon moved to Iran after the outbreak of war between the Arabs and Israelis. For the next 16 years Coleman worked as a surgeon in the Episcopal Church of Iran's hospital in Shiraz. He was awarded the freedom of the city of Shiraz in recognition of his work. In 1964 he returned to London, for his sons' education, and worked in the East End, as medical superintendent of the Bethnal Green Medical Mission. In 1978 he returned to Iran to run a medical clinic in Yazd, where he was made pastor of the small Christian community. Just two years later, in 1980, Coleman and his wife were detained, along with the Bishop of Iran, the Right Reverend Iraj Muttahedeh, the bishop's secretary, Jean Waddell, and three other Christian Iranians. During the first month of captivity, he was kept in isolation and denied reading material, even his Bible. The hostages were eventually released in February 1981 after the intervention of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Robert Runcie, and his envoy, Terry Waite. He never expressed any bitterness towards his captors. Once back in Britain, Coleman travelled widely, speaking about his experiences. In 1984 he returned to the Middle East at the invitation of the Bishop in Egypt, as chaplain of a small church in Port Said and at the disocesan hospital in Menouf. In 1990 the Colemans returned to the UK, once again at the Bethnal Green Medical Mission. He became chairman of the Egypt Dioscean Association and commissary to the Bishop of Egypt. He was a firmer supporter of the Friends of the Diocese of Iran and regarded both Iran and Egypt as home. He was in demand as a speaker and Bible teacher, travelling in Britain and overseas, particularly Nepal and Afghanistan. He frequently visited Egypt and in 2000 returned to visit Iran. He married Audrey Ponsford in 1946 and they had four sons. He died on 16 August 2003 in St Joseph's Hospice, London, from prostate cancer.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000041
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Bisley, Geoffrey Gibson (1915 - 2007)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Enid Taylor
Publication Date 2009-08-07
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000600-E000699
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372825372825
Occupation Ophthalmic surgeon
Details Geoffrey Gibson Bisley was an ophthalmic surgeon who spent much of his career overseas. He was born on 23 May 1915 at Hove, Sussex, the second child of Claude and Ida Gibson. His father was an auctioneer and surveyor in the family business. His maternal grandfather and uncle were both qualified pharmaceutical chemists and his elder sister qualified at the Royal Free Hospital in 1936 and practised as a general practitioner in Maidenhead for about 30 years. Geoffrey attended King’s College School, Wimbledon, and then King’s College Hospital, qualifying in 1940. After a house job in Leatherhead, he joined the RAF in September 1940 and served until March 1946, being overseas in Aden, Palestine and Cyprus. After leaving the RAF, he spent his medical life overseas, initially in Kenya (from 1946 to 1979), working in the Colonial Medical Service until 1963, and then in the Kenyan Ministry of Health. He then worked as warden and chief surgeon at St John’s Hospital, Jerusalem, for two periods, from 1970 to 1983 and 1989 to 1990. The intervening years were spent as ophthalmic surgeon to the government of the Seychelles (1984 to 1985) and to the charity Sightsavers, based in Sierra Leone (from 1987 to 1989). He lectured about prevention and treatment of blindness in Kenya at the Ophthalmological Society of the UK conference in Dublin in 1964 and wrote *A handbook of opththalmology for developing countries* (London, Oxford University Press, 1973), which was well received, with reprints and a second edition. He edited the *East African Medical Journal* (from 1976 to 1979) and was an external examiner in Uganda in medical ophthalmology. He was founder and first president of the Ophthalmological Society of East Africa, a member of the Ophthalmological Society of the UK and a fellow of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine for more than 50 years. He enjoyed gardening, walking, bird-watching and working with wood. He was a religious man, a reader in the Anglican Church in Nairobi and the Church of England, UK. In 1941 he married Joyce Goodwin, a nurse at King’s College Hospital. They had two children – Richard David, born in 1951, who is the senior partner in an insurance company, and John Geoffrey, born in 1954 and founder and director of a safari company in Nairobi. His wife died of cancer in 1986. He died in Nairobi in November 2007.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000642
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Woodhouse, Derrick Fergus (1927 - 2007)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Enid Taylor
Publication Date 2009-08-07
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000600-E000699
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372826372826
Occupation Ophthalmologist
Details Derrick Fergus Woodhouse was an ophthalmologist, first in the West Midlands area and then in New South Wales, Australia. He was born on 29 May 1927 in Sutton, Surrey, the third child of Sydney Carver Woodhouse, a venereologist at St Thomas’ Hospital, and Erica née Ferguson, a mathematician. His schooling was at Caterham Preparatory School and Kelly College, Tavistock, from which he went to New College, Oxford. He did his clinical training at St Thomas’ Hospital and then he held house officer appointments in ophthalmology, medicine and surgery at St Thomas’, Exeter and Plymouth, before entering the RAF with a short service commission. He served as squadron leader at Cosford and Ely. His ophthalmic training was at the Birmingham and Midland Eye Hospital as senior house officer and registrar, at the Bristol Eye Infirmary as senior registrar, before being appointed as a consultant ophthalmologist to the West Midlands Regional Health Authority (Wolverhampton and Stafford hospitals) in 1963. He gave credit for his training to Harold Ridley at St Thomas’ and Phillip Jameson Evans at Birmingham Eye Infirmary. He then worked for a short period as locum ophthalmologist in Brisbane for two months and subsequently as VMO refractionist to Sydney Eye Hospital (from 1990 to 1992). From 1990 to 1997 he was staff ophthalmologist, Liverpool Hospital, New South Wales, and head of the eye department. His publications were many, his main interests being glaucoma, paediatric and neonatal ophthalmology, and computer applications to ophthalmology and optics. He was active in national committees. He was a fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine, treasurer and president of the Midland Ophthalmological Society, council member of the Ophthalmological Society of the United Kingdom, treasurer and chairman of the Ophthalmic Nursing Board of the United Kingdom and Ireland, and a member of the British Computer Society from 1964. He travelled and lectured all over the world. In 1957, he married Jocelyn Laira Perry, an occupational therapist, at the Friends Meeting House, Sutton, Surrey. They had three children – Karen, a material scientist, Iain, who works in publications distribution, and Gillian, a biotechnologist researching biosensors. He died peacefully in Sydney on 1 December 2007, leaving his wife and three children.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000643
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Adams, John (1805 - 1877)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2009-08-07
JPEG Image
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000600-E000699
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372827372827
Occupation General surgeon
Details Born at Plaistow, in Essex, Oct 16th, 1805, the son of James Adams, who owned and farmed many acres at Beamerside, Plaistow. Educated at Reading Grammar School, Dr Richard Valpy, the well-known classic, being then headmaster. Entered the London Hospital as a student and was articled to John Goldwyer Andrews (qv), Surgeon to the Hospital, and President of the Royal College of Surgeons in 1835 and again in 1843. In 1828 he was appointed Demonstrator of Anatomy, being subsequently Lecturer on Anatomy and later Lecturer on Surgery. He was Assistant Surgeon for the long period of nineteen years, before he became full Surgeon, a post he resigned in 1868, when he was appointed Consulting Surgeon. He also acted as Consulting Surgeon to the Royal Hospital for Diseases of the Chest, to the Tower Hamlets Dispensary, and to the South-Eastern Railway. He was a member of the Council of the Royal College of Surgeons from 1862-1869, and of the Court of Examiners from 1868-1872. For many years he was Secretary of the London Hospital Medical Club and acted as President of the Hunterian Society. In 1830 he lived in Mount Street, close to the Hospital; in 1831 he moved to Mark Lane, and in 1835 to New Broad Street. In 1850 he took the house in St Helen's Place which had been built by Sir William Blizard and occupied by his old master, John Goldwyer Andrews. In 1865 he went to live at 10 Finsbury Circus, and two years later returned to Blackheath, where he died on Jan 18th, 1877, being buried in the cemetery at Charlton. The list of his removals is interesting because it marks the gradual movement of the staff of the London Hospital from east to west until they settled in Finsbury Square, where they remained for many years. John Adams married, at Poplar Parish Church, Mary Ann Frost, daughter of Robert Frost, who was in the service of the Honourable East India Company, and by her had two sons and two daughters. Francis Mantell, BA, of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, a barrister and member of the Inner Temple, died young; the second son was James Edward (qv). Mr William Adams Frost, FRCS, is a nephew. Portraits of John Adams remain in the possession of the family. He is said to have been very popular both with the staff and with the students, and his colleagues presented him with a handsome clock when he retired from office in the London Hospital Club. He was firm but genial with the students, and when, as was usual, a disturbance arose in his class, he used suddenly to bring down his fist like a sledge-hammer upon the table and shout, “If you don't stop this bloody row I will close the lecture.” Publications:- *The Anatomy and Diseases of the Prostate Gland*, London, 1851; 2nd ed., 1858. An article in Cooper's *Surgical Dictionary* on “Injuries of the Head,” and another on the Urethra in the *Cyclopedia of Anatomy and Physiology*.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000644
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Adams, Joseph Ebenezer (1878 - 1926)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2009-08-07 2016-01-15
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000600-E000699
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372828372828
Occupation General surgeon
Details Born Feb 7th, 1878, the fifth son of William Adams, a merchant in the City of London. Educated at the City of London School and at St Thomas's Hospital, where he gained the entrance scholarship; served as House Surgeon and gained the Beaney scholarship in surgery and surgical pathology in 1904. He acted successively as Surgical Registrar and Resident Assistant Surgeon during the years 1905-1909, and was elected Assistant Surgeon to the Hospital for Children at Shadwell, where he was Senior Surgeon at the time of his death. In 1913 he was elected Assistant Surgeon at St Thomas's Hospital, becoming full Surgeon in 1923. At the Royal College of Surgeons he lectured as Hunterian Professor in 1913, taking as his subject "Abdominal Adhesions", and in a second Hunterian Lecture in 1926 he dealt with the "Surgery of the Jejunum". During the war he acted with the rank of captain on the à la suite staff of the Fifth London General Hospital (the St Thomas's unit), and at King George's Hospital. He was hampered throughout his life by an ill-defined abdominal condition which a post-mortem examination showed to have been due to a congenital diaphragmatic hernia. He died on Dec 21st, 1926. He married Muriel, youngest daughter of Henry Webb, of Chislehurst, Kent, and lived at 19 Harley Street, W, having a cottage at Penshurst. [1] He left no children. Adams was brought up so strictly that when he entered St Thomas's Hospital he had never been inside a theatre and had never travelled by train on a Sunday, yet his high-mindedness, his thoroughness, and his ability more than compensated for this restriction, and rendered him acceptable both to his colleagues and to the students. Publications:- *Acute Abdominal Diseases, including Abdominal Injuries and the Complications of External Hernia*. Conjointly with Maurice Alan Cassidy. 8vo, London, 1913; 2nd ed, 1923. [Amendment from the annotated edition of *Plarr's Lives* at the Royal College of Surgeons: [1] *The Times* 17 August 1957 ADAMS - On 16th August 1957, after a short illness and much suffering, MURIEL EMMA ADAMS, wife of the late J. E. Adams M.S., F.R.C.S. No flowers. Cremation at Golders Green Crematorium, 12.15pm Wednesday, 21st August. Letters to Mrs Webb (sister-in-law), 36, Kidbrooke Gardens, Blackheath, S.E.3.]
Resource Identifier RCS: E000645
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Braine, Francis Woodhouse (1837 - 1907)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2010-05-06
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000900-E000999
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/373137373137
Occupation General surgeon
Details Son of James William Braine (qv), a medical man in large practice; born at St James’s Square, London, on December 28th, 1837, the eldest of eleven children. He entered St George’s Hospital in 1854, and was successively House Surgeon, Surgical Registrar, and Demonstrator of Anatomy. He acted as private assistant to George Pollock (qv), Surgeon to the hospital, and thus gained experience in the administration of chloroform. Henry Potter, Chloroformist to St George’s Hospital, gave up his position unexpectedly owing to the death of a patient to whom he was giving the anaesthetic. The post was offered to Braine, who until then was educating himself for a post on the surgical staff of the hospital, and was Resident Medical Officer at the Children’s Hospital, Great Ormond Street. The offer was accepted with some reluctance. Braine took Potter’s house in Maddox Street, and became one of the early specialists in the administration of anaesthetics. He soon attained a European reputation. For twenty-six years, from 1868-1894, he was anaesthetist to the Dental Hospital in London, where he was appointed a Vice-President on his resignation of office. During this period Braine was the first to adopt in England the use of nitrous oxide gas for the production of anaesthesia. From 1873-1890 he was Chloroformist and Lecturer on Anaesthetics at Charing Cross Hospital, where his lectures were the first systematic course on the subject in this country. He was also Anaesthetist to St Peter’s Hospital for Stone, acting for sixteen years and retiring with the rank of Consulting Anaesthetist. He was one of the founders and the first President (1893-1895) of the Society of Anaesthetists, and was Hon Secretary of the Medical Society of London when it moved from George Street, Hanover Square, to Chandos Street, Cavendish Square, in 1871. For his services the Society awarded him a silver medal in 1875 and made him a Vice-President. He was twice married. He died on October 28th, 1907, and was buried at Harrow. Braine was an adept boxer, whip, and rider to hounds, his love of sport being an inheritance from his grandfather, who is described as a wealthy gentleman farmer living in Oxfordshire. In his younger days he took part in swimming matches under the assumed name of ‘Frank Stanley’. He was also devoted to games of skill. For many years he acted as Hon Secretary of the Fellows of the College of Surgeons’ dinner, which was held on the date of the Election to the Council, and by his social qualities and administrative ability did much to make the gathering successful. He held high rank as a freemason, and was appointed in 1901 to the acting rank of Senior Grand Deacon in the Craft, and Assistant Grand Sojourner in the Royal Arch. His life synchronized with the rise and development of the art of anaesthesia from experimental beginnings. He was one of the great practical pioneers, and lived to see it established on a firm scientific basis. Nitrous oxide could not be brought in cylinders when Braine began to practise. It had to be made at home and conveyed to the patient in a large bag from which the gas leaked, as often as not, until it frequently happened that hardly enough would be left to produce anaesthesia. It was so often impure that to the last day of his practice Braine always satisfied himself by inhaling a few whiffs before he gave it to the patient. He was greatly in favour of chloroform at the beginning of his career, but soon became an advocate for the use of ether, in the administration of which he was very expert. He always used the Ormsby inhaler, and was a firm believer in rapid induction, giving nitrous oxide first to full narcosis and then changing to ether, using separate inhalers. He very rarely used mixtures containing chloroform in later life. Publications:— Braine’s contributions on anaesthetics are to be found in *Brit. Dent. Jour.* and *Brit. Med. Jour.* for 1869-1871 and in *Lancet* for 1872, ii, 782.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000954
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Canney, George (1820 - 1875)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Cantlie, Sir James (1851 - 1926)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2010-02-11
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000800-E000899
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/373028373028
Occupation General surgeon
Details Born on January 17th, 1851, at Dufftown, Banffshire, the son of a banker interested in farming, who handed on to his son a love of outdoor life. He was educated at the Milne Institution, Fochhaber, then at the University of Aberdeen, being the only student in attendance wearing the kilt. After graduating in Natural Science with Honours in 1871, he proceeded to Charing Cross Hospital for his clinical studies under the influence of Dr Mitchell Bruce, who knew him from boyhood and was then teaching anatomy. Cantlie became House Surgeon and then Demonstrator and Lecturer on Anatomy (1872-1887), and in 1877, having become FRCS he was appointed Assistant Surgeon to Charing Cross Hospital, becoming Surgeon in 1886 and resigning his office in 1888. Cantlie first became interested in the work of the St John Ambulance Association and later in that of the Red Cross when in 1878 Surgeon Major Peter Shepherd, AMS, left with Mitchell Bruce and Cantlie the proofs of his *First Aid to the Wounded*. Shepherd had been ordered to the war in Zululand, where he fell at Isandlwana. It was in 1883 that Cantlie commenced the classes at Charing Cross Hospital which developed into the systematic framing of the RAMC Territorial Force. In 1883 he was one of twelve young medical men who were sent to Egypt to assist in dealing with the epidemic of cholera introduced by pilgrims from Mecca. In a lecture he delivered at the Parkes Museum of Hygiene on Jan 27th, 1887, entitled “Degeneration amongst Londoners”, his mildly extravagant statements directed to the encouragement of exercise in fresh air met with a good deal of cheap ridicule in the public Press, generally epitomized in the statement that Londoners die out in the third generation. He had just become full Surgeon to the hospital when he accepted Patrick Manson’s invitation to join him at Hong Kong and become Dean of the Chinese School of Medicine. At the same time he engaged in a large surgical practice. Among the students at the College of Medicine was Sun Yat Sen, who subsequently was concerned in converting the Empire into a Republic. And when Sen in October, 1896, was held captive in the London Chinese Legation, Cantlie was instrumental in getting him released. He also inquired into the distribution of leprosy in China and adjacent parts of the East Indies, and in 1894 encountered an outbreak of plague. He returned to London in 1897 and set to work to advocate a Tropical Medical School in London, a Tropical Section at the Annual Meeting of the British Medical Association, and a Tropical Medical Journal published in London. Backed up by Sir Patrick Manson, then Medical Adviser to the Colonial Office, he read a paper at the Imperial Institute urging a School of Tropical Medicine for medical officers going to the Tropics. A Committee was formed at Manson’s house, Mr Joseph Chamberlain’s interest was secured, and he presided at a dinner with the result that £16,000 was collected and the London School of Tropical Medicine was opened in 1899. The British Medical Association Section of Tropical Medicine was inaugurated at the Edinburgh Meeting in 1898; and Manson, the President, read out the telegram from Sir Ronald Ross announcing the discovery of the malaria parasite in the mosquito. Cantlie was Secretary of the section, and at subsequent meetings Vice-President and President. The first number of the *Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene*, with Cantlie and Professor Sir William Simpson as editors, appeared in 1898; Manson and later Cantlie were Presidents of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine, and Cantlie presented the gold chain and insignia for the President. He contributed many articles on tropical surgical affections, but gradually his attention concentrated itself upon ambulance work. On the formation of the Territorial Armies he became Hon Colonel RAMC (TF), 1st London Division. He held classes and lectured at the Polytechnic on first aid to the wounded. From that he passed on to found the College of Ambulance for the training of both men and women. The training of VADs started in 1908, but with the outbreak of war in 1914 it was greatly developed under Lady Cantlie. Among numerous inventions which are owing to his genius and untiring exertion are a portable X-ray apparatus, and exercises graduated for people of mature age; he attacked the Eton jacket for exposing the loins, also the ‘baby’s comforter’ as the transmitter of infection. At the Newcastle Meeting of the British Medical Association in 1921 Cantlie was President of a special section of Ambulance. The same year, 1921, marked the decline of his active career owing to the death of Lady Cantlie. In private life Cantlie was a delightful and entertaining companion and host, abounding in Scotch humour, whilst the faculty of imitation and the instincts of a born actor made him an admirable after-dinner speaker and singer. He started a Students’ Dinner, and presided over the dinner of the Caledonian Society. He preached at St Martin’s Church on Hospital Sunday, and addressed a Jewish audience on the hygiene of Moses. After prolonged retirement and ill health, latterly accompanied by mental disturbance, he died in London on March 25th, 1926. Cantlie married in 1884 Mabel Brown, daughter of Robert Barclay Brown, and there were four sons. His wife was his great helper in all private and public work. To her he was entirely indebted for the management of his finances. Upon her too fell the severe work of conducting the training of the VADs in ambulance work, and her death in 1921 was an irreparable loss. Publications:– *Degeneration amongst Londoners*, London, 1885. *Leprosy in Hong Kong*, Hong Kong, 1890. *Report on the Conditions under which Leprosy occurs in China*, etc., London, 1897. *Plague and how to Recognize and Treat Plague*, London, 1901. *Physical Efficiency: A Review of the Deleterious Effects of Town Life upon the Population of Britain*. Preface by Sir Lauder Brunton; Foreword by Sir James Crichton Browne, London, 1906. *First Aid Manuals*, revised 1915, 1926, etc. A great number of other publications.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000845
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Radford, Caleb ( - 1888)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Radford, Thomas (1793 - 1881)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2012-10-17
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E003000-E003999/E003000-E003099
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/375203375203
Occupation Obstetrician and gynaecologist
Details Born at Hulme Fields, Manchester, on November 2nd, 1793, the son of John Radford, dyer and bleacher. He was educated at a private school in Chester, and was apprenticed to his uncle, William Wood, surgeon, of Manchester, whose partner and successor he afterwards became. He studied at Guy's and St Thomas's Hospitals in London, and in 1818 was elected Surgeon to the Manchester and Salford Lying-in Hospital, and afterwards to St Mary's Hospital for Women, where he became Consulting Physician and Chairman of the Board of Management. He gave his valuable library and museum to St Mary's Hospital in 1853, and in 1856 was instrumental with his wife in securing a new building for the charity. Some years before his death he invested considerable sums of money for the benefit of the poor attending the hospital and gave £1,000 for the upkeep of its library. The catalogue of the library compiled by Dr C J Cullingworth was published in 1877. Radford was one of the founders of the Manchester School of Medicine in 1825, and was a Lecturer on Midwifery at the Pine Street School of Medicine, the first complete provincial medical school. He delivered the first address on obstetrics at the Provincial Medical Society in 1854, and was the author of many papers on midwifery. He married in 1821 Elizabeth (d 1874), daughter of the Rev John Newton, of Didsbury, near Manchester, whose only child died young. Radford died at his residence, Higher Broughton, Manchester, on May 29th, 1881, and was buried in St Paul's Church, Kersal. Thomas Radford was a notable link in the chain of able and well-known Manchester gynaecologists, starting with Charles White (1728-1813) and including John Roberton (1797-1876) and James Whitehead (1812-1885). He was one of the first in this country to advise abdominal section, and gave much assistance and support in 1848 to Charles Clay (1801-1893) in his early operations for the removal of diseased ovaries in 1848. There is a photograph of him in the Fellows' Album.
Resource Identifier RCS: E003020
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Radford, Thomas ( - 1884)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Railton, Thomas Carleton (1844 - 1922)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Raleigh, Edward Ward Walter (1802 - 1865)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Randall, John (1817 - 1892)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Rand, John (1836 - 1912)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2012-10-17
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E003000-E003999/E003000-E003099
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/375208375208
Occupation General surgeon
Details Born at Layham, Suffolk, on March 7th, 1836. He went to school at Wickham Market and at Ipswich, and was apprenticed to Henry Hare, of Great Baddow. He studied at Guy's Hospital, where he was House Surgeon to John Hilton and House Physician to Dr Thomas Addison in 1859. He then went to Paris, presumably as Medical Attendant to the Comte de Paris, meanwhile attending the practice of the Paris hospitals. He particularly recalled the surgery he had seen practised there, especially the use of the tonsil guillotine. He commenced practice at Walton-on-Naze and at Felixstowe in succession to Thomas Grimwood, and was known as an ardent Volunteer and good rifle shot. In 1868 he suffered from double pleurisy, and during convalescence, on the advice of Sir William Gull, he relinquished country practice; he passed the FRCS examination, and in 1869 joined Edward Reynolds Ray in partnership at Dulwich until 1887, when Ray retired. From 1887 he had as partner G B Batten, MB. He was popular with patients and colleagues alike, owing to the charm of his open character, which earned him the title of 'honest John Rand'. He was twice President of the Sydenham District Medical Society. He helped to start the East Dulwich Provident Dispensary in 1886, which developed into one of the largest and best managed of its kind. For two years he was the representative of the Norwood Branch of the British Medical Association. When he retired from practice in 1896 his portrait was presented to him as a testimonial. He then went on a visit with Mrs Rand to their son in India, who shortly after met with a tragic death, being murdered on the night of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee in 1897. Rand in retirement first lived at Raynes Park, then at 'Felixstowe', Lovelace Road, Surbiton, where he served on the Committee of the Cottage Hospital, and played golf. He died on August 7th, 1912, and was buried in St Mary's Churchyard, Long Ditton. He married in 1860 Miss Fanny Hicks, of Great Holland Hall, Essex, and was survived by his wife, three sons, and a daughter. Publication:- "Treatment for Fractures of Lower End of Radius." - *Med Times and Gaz*, 1870, ii, 335.
Resource Identifier RCS: E003025
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Ranken, James (1788 - 1848)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Ransford, Thomas Davis (1851 - 1915)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Ransohoff, Joseph (1853 - 1921)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Ransome, Joseph Atkinson (1805 - 1867)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Ransom, Robert (1820 - 1874)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Ransom, Thomas William (1823 - 1868)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Akiyama, Hiroshi (1931 - 2012)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by R M Kirk
Publication Date 2012-10-17 2012-12-05
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E003000-E003999/E003000-E003099
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/375215375215
Occupation Gastro-oesophageal surgeon General surgeon
Details Hiroshi Akiyama was professor of surgery at Toranomon Hospital, Tokyo, and an internationally renowned gastro-oesophageal surgeon. He was born on 2 July 1931 in Chiba, Japan, the son of Dr Mizuki Akiyama. He studied medicine at the University of Tokyo, qualifying in 1955. He then spent a year on a rotating internship at the United States Army Hospital, Camp Zama. From 1956 to 1957 he was a surgical intern at Buffalo General Hospital, New York, on a Fulbright scholarship. He then returned to Japan, as a surgical resident in Tokyo. His postdoctoral research extended from 1975 to 1986. He investigated tumour types in oesophageal cancer, appropriate dissection of gastrointestinal cancer and techniques of gastrointestinal anastomosis. He also studied problems in bile duct reconstruction. Further research followed into improving the results of surgery for gastrointestinal malignancy in terms of survival. Some of this work was concentrated on oesophageal cancer, but gastric cancer was also incorporated. Within these studies, he looked at techniques of filming the deep surgical field, adjuvant immunochemotherapy and reconstruction techniques. Akiyami held a number of hospital appointments during his training and as a consultant surgeon. He was a clinical instructor and member of the surgical staff of Tokyo University Hospital from 1963 to 1972, consultant to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Hospital, lecturer at the University of Tokyo and University of Tsukuba schools of medicine, and visiting professor at the Tokyo Medical College from 1986 to 2003. He was a member of 10 Japanese medical societies devoted to various gastroenterological and other cancers, and also on the editorial boards of 10 journals. Hiroshi Akiyama was an honorary member or fellow of 22 institutions in the USA, South America, Asia and Europe. He was an honorary visiting professor at 14 centres outside Japan. His writings were in Japanese and English, based on results obtained at the Toranonom Hospital in Tokyo. As far back as 1980 Richard Earlam at the London Hospital had reviewed reports of 83,783 patients with squamous oesophageal cancer and concluded that of 100 patients presenting, 58 were explored. Of these, 39 had resections performed and 26 of them left hospital. After a year, 18 had survived, but only four survived for five years. The very next year, Akiyama reported his personal series of 354 similar patients, of whom 210 had had resections. Operative mortality was 1.4% and 34.6% survived for five years! His pathological examination of the meticulously resected, plotted and studied specimens demonstrated the wide spread of cancer to glands, irrespective of the primary location. Hiroshi's attitudes ran very parallel with those of Norman Tanner, the doyen of British gastric surgeons - obsessive clearance of cancer and glands, followed by perfect apposition during reconstruction. Two young surgeons were sent from the Royal Free Hospital in London to observe him. They returned full of admiration: one was allowed to participate in the procedures. He particularly appreciated the commitment to the highest standards of performance. The second was invited to remain and help with the editing of the famous book, *Surgery for cancer of the esophagus* (Baltimore, Williams and Wilkins, c.1990). He reported that Hiroshi was as determined to achieve full and accurate reporting as he was to achieve exemplary performance of the operations. During the extended visit he found Akiyama and his wife to be wonderfully hospitable hosts. In particular, Hiroshi was quiet, unassuming, conducting himself with humility and willing to listen and to teach juniors. Those of us who had the privilege of knowing Akiyama acknowledge him as a master clinician and operator, and a major contributor, committed to excellence. He dedicated himself to his patients, to surgery and to science. Those of us who became aware of his achievements late in our careers recognised that we had been dinosaurs. Outside medicine, his hobbies were the violin and tennis. He married Kazuko Morimoto in 1958 and they had three children: daughters Mariko and Yoko, and son Futoshi, who is a plastic surgeon. Akiyama died on 21 September 2012.
Resource Identifier RCS: E003032
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Connolly, Rainer Campbell (1919 - 2009)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by T T King
Publication Date 2009-10-21
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000700-E000799
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372898372898
Occupation Neurosurgeon
Details Campbell Connolly was a consultant neurosurgeon at St Bartholomew’s Hospital, London. He was born on 15 July 1919, the elder son of George Connolly, a solicitor who had served in the First World War, and his wife, Margaret, née Edgell, of Brighton. His grandfather, Colonel Benjamin Bloomfield Connolly was a distinguished military surgeon who had been principal medical officer of the Cavalry Brigade at El Teb (Sudan) and was commander of the Camel Bearer Company on the expedition to relieve General Gordon. Connolly’s education was at Lancing College, Bedford School and St Bartholomew’s Hospital, from which he graduated in 1941. Owing to the shortage of junior medical staff, he was immediately employed as a locum anaesthetic houseman and gave a number of anaesthetics for Sir James Paterson Ross who had, at the start of his career, an interest in neurosurgery. This position led to Connolly’s appointment as a house officer at the wartime hospital, Hill End, St Alban’s, to which the professorial surgical department of St Bartholomew’s had been evacuated. Though Paterson Ross was nominally in charge of neurosurgery, J E A O’Connell was the neurosurgeon within the professorial unit. While working at Hill End, Connolly was seconded to Sir Hugh Cairn’s head injury hospital at St Hugh’s, Oxford, to learn about electroencephalography, which it was thought might be useful in neurosurgical diagnosis. Oxford was one of the few places in the country where this new technique was being explored. This experience put him in contact with Cairns, who was responsible for the organisation of neurosurgery in the Army. Connolly eventually spent almost a year at St Hugh’s. Early in 1943 he found himself posted to an anti-aircraft battery in south London, where he had little to do until his commanding officer told him that he was to accompany the battery to a destination in West Africa. Alarmed, he wrote to Cairns and was almost immediately removed and placed in a holding post at Lancing. Connolly was one of the last survivors of the young neurosurgeons who staffed the mobile neurosurgical units that had been established by Hugh Cairns at the beginning of the Second World War. These saw action in France and Belgium in 1940, and the first one was captured at Dunkirk. Subsequently another six were formed and deployed in the Western Desert, Italy, Northern Europe and Burma. Through the influence of Cairns, Connolly was posted to mobile neurosurgical unit No 4 in Bari, Italy, when the senior neurosurgeon of the unit, Kenneth Eden died suddenly of poliomyelitis in October 1943. With its head, John Gilllingham, and John Potter, he accompanied the unit in the campaign up the east coast of Italy, ending at Ancona with the rank of major and with a mention in despatches. This unit treated over 900 head injuries from the battles at the Gothic Line and the Po Valley, as well as those from partisan activities in Yugoslavia. Many of the Yugoslavian patients had open head wounds for which treatment had been delayed by difficulties in transport, a subject on which Connolly contributed a paper to *War supplement No.1 on wounds of the head* published by the *British Journal of Surgery* in 1947 (*Br J Surg* 1947;55(suppl1):168-172). The results were surprisingly good, the mortality being 20 per cent. The use of penicillin, first clinically tested by Florey and Cairns, and then by Cairns in mobile neurosurgical unit No 4 in North Africa, was considered to be an important factor in these results. After VE day, Connolly returned to England in July. He was posted to the Far East, spending six unproductive months in India following the ending of the war in August. After demobilisation, he returned to Bart’s to a post created to accommodate ex-servicemen such as himself whose training and careers had been affected by war service. He obtained the FRCS in 1947. Cairns had plans for an organised training scheme for neurosurgeons, something not achieved until many years later, and he offered Connolly an appointment at Oxford to a training programme of some years’ duration, beginning as a house surgeon. At the same time Cecil Calvert, in Belfast, who had done much of the surgery at St Hugh’s during the war, invited him to the Royal Victoria Hospital as a consultant. The rigours of being a houseman at Oxford under Cairns were known to Connolly: he took the offer in Belfast and stayed there for four years. In 1952 he moved to the Midland Centre for Neurosurgery in Birmingham. In 1958 he was appointed as the second neurosurgeon to O’Connell at St Bartholomew’s Hospital and remained there until his retirement as senior neurosurgeon in 1984. He was also in private practice and established a reputation especially for judgement and skill in intervertebral disc surgery. He was on the staff of the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital and the King Edward VII Hospital for Officers and was a civilian consultant to the Royal Navy from 1971 to 1984. In the College he was Hunterian Professor in 1961, speaking on cerebral ischaemia in subarachnoid haemorrhage. He was president of the section of neurology of the Royal Society of Medicine from 1980 to 1981, a Freeman of the City of London and a liveryman of the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries. He married Elisabeth Fowler née Cullis, who was an anaesthetist at St Hugh’s. He died of cancer of the prostate on 14 August 2009, survived by his wife, two daughters and a son.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000715
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
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First Title value, for Searching Dahrendorf, Ralf (1929 - 2009)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by John Blandy
Publication Date 2009-10-21
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000700-E000799
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372899372899
Occupation Politician sociologist
Details Ralf Dahrendorf was a German sociologist and politician who became director of the London School of Economics (LSE). He was born in Hamburg on 1 May 1929, the son of Lina and Gustav Dahrendorf, a member of the Social Democrat party in the Reichstag of 1932, where the Nazis had a majority. Just months later, in 1933, when Hitler gained power, Gustav was arrested. On his release he took his family to Berlin, but continued to work against the Nazis and was sentenced to seven years hard labour in 1944 for his part in a plot against Hitler. Meanwhile Ralf was printing pamphlets against the SS and, at the age of 16, was sent to Buchenwald concentration camp, until he was released, starving, in 1945. Ralf entered Hamburg University to study classics, philosophy and social science, gaining his PhD in 1952. He was then awarded a Leverhulme scholarship to study at the LSE and gained his second PhD in 1956. In 1958 he returned to Hamburg as professor of sociology, and then went from one distinguished chair to another, at Columbia University, New York, Tübingen, University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Harvard and Konstanz. He was elected to the Bundestag in 1969 when Brandt formed his first coalition government, and became a commissioner in the European Union in Brussels in 1970, which did not inhibit him from becoming one of its sharpest critics. In 1973 he was offered the chance to become director of the LSE. A year later he was invited by the BBC to give the Reith lecture, which he gave on the topic of liberty, survival and justice in a changing world. He was insistent that governments should plan for a period longer than the usual length of a parliament. After ten years at the LSE, he returned to his chair at Konstanz and then in 1986 spent a year in New York on a research grant. From 1988 to 1997 he was warden of St Antony’s College in Oxford. After becoming a naturalised British citizen in 1988 he joined the Liberal Democratic party and in 1993 received a life peerage. He was married three times, his first two marriages ending in divorce. By his first wife, Vera, he had three daughters – Nicola, Alexandra and Daphne. His second wife was Ellen and his third wife, Christine. He died on 17 June 2009.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000716
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
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First Title value, for Searching Thornberry, David John (1950 - 2009)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by John Blandy
Publication Date 2011-06-09
JPEG Image
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E001000-E001999/E001200-E001299
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/373429373429
Occupation consultant in rehabilitation medicine
Details David John Thornberry was a consultant in rehabilitation medicine at Derriford Hospital, Plymouth. He was born in London on 31 July 1950, the son of Cyril Joseph Thornberry, a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist, and Elizabeth Mary née Marks, a radiographer. His sister went on to become a consultant anaesthetist. He was educated at Cambusdoon Preparatory School in Ayrshire and then Harrow. He studied medicine at Queens' College, Cambridge, and St Thomas' Hospital, London. He held junior posts at St Thomas', including appointments as an orthopaedic house surgeon and as a senior house officer in the accident and emergency department. He then specialised in surgery, becoming a senior house officer in general surgery at Portsmouth and then a registrar at Wolverhampton. It was while he was working as a registrar that he developed multiple sclerosis, being diagnosed in 1979. He retrained as a medical officer in the artificial limb and appliance service at Selly Oak, Roehampton, Exeter and Plymouth. He was appointed as a consultant in rehabilitation medicine at Derriford Hospital, Plymouth, in 1990 with a particular interest in neurological disability and amputees. As his multiple sclerosis progressed, he began to work part-time. He was a member of the British Society of Rehabilitation Medicine, a committee member of the International Society for Prosthetics and Orthotics, Engineering in Medicine and of the national executive of the British Society of Rehabilitation Medicine. He married Judi in 1977. They had two daughters, Hannah Kate and Alice Elizabeth, and a son, David Thomas. Outside medicine, he enjoyed sailing, rowing and rugby. He was a talented artist, adapting his style to his ability. He died 15 August 2009 from complications of metastatic melanoma and his multiple sclerosis.
Resource Identifier RCS: E001246
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
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First Title value, for Searching Till, Kenneth (1920 - 2008)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by T T King
Publication Date 2011-06-09
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E001000-E001999/E001200-E001299
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/373430373430
Occupation paediatric neurosurgeon
Details Kenneth Till was a paediatric neurosurgeon at Great Ormond Street Hospital, London. He was born in Stoke-on-Trent on 12 February 1920, the son of Reginald Till, a ceramic designer, and his wife, Grace Adelaide née Smallcombe. He was educated at Poole Grammar School, Dorset, and later at Downing College, Cambridge, and St George's Hospital Medical School, London, winning an Anne Selina Fernee scholarship and the Brackenbury surgical prize. He graduated in 1944 and, while a house surgeon at St George's, encountered neurosurgery in the form of Wylie McKissock, into whose operating theatre he ventured at Atkinson Morley's Hospital, Wimbledon, a branch of St George's. McKissock was impressed and offered him an appointment as a neurosurgical house surgeon at Great Ormond Street Hospital where, ultimately, he made his career. After house jobs at St George's and National Service in the RAF, he obtained the FRCS in 1953 and was appointed first assistant to McKissock at Great Ormond Street. He spent 1956 at the Chicago Memorial Children's Hospital, and in 1959 he was appointed as a consultant neurosurgeon at Great Ormond Street, where he remained single-handed until 1970. He also held a consultant appointment at University College Hospital and honorary appointments at the Whittington Hospital, London, and Queen Mary Hospital, Carshalton, Surrey. Till was an exceptionally rapid surgeon, with wide interests. Together with the engineer, Stanley Wade, and the author Roald Dahl, whose son had developed hydrocephalus following a head injury and was under Till's care, he helped develop the Wade-Till-Dahl valve for the treatment of this condition. This device, which followed the appearance of the first valved shunts in the US designed by Holter and Nulsen, was simple, cheap, re-sterilisable and less likely to become blocked with debris, since the valves were of metal. It had considerable success, though it did not provide a pressure against which the CSF drained, a consideration that subsequently became regarded as important and led to more complex designs. Till's contributions to the literature covered a number of topics, especially craniopharyngioma and spinal dysraphism. He was involved in the development of Great Ormond Street Hospital as a centre for cranio-facial surgery and was a founding member of the International Society for Pediatric Neurosurgery. In 1975, he published a textbook, *Paediatric neurosurgery: for paediatricians and neurosurgeons* (Oxford, Blackwell Scientific). After retirement he moved to Somerset and acted as a technical adviser to publications which included the *British Journal of Neurosurgery* and the *Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry*. He married Morwenna Tunstall-Behrens, a doctor who had engaged in leukaemia research and was also a distinguished plantswoman. They had one daughter and three sons. Till's interests outside the profession were gardening, photography and music. He died on 8 July 2008 of complications of Waldenström's macroglobulinaemia.
Resource Identifier RCS: E001247
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
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First Title value, for Searching Bernard, Ralph Montague (1816 - 1871)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2010-02-25
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000800-E000899
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/373048373048
Occupation General surgeon
Details The son of a medical man in Bristol, whose brother was the Rev Samuel Edward Bernard (1800-1884). Educated at Bristol, St George’s Hospital, London, at Dublin, and in Paris. He was elected Surgeon to the Bristol Royal Infirmary on May 4th, 1854, after the contested election usual at that time when committees were formed, “refreshments were provided, flys were engaged, all was bustle and hurry. From ten in the morning till late in the evening Broad Street was completely blocked with flys, all were on the *qui vive* to aid their favourite candidate, and the Guildhall all day was regularly crammed with individuals who appeared to take a very lively interest in the proceedings”. Bernard fought the election twice – in 1850 he was bottom of the poll with 276 votes, and in 1854, proxies being allowed, when he was successful. There were seven candidates. His brother, Dr J Fogo Bernard, had been elected Physician to the Infirmary in 1843. Ralph Montague Bernard was accidentally killed in the presence of his wife and children by the fall of a cliff when he was on a holiday near Lampeter in Wales on August 18th, 1871. At the time of his death he was Surgeon to the Bristol Police and was practising at 5 Victoria Square, Bristol.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000865
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
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First Title value, for Searching Berney, Edward ( - 1890)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2010-02-25 2013-08-07
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000800-E000899
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/373049373049
Occupation General surgeon
Details Educated at Guy's Hospital. He practised at 73 High Street, Croydon, and died at his residence, Kirby Bedon, Lower Addiscombe Road, Croydon, in the period between November, 1889, and November, 1890.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000866
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
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First Title value, for Searching Morris, Sir Henry (1844 - 1926)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2006-05-11 2012-03-13
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Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000200-E000299
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Occupation Urological surgeon Urologist
Details Born at Petworth on January 7th, 1844, the son of William Morris, surgeon of that place, and grandson of a Morris practising in North Wales. The surname Morris has been traced in particular to families of mixed Welsh and Jewish descent who settled on the Welsh border after the explusion of the Jews from England by Richard I. Morris in his prime, black-haired, fresh-complexioned, dignified, and a fluent speaker, seemed to point to a mixed Welsh and Jewish descent. He was educated at Epsom College, being one of the first hundred boys admitted to that Institution under the Rev. Dr. Thornton. He then went to University College, London, where he graduated B.A. in 1863 with philosophy (i.e., the philosophy dominant in the early part of the eighteenth century) as his special subject. He proceeded M.A. in 1870, and was throughout life ruled by opinions acquired during this philosophic studies. He studied at Guy's Hospital, where he was House Surgeon after graduating M.B. Lond. For a short time he was Resident Medical Officer of the Dispensary, Stanhope Street. In January, 1870, he was appointed Surgical Registrar at Middlesex Hospital; in August, 1871, was elected Assistant Surgeon, and Surgeon in the Out-patient Cancer Department; from 1879 until 1889 he was Surgeon to the Hospital and was in charge of the Cancer Department. He retired at the age limit in 1905. He was appointed Lecturer in Practical Surgery in 1871, but it was as Lecturer in Anatomy from 1872-1881 that he distinguished himself the most. It gave origin to his most original and permanent publication, *The Anatomy of the Joints of Man* (8vo, 43 plates, 1879; 8th American edition, Philadelphia, 1925). He followed this up later by acting as the editor of *A Treatise on Human Anatomy*, by various authors, 1893. Morris wrote on "The Articulations", other contemporaries contributing. The work ran through a number of editions. In 1881 he became Lecturer on Surgery. In 1880 a domestic servant, aged 19, was diagnosed by the physician, Sydney Coupland, to have a calculus in an undilated kidney, the diagnosis being made from the signs of pain and hæmaturia only. Morris removed the stone on Oct. 22nd, 1880, and the case was reported, as the first designed operation of its kind in this country, in the Clinical Society's *Transactions* (1881, xiv, 30), the stone being preserved in the Hospital Museum. The patient made a complete recovery. This brought him an extended practice and gave him the opportunity of publishing a number of books on genito-urinary surgery; he was for a time the leading authority, until examination by X-rays and the cystoscope expanded the methods of diagnosis. In the latter part of his life he was known outside Middlesex Hospital as a medical educationalist and politician. He became dogmatic and dictatorial in manner, long-winded in speech, influenced by rather an antiquated philosophy, and unsympathetic with novelties which could not be squared with his ingrained views. He believed that the Middlesex Medical School should continue to teach all the subjects of the curriculum, and he opposed with a donation of £1000 the Medical Schools Amalgamation University of London scheme in 1906. Great efforts were made to endow the Medical School and the fund amounted in 1927 to £130,000. He took a lifelong interest in his old school, Epsom College, was for many years Treasurer, and by visiting constantly was practically Manager. As the Surgeon-in-charge of the cancer wards at Middlesex Hospital, he wrote much on the subject, including the Bradshaw Lecture, 1903, before the experimental and radiological developments of the subject. The Imperial Cancer Research Fund was originated in his house, No. 8, at the north-east corner of Cavendish Square, and he acted as Treasurer and Vice-President. In connection with the British Medical Association he was Secretary of the Section of Surgery at Manchester in 1877, and in 1889 Vice-President at Leeds. In 1895 he was President of the Section of Anatomy and Histology in London. In 1893 he delivered the Cavendish Lecture, and in 1908 the Sir William Mitchell Banks Memorial Lecture. At the College Morris held the following posts: 1884-1889, Examiner in Anatomy for the Fellowship; 1893-1914, Member of Council; 1894-1904, Member of the Court of Examiners; 1898, Hunterian Professor (three lectures on Renal Surgery); 1899, Examiner in Dental Surgery; 1903, Bradshaw Lecturer; 1904-1917, Representative on the General Medical Council, and was for ten years (1907-1917) Treasurer; 1906, Member of the Committee of Management of the Conjoint Board; 1906, 1907, President; 1909, Hunterian Orator. He took for the subject of his oration John Hunter in his relation to eighteenth-century philosophic literature, and delivered it in the presence of T.R.H. the Prince and Princess of Wales, shortly after King George V and Queen Mary; in 1918 he was elected a Trustee of the Hunterian Collection. He also examined in Anatomy at the University of Durham and in Surgery at the University of London. During his last years he led a lonely life; his wife, a Russian dancer, predeceased him and bore him no children. After leaving his house in Cavendish Square he lived at 42 Connaught Square, ailing and afflicted by a slight facial tic. He was definitely ill for some three weeks, and died on June 14th, 1926. He left estate to the value of £44,000. A fine portrait of him in his prime and in the full-dress President's gown by W. W. Ouless, R.A., hangs on the College staircase. There are others at different ages in the College Collection. PUBLICATIONS:- In addition to those already noted Morris wrote: - *Surgical Diseases of the Kidney*, 12mo, 6 plates, 1885. *Injuries and Diseases of the Genital and Urinary Organs,* 8vo, London, 1895. *Hunterian Lectures on Renal Surgery*, 8vo, London, 1898. *Surgical Diseases of the Kidney and Ureter*, 2 vols., 1901. *The Profession of Medicine: Introductory Address at the Middlesex Hospital Medical College, 1st October,* 1873, 8vo, London. "Clinical Lecture on Rupture of the Bladder and its Treatment." - *Med. Times and Gaz.*, 1879, ii, 603. "Remarks on Epithelioma and Ichthyosis of the Tongue." - *Med. Soc. Proc.*, 1881-3, vi, 194. *On the Treatment of Inoperable Cancer*, 8vo, London, 1902. *Essentials of Materia Medica*, 7th ed., Philadelphia, 1905. *The Etiology, Symptoms and Treatment of Gallstones, *1896. "Statement of Further Evidence proposed to be given before the Committee on the London Ambulance Service by the President R.C.S.," fol., London, 1908. "Statement prepared for the Royal Commission on Vivisection by the President R.C.S.," fol., London, 1908. "The Darwin Centenary - an Address from the Royal College of Surgeons to the University of Cambridge, 1909," 8vo, 1909. "On the Need of the Medical Representation in Parliament." - *Outlook*, 1918, Oct.5.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000219
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Butlin, Sir Henry Trentham (1845 - 1912)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2006-05-11 2012-03-22
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Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000200-E000299
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372407372407
Occupation General surgeon
Details The fourth son and fifth child of the Rev. W. Wright Butlin, M.A., of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, who died in 1902 at the age of 88. His mother was Julia Crowther Trentham, a clever and strong-minded woman coming of an evangelical Northamptonshire family who, in spite of delicate health, lived to be 84. The Butlins were a Rugby family who carried on the business of Butlin's Bank which was established in 1791 and was absorbed by Lloyds Bank in 1868. The Rev. W. W. Butlin was Curate of Camborne, then held the joint living of Cury and Gunwalloe, Cornwall, and was finally Victor of Penponds, near Camborne, where he is said to have been instrumental in building the church. Later in life he came into some property at Rugby which had been left to his father - a medical man - by Mr. Benn, a cousin. It had belonged to Mrs. Anne Butlin, who carried on Butlin's Bank after the death of her husband. Henry Trentham Butlin was born on Oct. 24th, 1845. He was educated at home with his brothers by a resident tutor until he entered St. Bartholomew's Hospital in October, 1864, where he lived in the residential college of which Dr. James Andrew was Warden. The appointment of House Surgeon to Sir James Paget (q.v.) became vacant unexpectedly in 1868 by the resignation of William Square (q.v.), of Plymouth, and Butlin was appointed in his place from April to October. When the House Surgeoncy ended Butlin went to Charing, in Kent, with a view to partnership with Charles Wilks, who had taken his M.R.C.S. in 1825 and was a devoted adherent to this old medical school. An agreement was drawn up but never signed, as Butlin felt himself unsuited for a country practice after the stimulus of acting as House Surgeon to Sir James Paget, and had determined to settle in London as a surgeon. He was appointed Medical Registrar to the Hospital for Sick Children in Great Ormond Street and held the post until July, 1872. It was generally recognized on his resignation that he could have been elected an Assistant Physician had he chosen to apply. Whilst he was Registrar he passed the F.R.C.S. examination, and was appointed Surgical Registrar at St. Bartholomew's Hospital in December, 1872. The duties were arduous, for the Registrar had to examine every patient admitted to the surgical wards and write a note with his own hand in specially kept books. He had to attend in the operating theatre, verify the diagnosis of tumours by microscopical examination, and conduct the surgical post-mortems. All these duties Butlin performed to the entire satisfaction of the staff, and soon made such a reputation for himself that he was co-opted to the Morbid Growths Committee of the Pathological Society, of which he was Secretary from 1884-1886. Being as poor as Job, he married in 1873 Annie Tipping, daughter of Henry Balderson, merchant, of Hemel Hempstead, took a house, No. 47 Queen Anne Street, and kept the wolf from the door with resident pupils who paid £126 a year apiece. The marriage was singularly happy, and Butlin rightly attributed much of his success in life to the sterling qualities of his wife, who relieved him of all domestic anxieties. By her he had two daughters and a son. The elder daughter, Olive, married Percy Furnivall, F.R.C.S., only son of F. J. Furnivall, the well-known Shakespearean scholar; the younger married Norman Morice, of the firm of J. C. & C. W. Moore, stockbrokers. The son, Henry Guy Trentham, survived his father, volunteered whilst still at Cambridge, and was reported missing and wounded from the Cambridgeshire Regiment near Beaumont Hamel, France, on Sept. 16th, 1916. Whilst acting as Surgical Registrar Butlin was elected Assistant Surgeon to the Metropolitan Free Hospital, a post he resigned on becoming Assistant Surgeon to the West London Hospital, where he remained from 1872-1880, having a few beds of his own, learning to do major emergency operations, and having Sir Alfred Cooper (q.v.) as his chief. He was also Surgeon to the Alexandra Hospital for Children with Hip Disease which then occupied a single house in Queen Square, Bloomsbury. He was appointed Demonstrator of Practical Surgery in the Medical School attached to St. Bartholomew's Hospital in 1879, and in the following year he was elected Assistant Surgeon in the vacancy caused by the unexpected death of George W. Callender (q.v.). He was immediately put in charge of the Out-patient Department for Diseases of the Throat upon the resignation of Sir T. Lauder Brunton, M.D. He held the post for twelve years, and with the help of Dr. F. de Havilland Hall raised the department to as high a pitch of excellence as could be obtained in the cramped quarters assigned to it. He also made for himself a leading position amongst contemporary laryngologists, though he never pretended to specialize in surgery of the throat, and with Felix Semon and de Havilland Hall he was a principal founder of the Laryngological Society, which is now a section of the Royal Society of Medicine. He became full Surgeon to St. Bartholomew's Hospital when Morant Baker (q.v.) resigned in 1892, and was appointed joint Lecturer on Surgery with John Langton (q.v.) in 1896. He resigned the office of Surgeon in November, 1902, before he had reached the age limit, and was elected Consulting Surgeon and a Governor of the Hospital. He was placed on the Visiting Governors Committee in 1909. Butlin's connection with the Royal College of Surgeons began in 1873, when he won the Jacksonian Prize with his essay on "Un-united Fractures". He delivered the Sir Erasmus Wilson Lectures on Pathology in 1880 and 1881. The lectures were published in 1862 under the title *Sarcoma and Carcinoma, their Pathology, Diagnosis and Treatment.* In 1892 he lectured, as Hunterian Professor of Surgery and Pathology, "On Chimney Sweeps' Cancer". He delivered the Bradshaw Lecture in 1905, and in 1907 he gave the Hunterian Oration without a note or a falter - a feat which had only been accomplished in recent years by Sir James Paget, Sir William Savory, and Henry Power. He was a Member of the Council, 1895-1912. In 1909 he became President, was re-elected in 1910, and again in 1911. Failing health prevented him from completing his third year; he resigned, and Sir Rickman J. Godlee (q.v.) acted in his stead. Butlin had an equally brilliant career in the British Medical Association. A Vice-President of the Section of Pathology at the Worcester Meeting in 1882, he was President of the Section of Laryngology at the Leeds Meeting in 1889, and at the Portsmouth Meeting ten years later he was President of the Surgical Section. He delivered the General Address in Surgery at the Exeter Meeting in 1907, speaking of the "Contagion of Cancer in Human Beings". In 1910, as President of the Association, he spoke on the "Evolution of the British Medical Association and its Work". He was Treasurer of the Association from 1890-1893, and again from 1893-1896, being the only person who had been re-elected to that important and responsible office. At the University of London he was the first Dean of the Faculty of Medicine. He was President of the Pathological Society of London 1905-1907, during which he gave the Jubilee Address; and President of the Laryngological Society. During the latter years of his life he had the pleasure of acting as a Governor of Rugby School and thus renewing his ancestral ties with the County. He died after a long period of failing health due to laryngeal tuberculosis on Jan. 24th, 1912, and was cremated at Golder's Green. Butlin was a man of rather frail and slender physique, slightly above medium height, but possessed of such vitality, nervous energy, and endurance that after a long morning of private practice he would never leave the operating theatre at the hospital until the list was finished, so that he often remained standing from 1.30 to 7.30, when he was left in a state of profound exhaustion. He loved horses took his exercise in riding, and would often ride to St. Bartholomew's Hospital on a Sunday morning. His holidays were usually spent in travelling through France, Spain, and Italy. His carriage, always painted an olive green decorated with his coat-of-arms, and drawn by a well-groomed pair of excellent horses, made him recognizable everywhere, for, thanks to Lady Butlin, he always had a very smart turn-out. He was a good and fluent speaker, and it was clear that he had deliberately modelled his style on that of Sir James Paget. As a teacher of students both in the wards and in the lecture theatre he was excellent. He leant to the pathological side of surgery and was always much interested in tumours and their structure. As a surgeon he was bold, and undertook very extensive operations for the complete removal of malignant growths, so that he may be said to be one of the pioneers in England who adopted the radical cure of cancer and was not contented with the local removal practised by his predecessors. His practice was extensive and lucrative - beginning with nothing he left the sum of £90,996. He would have been equally successful had he gone into business, for he was far-seeing, had large ideas, was very careful in detail, and from a business point of view was one of the best occupants of the Presidential Chair at the Royal College of Surgeons. Honours came to him from many sources. He was created a baronet in 1911; he was an honorary D.C.L. of Durham (1893), and a LL.D. of Birmingham (1910). Butlin stood at the parting of the ways when Sir W. Mitchell Banks (q.v.) drew attention in 1877 and again in 1882 to the good results obtained by removing the axillary glands with the breast in cases of cancer. He had followed the example of his seniors, and especially of Sir James Paget, in adopting local removal. For a while he followed the new teaching, but it was breaking away from tradition and for a time he went back to the old methods. In the end he became a whole-hearted adherent, and, like a true convert, he practised larger and larger extirpations in every case of malignant disease, more especially of the tongue, and followed up the results with unusual energy. His lectures on diseases of the tongue were published in 1885 and were illustrated with water-colour drawings made by T. Godart and Dr. Leonard Mark. The original drawings are preserved in the Museum of St. Bartholomew's Hospital. This excellent manual was reprinted in Philadelphia in 1895, was translated into German in 1887 by Julius Beregszaszy and into French by Douglas Aigre in 1889. Large additions were made when a new edition was published in 1900. The patients seen by Butlin in his private practice came in a much earlier stage of the disease than the ordinary hospital patient. He was therefore able to state that in 197 cases where he had removed the tongue for cancer quite 30 per cent were alive and free from recurrence three years after the operation. He recommended local removal as soon as possible, with subsequent excision of any leucoplakic patches. He foresaw that treatment by radium was likely to be serviceable, but before his death he had attained to a degree of success which remained unsurpassed until the treatment by radium came into general use. Of his portraits the best is the photograph in the obituary notice in the *British Medical Journal.* A three-quarter length in oils by the Hon. John Collier hangs in the Museum Hall at the Royal College of Surgeons. This is a replica of the picture exhibited in the Royal Academy. PUBLICATIONS:- *Sacroma and Carcinoma, their Pathology, Diagnosis and Treatment,* 8vo, London, 1882. *On Malignant Diseases (Sarcoma and Carcinoma) of the Larynx*, 8vo, 1883. *Diseases of the Tongue,* 12mo, London, 1885. An excellent manual on the subject. It was reprinted and an American edition was published in Philadelphia, 1885; it was translated into German (Vienna, 1887) and into French (Paris, 1889). The original water-colour drawings by T. Godart and Leonard Mark are in the Museum of St. Bartholomew's Hospital. 2nd ed. (with W. G. SPENCER), 1900. *On the Operative Surgery of Malignant Disease,* 8vo, London, 1887. *On Cancer of the Scrotum in Chimney Sweeps,* 8vo, 1892.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000220
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
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First Title value, for Searching Bickersteth, Robert Alexander (1862 - 1924)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2010-03-04
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000800-E000899
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/373058373058
Occupation General surgeon
Details Born at Liverpool on October 4th, 1862, the son of Edward Robert Bickersteth (qv); was educated under Dr Hornby at Eton, which he entered in 1872. He was admitted a Pensioner at Trinity College, Cambridge, on June 13th, 1881, and graduated BA with first-class honours in the Natural Science Tripos in 1884. He then entered St Bartholomew’s Hospital, where he was House Surgeon. After being a Clinical Assistant at the Throat Hospital, Golden Square, and the Royal Ophthalmic Hospital, Moorfields, he was elected Assistant Surgeon to the Royal Liverpool Infirmary, representing the third generation of his family on the staff of that institution. In due course he became full Surgeon, and, on his resignation in 1921, Consulting Surgeon. His attention was specially directed to urology, and he was elected a Corresponding Member of L’Association française d’Urologie and a Member of L’Association Internationale d’Urologie. He was distinguished as a clinical teacher and lecturer on surgery, and was Examiner in Surgery at the Liverpool University. At the Liverpool Medical Institution he was Treasurer and Vice-President. At the Liverpool Meeting of the British Medical Association in 1912 he was President of the Section of Surgery. From 1914-1918 he served as Major RAMC(T) at the 1st Western General Hospital, and later at the 57th General Hospital in France. Whilst in practice he lived at 4 Rodney Street; on retirement he went to Outgate, Ambleside. He died at Bournemouth on February 28th, 1924, and was buried at Kirkby Lonsdale, where his great-grandfather had practised, leaving a widow, three sons, and two daughters. Dr George Luys in 1901 at the Laboisière Hospital of Paris had devised an instrument for separating in the bladder the urine from each kidney. Bickersteth visited Paris in October, 1903, and on February 4th, 1904, published his first communication on the intravesical separation of the urine1 at the Liverpool Medical Institution, which was followed by later accounts of further experience with the method. In his paper on kinked ureter2 he explained how the ureter immediately below a hydronephrotic kidney is found sharply kinked so that its lumen becomes obstructed. He gave three diagrams in illustration of this occurrence owing to an abnormal accessory renal artery, which may spring direct from the aorta below the level of the main renal artery. In a few cases he had divided this artery and relieved the hydronephrosis. Publications:- “Intravesical Separation of the Urines coming from the two Kidneys.” – *Lancet*, 1904, i, 437, 859. *Brit. Med. Jour.,* 1904, ii, 837. “Kinked Ureter.” – *Proc. Roy. Soc. Med.* (Surg. Sect.), 1913-14, vii, 259.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000875
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
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First Title value, for Searching Bickersteth, William Henry (1813 - 1862)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Bidwell, Leonard Arthur (1865 - 1912)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Bindley, Samuel Allen (1810 - 1877)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Birch, Edward Arnold (1852 - 1890)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2010-03-04 2013-08-07
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000800-E000899
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/373062373062
Occupation General surgeon
Details Born about the year 1852 and was educated at the Royal School of Medicine, Manchester. He held most of the resident appointments at the Royal Infirmary (Assistant to the Ophthalmic Surgeon, Senior House Surgeon, and Physician's Assistant). At the time of his death he was in practice at 341 Stockport Road, Manchester, and was Surgeon to the Chorlton-on-Medlock Dispensary. He died of pneumonia on Christmas Day, 1890, leaving a widow, but no children.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000879
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
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First Title value, for Searching Weisl, Hanuš (1925 - 2007)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by K M N Kunzru
Publication Date 2010-10-14
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E001000-E001999/E001000-E001099
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/373234373234
Occupation Orthopaedic surgeon Trauma surgeon
Details Hanuš Weisl was a consultant orthopaedic and trauma surgeon in South Glamorgan, Wales. He escaped his native Prague in the last kindertransport to London in June 1939. His parents, Alfred, a dentist, and Marie née Mandler, a doctor, eventually joined him in England after the Second World War. After qualifying from Manchester, he acquired British citizenship. He was appointed as a house officer in Manchester Royal Infirmary in 1948 at the inception of the NHS. After serving as an assistant lecturer in anatomy at his medical school, he worked as a surgical registrar at Rhyl, and became a senior registrar in orthopaedics at Cardiff and at Prince of Wales Orthopaedic Hospital, Rhydlafar (near Cardiff). Working with Dilwynn Evans, he developed a special interest in children’s deformities. He was appointed as a consultant orthopaedic surgeon in Bolton in 1963, and returned to Wales in 1969 to Cardiff and Rhydlafar as a consultant, specialising in club feet, and later in deformities caused by spina bifida. He published on many subjects, mostly children’s orthopaedic problems, including papers on skull caliper tractions and hip problems in spina bifida. He died on 17 July 2007 from a cerebral haemorrhage after a fall at home. His wife, Reba, predeceased him in 1997. He left a daughter and a grand-daughter.
Resource Identifier RCS: E001051
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Wolfson, Leonard Gordon, Baron Wolfson of Marylebone in the City of Westminster (1927 - 2010)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Makins, Sir George Henry (1853 - 1933)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2006-05-11 2012-03-14
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Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000200-E000299
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372410372410
Occupation Military surgeon Trauma surgeon
Details Born at St Albans, Herts, 3 November 1853, the only son of George Hogarth Makins, MRCS, and his wife Sarah Ellis. His father practised medicine at Walton-on-Thames and was Master of the Society of Apothecaries in 1889, but his chief interests lay in chemistry and metallurgy. He was at one time professor of chemistry at the Middlesex Hospital, and was advisor to H.M. Mint in matters concerning the coinage. He also played the organ at Hook Church, Surrey, having previously made a pitch-pipe for the vicar, which is preserved in the church. George Henry Makins was educated at the King's Collegiate School, Gloucester, and entered St. Thomas's Hospital, London in 1871, when George Rainey lectured and William Anderson was demonstrator of anatomy. He was house physician to J. Syer Bristowe in 1876, and at the end of his term of office went to Bethlehem Hospital, where he made a life-long friendship with Sir George Savage, who was afterwards superintendent of the hospital. From Bethlehem he went as house surgeon to the Seamen's Hospital at Greenwich, and then returned to St Thomas's, where he was house surgeon during the year 1878 to Francis Mason and William MacCormac. He spent some months at Halle and Vienna in 1879, and on his return to London in 1880 he was appointed resident assistant surgeon at St Thomas's Hospital, a post he held for five years. During this period he worked with Charles Smart Roy, who was then superintendent of the Brown Institute in the Wandsworth Road. He was elected surgical registrar to St Thomas's Hospital in 1885, and became assistant surgeon at the Evelina Hospital for Children. In 1887 he was elected assistant surgeon to St Thomas's Hospital in place of Francis Mason, becoming surgeon in 1898, and resigning under an age limit in 1913. His services at this time were so well recognized that he was given the title of emeritus surgeon with the care of patients for an additional term of two years. During 1887-99 he was demonstrator of anatomy in the Medical School, and in 1890 he succeeded Edward Nettleship as dean of the School. In this position he did much to complete the school buildings by the addition of two wings. In 1900 he was appointed lecturer on anatomy conjointly with William Anderson. His war service began in November 1899, when he accompanied Sir William MacCormac to South Africa as a civilian consulting surgeon, at the beginning of the Boer War. He first treated the wounded at the base, but was at the front during the fighting about the Modder River and with Sir Frederick Roberts' advance to Bloemfontein and Pretoria. For his services he was decorated C.B. He returned to England in 1900 and in 1901 published *Surgical experiences in South Africa*, which became a textbook at the Staff College and was used both in France and Germany. In 1908 he joined the Territorial Force, received a commission as major RAMC, à la suite, and busied himself with work for the British Red Cross at Devonshire House. In September 1914 he left for France as consulting surgeon, having Sir A. A. Bowlby as his colleague. He landed at St Nazaire and gradually made his way to Paris, where he worked for a short time in the British hospitals. From Paris he moved with G.H.Q. to St Omer, and spent a short time at Boulogne with F. F. Burghard and Percy Sargent as his colleagues. He finally took over the supervision of the newly established hospital centres at Camiers and Étaples, and made frequent trips up the line to the front. At Étaples he established a research centre, where new methods of wound treatment were put on trial. He left France in July 1917 and was appointed by the Government of India chairman of a commission to report on the British station hospitals. The Commission occupied seven months, which were spent in travelling over 11,000 miles in a special train, reporting and inspecting on hospitals all over India. Whilst in India he heard that H. M. King George V had conferred upon him the unusual honour of Knight Grand Cross of the Most Distinguished Order of St Michael and St George. He returned home in March 1918 and retired from military service with the rank of major-general. He then gave up private practice, left 49 Upper Brook Street, and moved to 33 Wilton Place. He was for some years a member of the executive committee and later chairman of the Athenaeum Club. It was during his chairmanship that an additional storey was added to the Club buildings. At the Royal College of Surgeons Makins was a member of the board of examiners in anatomy for the Fellowship, 1884-94; and a member of the Conjoint examining board, 1894-99. He served on the Court of Examiners 1901-08; elected to the Council in 1903, he was a vice-president in 1912 and 1913 and president 1917-20. In 1913 he delivered the Bradshaw lecture, and in 1917 he was Hunterian orator. In April 1929 he was awarded the honorary gold medal of the College in recognition of his services, more especially in arranging and describing the specimens in the Army Medical War Collection. He was for some years treasurer of the Imperial Cancer Research Fund, and chairman of the distribution committee of the Hospital Sunday Fund. He married in 1885 Margaret Augusta (d. 1931), daughter of General Vesey Kirkland of Fordel, Perthshire, and widow of Major-General B. Fellowes; there were no children. As Miss Kirkland she accompanied her father wherever he was engaged in military service; as Mrs Fellowes she went with her first husband to South Africa, the West Indies, and Ireland. When he died in 1879 she entered the Nightingale School of Nursing at St Thomas's Hospital and, after a short training, was selected by Florence Nightingale to accompany Sir Frederick Roberts' force to the Transvaal in February 1881. On her return to England she was appointed sister-in-charge of Leopold ward at St Thomas's Hospital, and in 1882 she was seconded for service in the Egyptian war. She again returned to St Thomas's Hospital, and in 1884 was amongst the first to receive from Queen Victoria the decoration of the Royal Red Cross, which had been instituted in the previous year. She accompanied her second husband, G. H. Makins, to the Boer War in 1899. During the war of 1914-18 she was in charge of the Hospital for Facial Injuries in Park Lane. Makins died after a short illness at 33 Wilton Place, S.W., on 2 November 1933, the eve of his eightieth birthday; he was buried in Kensal Green cemetery. He left £1,000 to St Thomas's Hospital Medical School's war memorial fund. Makins was possessed of great administrative and constructive ability, which was shown so early that MacCormac as secretary-general of the International Medical Congress held in London in 1881 made him the assistant secretary. In this position Makins, by his mastery of detail, did much to ensure the running of the huge meeting, whilst MacCormac took general control and by his personality and linguistic powers supplemented the work. In 1913 Makins as treasurer was most helpful at the International Medical Congress, which was again held in London. As a surgeon he stood in the first rank, skilful, imperturbable, conservative, but resourceful. His wartime experience made him especially interested in diseases and wounds of the blood-vessels. As a man he was certainly the best loved surgeon of his generation. Absolutely honest in thought and purpose, he was a genuine friend, and had a keen desire to help in every good cause. Courteous to all, quiet and unassuming, he was seen at his best sitting before the fire in an old jacket with a pipe in his mouth and his elbow on his knee. In disjointed sentences and with a characteristic smile he would then thresh out a difficult problem in surgery, or give good practical advice. When necessity arose he spoke impressively, shortly, and always to the purpose. Tall, but of a spare and active habit, he took early to mountaineering and was a member of the Alpine Club. He was too a skillful dry-fly fisherman, and shared a cottage on the Test with Sir George H. Savage. A bronze bust by Mrs Bromet stands in the inner hall at the Royal College of Surgeons; it does not do him justice. Makins himself presented it to the College in 1931. *Publications:* *Surgical experiences in South Africa, 1899-1900, being mainly a clinical study of the nature and effects of injuries produced by bullets of small calibre.* London, 1901; 2nd edition, 1913. A case of artificial anus treated by resection of the small intestine. *St Thos. Hosp. Rep.* 1884, 13, 181. Rickets, in Treves, *System of surgery,* 1895, 1, 363. Surgical diseases due to microbic infection and parasites. *Ibid.* 1895, 1, 294. Injuries of the joints; dislocations, in Warren and Gould, *International text-book of surgery*, 1899, 1, 589. *Gunshot injuries of the arteries* (Bradshaw lecture, R.C.S.). London, 1914. *On gunshot injuries to the blood-vessels, founded on experience gained in France during the great war 1914-1918.* Bristol, 1919. *Operative surgery of the stomach,* with B. G. A. Moynihan. London, 1912. The influence exerted by the military experience of John Hunter on himself and the military surgeon of today. (Hunterian oration, R.C.S.). *Lancet,* 1917, 1, 249. *Autobiography*:- typescript copy, with portrait-photograph, in the R.C.S. library.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000223
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
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First Title value, for Searching Bowlby, Sir Anthony Alfred (1855 - 1929)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2006-05-18 2012-03-22
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Occupation General surgeon Military surgeon
Details Anthony Alfred Bowlby was born on May 10th, 1855, in Namur, the third son of Thomas William Bowlby, of Durham and Darlington, by his wife, Frances Marion, the youngest daughter of Pulteney Mein, of Canonbie, Dumfriesshire, formerly Surgeon in the 73rd Regiment, and his wife, Anne Harrington (*née* Hawes). Thomas William Bowlby was the eldest son of Thomas Bowlby, Captain R.A., by his wife, Wilhelmina Martha Arnold, second daughter of Major-General William Balfour, 57th Regiment, President of New Brunswick. Thomas William Bowlby became a solicitor, but subsequently ceased to practise and undertook numerous missions to foreign countries, many of them on behalf of *The Times* newspaper, to which he was a frequent contributor. In April, 1860, he accepted the appointment of Special Correspondent to *The Times* with the British Expedition to China. While acting in that capacity he was, with others, taken prisoner by the Chinese on September 18th, 1860, and about a week later died in captivity after much suffering. His body was brought to the English camp, and buried in the Russian cemetery at Pekin on October 17th, 1870. Anthony Bowlby, who was five years old at the time of his father's death, was brought up by his mother and educated at Durham School. From there he proceeded to St. Bartholomew's Hospital, which he entered in 1876, and qualified MRCS and LSA, as was then the custom, in 1879. As a student he gained the Brackenbury Scholarship in Surgery in 1880, and he played with zest Rugby football, in which he remained interested all his life. In 1880 he served as House Surgeon to Luther Holdern (q.v.), who retired in the same year and was succeeded by Thomas Smith (q.v.). In 1881 he became F.R.C.S, and in the same year was appointed Curator of the Museum at St. Bartholomew's Hospital, where he completed the catalogue which had been begun by Frederick Eve (q.v.). This work gave Bowlby the idea of writing his successful book, *Surgical Pathology and Morbid Anatomy*, which appeared in 1887 and ran into many editions. In 1882 he won the Jacksonian Prize at the Royal College of Surgeons with a dissertation on "Wounds and Other Injuries of Nerves". In 1884 he became Surgical Registrar to the Hospital and Demonstrator of Practical Surgery, and in 1886 won the Astley Cooper Triennial Prize for his essay on "The Surgical Treatment of Diseases and Injuries of Nerves". In 1891, after serving seven years as Surgical Registrar and developing his distinguishing characteristics, he was elected Assistant Surgeon to St. Bartholomew's Hospital on the retirement of Sir William Savory (q.v.), and in 1903 he became full Surgeon. During this time he became also Surgeon to the Alexandra Hip Hospital and to the Foundling Hospital, and built up his reputation as a sound surgeon and sagacious counsellor. Soon after the start of the South African War in 1899, Bowlby went out as Senior Surgeon to the Portland Hospital, where he was associated with Sir Cuthbert Wallace. Here it was that he acquired the knowledge of military surgery and organization which stood him in such good stead during the Great War, and where he displayed that capacity for dealing with difficult situations and smoothing out differences which was one of his marked characteristics. He was mentioned in despatches and awarded the C.M.G. In 1901 he published *A Civilian War Hospital*, in which he gave an account of his experiences. In 1904 he was appointed Surgeon to the Household of King Edward VII, and in 1910 Surgeon in Ordinary to King George V, and was knighted the following year. In 1905 Bowlby was one of the three surgeons chosen by Queen Alexandra to act on the Council of the newly formed British Red Cross Society, and from that day till his death he took a prominent share in all its activities. In 1908, in common with other members of the staff of St. Bartholomew's Hospital, he joined the newly formed Territorial Medical Service and was given a commission as Major, being attached on mobilization to the First London General Hospital. On the outbreak of war in 1914, Bowlby joined his unit, which was located at Camberwell, but he offered his services to General Head Quarters, was accepted, and sent to France on Sept. 23rd, 1914, as Consulting Surgeon to the Forces, with the rank of Major-General. Bowlby thus received the opportunity of work for which he was peculiarly fitted, and now embarked on a period of nearly five years which proved to be the hardest and best spent of his life. At first he was the only consultant, but in May, 1915, the increase in the size of the British Expeditionary Force and the formation of two Armies gave too much work for one man; Sir Cuthbert Wallace was appointed Consulting Surgeon to the First Army, while Bowlby did the work of the Second Army. Later, with the establishment of additional armies, new consultants were appointed, and Bowlby became a super-consultant and general adviser at the Front to the Director-General, Army Medical Service, and towards the end of the War, after Sir George Makins had retired, he became Adviser on Surgery for the whole of the British area, Front and Base. During these four years and seven months of active service, Bowlby rose to his greatest height. In his own estimate he had never spent years better. He was intensely interested in all aspects of military life, passionately desirous of beating the enemy, and peculiarly fitted to carry out this task. His great work was his insistence that surgery should be done at the Front and now at the Base. Casualty Clearing Stations, which were conceived after the Boer War, were small units capable of doing but little surgery. Bowlby turned them into large hospitals where surgery of the most advanced order was regularly practised. This early surgery, for which he was responsible, saved the lives and limbs of thousands of wounded, and was no doubt one of the chief reasons for the commendation earned by the medical services during the War. Amongst his contemporaries at the hospitals he had the sobriquet of 'The Baron', to which during the War was added the territorial title of 'Bapaume'. To Sir William Osler, and to many others, he was 'The Consoler-General', for he had often to report the deaths of the sons of many of his friends. His connection with the College of Surgeons was long and honourable. He became a Councillor in 1904 and served without a break till 1920, when he became President in succession to Sir George Makins and served for three years. He delivered the Bradshaw Lecture in 1915 upon "Wounds in War", in which he summarized the first year's surgical work of the British Expeditionary Force in France, and was Hunterian Orator in 1919, when he reviewed military surgery from the time of Hunter to the date of the Oration. When Bowlby retuned to England at the end of the War he did not resume active work at St. Bartholomew's Hospital, though he retained the greatest interest in it, constantly attended the weekly 'Consultations' of the Staff, and as a Governor and Consulting Surgeon gave the benefit of his counsel and experience. Though retired from practice, he lived an active life. He was Chairman of the Radium Institute and took a keen interest in its activities. He was Chairman of the Board of Management of King Edward VII Convalescent Home for Officers at Osborne, and was instrumental in carrying out many improvements which added materially to the well-being of the inmates, and he remained till his death an active member of the Executive Committee of the British Red Cross Society. Bowlby was a man of keen intellect and strong character, with a quiet determination which enabled him to carry out what he believed to be right. His teaching was practical, and he had a knack of conveying a lesson in a way which could not be forgotten. The following is an instance: he was going round the wards with some students when he came to a patient suffering from extravasation of urine. After demonstrating the lesion, he said, in his characteristic, slightly guttural voice - he had a little difficulty rolling his r's - "The right thing to do is to make a cut into it, even if you have only got a bit of rusty hoop-iron to do it with." He spoke well and to the point with a curious jerking of the whole body, but he wrote his books and articles with difficulty. The above is a fine record a man's work. It is not so easy to describe the nature of the man who did it. Bowlby was of medium height, sparely built, but of an active frame. In his youth he played games and was always interested in them. For many years he was a keen Alpine climber, doing many of the great ascents, though he never became a member of the Alpine Club. He had a talent for friendship, and hundreds of his old students retained a love for him which approached veneration. His surgery was influenced most by that of Sir T. Smith (q.v.) and Howard Marsh (q.v.), both of whom he assisted for a long time, and through there have been finer technicians and greater researchers, his undoubted success as a surgeon and in private practice lay in his sound judgement. It was this that made his advice and help sought for. He was possessed of that sound common sense and cool practical judgement which characterized him both in surgical practice and in military surgery. In 1898 he married Maria Bridget, the daughter of Canon the Hon. Hugh Wynne Mostyn, by whom he had three sons and three daughters, all of whom survive him. His eldest son, Anthony Hugh Mostyn, who succeeded to the baronetcy, was born in 1906. Sir Anthony Bowlby lived for many years at 4 Manchester Square, and later at 25 Manchester Square. He died while on holiday at Stoney Cross, Lyndhurst, after a short illness, on April 7th, 1929, was cremated at Brookwood, and was buried at Brooklands Cemetery. Bowlby's portrait, in uniform, painted by Sir William Llewellyn, K.C.V.O., R.A., and presented by his past students and colleagues, hangs in the Great Hall at St. Bartholomew's Hospital. His portrait also appears in a panel in the Royal Exchange, painted by Frank O. Salisbury, R.A., which shows their Majesties the King and Queen visiting the battle districts of France, 1917: the lower panel representing the Queen visiting the wounded soldiers, accompanied by Dame Maud MacCarthy, Matron-in-Chief, Lieut.-General Sir Arthur Slogget, Director-General Army Medical Services, and Major-General Sir Anthony Bowlby. He also appears in Moussa Ayoub's portrait group of the Council of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, 1928. PUBLICATIONS: - *Surgical Pathology and Morbid Anatomy*, 16mo, London, 1887. The 5th edition was edited with the assistance of F. W. ANDREWES (1907); 7th edition published in 1920. *Injuries and Diseases of Nerves and their Surgical Treatment*, 8vo, 20 plates. London, 1889; Philadelphia, 1890. "Injuries and Diseases of Nerves" in Treves' *System of Surgery*, i, 681. *A Civilian War Hospital*, being an account of the work of the Portland Hospital and of experience of wounds and sickness in South Africa, 1900 (etc), 8vo, 50 plates, London, 1901. "The Bradshaw Lecture on Wounds in War." - *Brit. Jour. Surg.*, 1916, iii, 451;* Jour. R.A.M.C.*, 1916, xxvi, 125. "Application of War Methods to Civil Practice." - *Lancet*, 1920, i, 131. "Results of Fracture of Femur caused by Gunshot Wounds." - *N.Y. Med. Jour.*, 1920, iii, 133. "Care of the Wounded Man in War." - *Surg. Gynecol. and Obst*., 1920, xxx, 13. "Surgical Experiences in South Africa." - *Monthly Rev.*, 1900, Oct., 52. "An Address on 900 cases of Tuberculous Disease of the Hip, treated at the Alexandra Hospital, with a Mortality of less than 4 per cent." - *Brit. Med. Jour*., 1908, i, 1465. "A Clinical Lecture on some Surgical Complications of Tabes Dorsalis." - *Ibid.*, 1906, i, 1021. "A Sketch of the Growth of the Surgery of the Front in France." - *St. Bart's Hosp. Jour.*, 1919, xxvi, 127; *Brit. Med., Jour.*, 1919, ii, 127. "Reminiscences of the War in South Africa." - *St. Bart's Hosp. Jour.*, 1900, Oct. "Abdominal Wounds." - *Lancet*, 1917, i, 207. "British Surgery at the Front." - *Brit. Med. Jour.*, 1917, i, 705. "Wounds of Brain." - *Arch. de Med. et Pharm. mil.*, 1917, lxvii, 427. "Wounds of Spinal Cord." - *Ibid.*, 1917, lxvii, 463. "Traumatic Shock." - *Ibid*., 1917, lxvii, 123. "Wounds of Joints." - *Ibid.*, 1917, lxvii, 302. "Penetrating Wounds of Abdomen." - *Ibid.*, 1917, lxvii, 486. "Wounds at Front." - *Ibid.*, 1917, lxvii, 25. "Traumatic Shock." - *Ibid.*, 1918, xlix, 80. "Thoracic-abdominal Wounds." -* Ibid.*, 1918, lxix, 34. "Primary Suture of Wounds." - *Brit. Med. Jour.*, 1918, i, 333. "British Military Surgery in the Time of Hunter and in the Great War" (Hunterian Oration.) - *Lancet*, 1919, i, 285; *Brit. Med. Jour.*, 1919, i, 205. "Gunshot Fracture of Femur." - *Brit. Med. Jour.*, 1920, i, 1; *Surg. Gynecol. and Obst*., 1920, xxx, 135. "Fractures of the Femur at the Casualty Clearing Station." - *Brit. Jour. Surg*., 1916, iii, 626. "A Clinical Lecture on Strangulated Hernia." -* Clin. Jour.*, 1908, xxxi, 385. Joint editor of the *History of the Great War Medical Services: Surgery of the War*, 2 vols., H.M.S.O., 1922. Contributed "Development of Casualty Clearing Stations, etc.," vol. i. Introduction to *Atlas of Pathological Anatomy. - Brit. Jour. Surg.*, 1925, July. Introduction to Carrell and Dehelly's *Treatment of Infected Wounds,* London, 1917.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000224
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
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First Title value, for Searching Bland-Sutton, Sir John (1855 - 1936)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2006-05-18 2012-03-22
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Occupation Anatomist General surgeon Obstetric and gynaecological surgeon Obstetrician and gynaecologist
Details Born at Enfield Highway on 21 April 1855, eldest son and second of the nine children of Charles William Sutton, who had a farm where he fattened stock, killed it and sold it in Formosa Street, Maida Hill. His mother was Elizabeth, daughter of Joseph Wadsworth, a Northamptonshire farmer. Bland-Sutton says that he learnt from his father to stuff birds, beasts, and fishes, to charm warts and to pull teeth; from his mother an intimate knowledge of the Bible. Educated at the local school, he acted there for two years as pupil teacher with the intention of becoming a schoolmaster, but being a biologist at heart he determined to become a doctor as soon as he had the money necessary to pay the fees. He attached himself therefore to the private school of anatomy kept by Thomas Cooke, F.R.C.S., which then occupied a tin shed in a disused churchyard in Handel Street, just off Mecklenburgh Square. Here he learnt anatomy, and taught it to lazy and backward medical students until he had earned enough to pay the fees at the Middlesex Hospital. He entered there as a student in October 1878 and was immediately appointed prosector of anatomy, (Sir) Henry Morris being lecturer on the subject. In 1879 he was advanced to be junior demonstrator, became senior demonstrator in 1883 and lecturer 1886-96. In 1884 he was Murchison scholar at the Royal College of Physicians. Two years later he was elected assistant surgeon to the Middlesex Hospital, with the proviso that he should remain in London during the months of August and September, when the senior surgeons were accustomed to take their annual holiday. He performed his duties thoroughly, and devoted himself especially to pelvic operations upon women. In 1886 he became assistant surgeon to the hospital for women, then a small institution in the Fulham Road, and was promoted surgeon six months later with charge of fifteen beds. Here he soon acquired fame as an operating surgeon, and disarmed criticism by welcoming professional men and women to the operating theatre and by publishing his results widely in the medical papers. In 1889 he changed his name by deed pool from J. B. Sutton to John Bland-Sutton. In 1905 he became surgeon to the Middlesex Hospital and filled the post until 1920, when he resigned and was made consulting surgeon. During his tenure of office he was a most liberal supporter of the hospital. In 1913 he presented to it the Institute of Pathology, which was built on the site of the museum, of which he had been curator from 1883 to 1886. To the hospital chapel he gave a beautiful ambry, a piscina, and a font, and made considerable contributions towards the cost of the mosaic pavement in the baptistry. He also assisted largely in the purchase of a playing field for the students of the medical school. At the Royal College of Surgeons he won the Jacksonian prize in 1892 with his essay on diseases of the ovaries and the uterine appendages, their pathology, diagnosis and treatment. In 1885, 1886, 1887 and 1889-91 he gave the Erasmus Wilson lectures on the evolution of pathology. He was elected a member of the Pathological Society in 1882, and served on the council of the society from 1887 to 1890 but held no other office. He was an examiner in anatomy for the Fellowship in 1895. He was a Hunterian professor of comparative anatomy and physiology for the years 1888-89 and gave a lecture again as Hunterian professor in 1916; was Bradshaw lecturer in 1917; and Hunterian orator in 1923. Elected to the Council in 1910, he was vice-president in 1918, 1919, and 1920, and was President for the years 1923, 1924, and 1925, being preceded by Sir Anthony Bowlby and succeeded by Lord Moynihan. In 1927 he was elected a trustee of the Hunterian collection. During the war he was gazetted major, R.A.M.C.(T.) on 16 September 1916 and was attached to the 3rd London General Hospital at Denmark Hill. The surroundings and discipline of a military hospital proved uncongenial, and in 1916 he was promoted to lieutenant-colonel, placed upon an appeal board, and directed to collect he specimens of gunshot wounds which formed a unique display in the museum of the Royal College of Surgeons, till they were destroyed by the bombing of 1941. Always interested in animals, their habits and diseases, Bland-Sutton became a prosector at the Zoological Gardens in Regent's Park in 1881 whilst he was still a student at the Middlesex Hospital. He retained his interest in the gardens throughout his life, and in 1928 was made vice-president of the Zoological Society of London. In 1891-92 he lectured on comparative pathology at the Royal Veterinary College in Camden Town in succession to Prof. John Penberthy, F.R.C.V.S. He was president of the Medical Society of London 1914; president of the Association of Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland 1929; president of the Royal Society of Medicine 1929; president of the International Cancer Conference held in London in 1928. He was, too, a Knight of Grace of the Order of St John of Jerusalem from 1924. He married: (1) in 1886 Agnes Hobbs of Didcot, who died in 1898; and (2) in 1899 Edith, the younger daughter of Henry Heather Bigg. She survived him but there were no children by either wife. Lady Bland-Sutton died in 1943 and was by her will a most generous benefactress to the College. She founded a research scholarship in memory of her husband, and also bequeathed a suite of Chippendale furniture for the president's room, and the silver table ornaments made for the dining hall at 47 Brook Street, mentioned below, as well as much other furniture. Bland-Sutton died after a short period of failing powers at 29 Hertford Street, Mayfair on Sunday, 20 December 1936. His body was cremated, and memorial services were held in the chapel at the Middlesex Hospital on the 23rd and in Westminster Abbey on 29 December. *Portraits*: Three-quarter length, sitting, in presidential robes, by the Hon. John Collier, R.A., hangs in the Royal College of Surgeons of England. It is a good likeness and is well reproduced in black and white in Sir A. E. Webb-Johnson's eulogy in the *Middlesex Hospital Journal*, 1937, 37, 4, and in the *Annals* of the College, 1950, 6, 362. An earlier portrait by Collier is at the Royal Society of Medicine. The Middlesex Hospital has a marble bust by Sir George Frampton, and a drawing by George Belcher. Bland-Sutton's professional life was typical of his generation. Born into a large middle-class family where money was not too abundant, he had to rely entirely upon himself. This he did, as was then usual amongst the younger men who aspired to the staff of a teaching hospital, by coaching. Some did this by taking a house, marrying, and securing as many resident pupils as possible, each of whom paid an inclusive fee of £126 a year. The less fortunate, like Bland-Sutton, had to content themselves with private classes at £8 to £10 a head, for a three months' course of tuition. The direct way to promotion was through the dissecting room, for as yet pathology was little more than morbid anatomy. Sutton was a first-rate teacher and soon made enough money to travel as far as Vienna. He climbed the ladder by the ordinary steps, slowly at first as a junior demonstrator of anatomy, then as curator of the hospital museum, next as assistant surgeon to a small special hospital, finally as assistant surgeon, surgeon, and consulting surgeon to his own hospital, the Middlesex. He had to fight every step of the way, for there was plenty of competition and continuous opposition, but he had good health, a constant fund of humour, was a loyal friend, and was generous in giving both publicly and in private. He had hobbies, too, which sustained him: a love of travel, a curiosity about animal life and a certain artistic sense. Throughout his life he was a general surgeon, more especially skilled in abdominal operations. Of slight physique and with very small and bright eyes, he had a curious bird-like habit of rapidly cocking his head sideways when he wished to emphasize a joke or a witty remark. A fluent writer and an entertaining after-dinner speaker, he retained and perhaps cultivated his native and marked cockney accent. He lived at 22 Gordon Street, Gordon Square, from 1883 to 1890; at 48 Queen Anne Street, 1890 to 1902, and thereafter at 47 Brook Street, Grosvenor Square. Here he built in 1905, at the back of the house, a copy, reduced by one-third, of the Apodama or audience chamber at Susa or Shushan (in Persia) where it is recorded in the Book of Esther that Ahasuerus gave the great feast and afterwards invited Vashti to show her beauty to the assembled princes and people. In the reduced copy of this splendid hall Bland-Sutton and his gifted wife delighted to exercise a generous hospitality; Rudyard Kipling, and old and intimate friend, was a frequent guest. The house and the hall were pulled down for an extension of Claridge's Hotel, and Bland-Sutton moved finally to 29 Hertford Street, Mayfair. *Publications*: Comparative dental pathology, in J. Walker *Valedictory address*, Odontological Society, 1884. *A descriptive catalogue of the pathological museum of the Middlesex Hospital*, with J. K. Fowler. London, 1884. *An introduction to general pathology*, founded on lectures at R.C.S. London, 1886. *Ligaments, their nature and morphology*. London, 1887; 4th ed. 1920. *Dermoids*. London, 1889. *Surgical diseases of the ovaries and Fallopian tubes*. London, 1891. *Evolution and disease*. London, 1890. *Tumours innocent and malignant*. London, 1893; 7th ed. 1922. Osteology in H. Morris *Treatise of anatomy*, 1893. Tumours, and Diseases of the jaws in Sir F. Treves *System of surgery*, 1895, 1. *The diseases of women*, with A. E. Giles. London, 1897, 8th ed. 1926. Tumours in Warren and Gould *International textbook of surgery*, 1899, 1. *Essays on Hysterectomy*. London, 1904. *Gall-stones and diseases of the bile-ducts*. London, 1907; 2nd ed. 1910. Tumours in W. W. Keen *Surgery*, 1907, 1 and 1913, 6. *Cancer clinically considered*. London, 1909. *Essays on the position of abdominal hysterectomy in London*. London, 1909; 2nd ed. 1910. *Fibroids of the uterus*. London, 1913. *Misplaced and missing organs* (Bradshaw lecture R.C.S.). London, 1917. *Selected lectures and essays*. London, 1920. *John Hunter, his affairs, habits and opinions (the Hunterian Oration)*. London, 1923. *Orations and addresses*. London, 1924. *The story of a surgeon*. London, 1930. *On faith and science in surgery*. London, 1930. *Man and beast in eastern Ethiopia*. London, 1911. *Men and creatures in Uganda*. London, 1933.
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Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
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First Title value, for Searching Moynihan, Sir Berkeley George Andrew, Lord Moynihan of Leeds (1865 - 1936)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2006-05-18
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000200-E000299
Details Born at Malta on 2 October 1865 the only son of Captain Andrew Moynihan, *V.C*., and Ellen Anne, his wife, daughter of Thomas Parkin, a cabinet maker at Hurst, near Ashton-under-Lyne. His father was the son of Malachi Moynihan, originally from southern Ireland, who died at Sefton Park, Liverpool in 1837. As a sergeant in the 90th Light Infantry Andrew Moynihan was awarded the Victoria Cross on 24 February 1857 for his bravery during the Crimean War. On 8 September 1855, during an attack on the Redan, he personally encountered and killed five Russians and afterwards under heavy fire rescued Lieutenant Swift and Ensign Maude, who had fallen near the fortress. After serving in India, he died at the age of thirty-seven in Malta on 19 May 1866 of Malta fever, with the rank of captain in the 8th foot (the King’s Regiment). There is a portrait of him in *The History of the Victoria Cross* by Philip A. Wilkins. Mrs Moynihan came to Leeds in December 1867 with a pension of one pound a week on which to support two daughters and a son. She joined forces with her childless sister who was married to Alfred Ball, a police inspector, living at Millgarth Street. Moynihan’s education thus began in Leeds, and was continued at the Blue Coat School, then in its original quarters in Newgate Street, London. He entered the school in September 1875 with a presentation from H.R.H. Field-Marshal the Duke of Cambridge, and was placed in Ward 16. He left in April 1881 being then in no higher form than “Little Erasmus”. During his school career he was undistinguished, except that he did well in swimming and football. From the summer term of 1881 to 25 July 1883 he was at the Royal Naval School, Eltham, and from there proceeded to the Medical School at Leeds, where he lived with his maternal uncle, his mother and two sisters. He remained closely attached to Leeds for the rest of his life. The medical school was a part of the Yorkshire College which afterwards became one of the three constituents of the Victoria University. He graduated M.B. at the University of London in 1887 and became a Member of the College the same year. He passed the examination for the Fellowship in 1890 and for Master of Surgery in 1893, being awarded the gold medal. After serving as house surgeon to A. F. McGill at the Leeds General Infirmary in 1887, he acted as demonstrator of anatomy in the Medical School from 1893 to 1896. He was elected assistant surgeon to the infirmary in 1896, was surgeon from 1906, and consulting surgeon from 1927 until his death. He was lecturer in surgery from 1896 to 1909, and from 1909 to 1927 he was professor of clinical surgery in the University of Leeds. At the Royal College of Surgeons Moynihan was appointed an examiner in anatomy on the board of examiners in anatomy and physiology for the Fellowship in 1899. He gave three lectures as Arris and Gale lecturer in 1899 on *The anatomy and surgery of the peritoneal fossae*, and three lectures in 1900 on *The pathology of some of the rarer forms of hernia*. In 1920 he gave a single lecture as Hunterian professor of surgery and pathology on *The late surgery of gunshot wounds of the chest*, and in the same year delivered the Bradshaw lecture on *The surgery of diseases of the spleen*. He was Hunterian Orator in 1927, speaking on *Hunter’s ideals and Lister’s practice*. He served on the council of the college from 1912 to 1933 and was elected president for six years in succession, 1926-31. In this position he was the second provincial surgeon to fill the office, the first being Joseph Hodgson of Birmingham, who was president in 1864. The war found him with the rank of major *à la suite* attached to the 2nd Northern General Hospital of the Territorial R.A.M.C., with a commission dated 14 October 1908; on 28 November 1914 he was gazetted temporary colonel, A.M.S., and was serving in France. On demobilization in 1919 he was holding the rank of major-general, and had been chairman of the Army Advisory Board form 1916 and chairman of the council of consultants 1916-19. He made a marked impression on a tour in America, when speaking on behalf of the British cause. He was in his energy and frank ambition and his gift of oratory more like an American than the traditional reserved and self-depreciatory Englishman. He married on 17 April 1895 Isabella Wellesley, daughter of Thomas R. Jessop, F.R.C.S., of Leeds. Lady Moynihan died suddenly on 31 August 1936, leaving a son and two daughters. He felt the loss acutely, had a cerebral haemorrhage on 6 September 1936 and died on 7 September, without recovering consciousness, at his home Carr Manor, Meanwood, Leeds, formerly Sir Clifford Allbutt’s house. He was buried at Lawnswood cemetery, and memorial services were held in Leeds parish church and at St Martin’s-in-the-fields, London. An offer was made that he should be buried in Westminster Abbey, but it was declined for family reasons. Moynihan was fortunate in the accidents of his place, his period, and his personality. Leeds had long been a centre of good surgery. It had a teeming population, and was too far removed from London and Edinburgh to be greatly influenced by either. Surgery, which had been previously performed by general practitioners, was becoming specialized and Moynihan was private assistant in 1887-88 to Mayo-Robson, a pioneer in abdominal surgery in Leeds. Foreseeing the trend of surgery Moynihan trained himself deliberately to anticipate its arrival. He went to Berlin as a postgraduate student, and for many years spent his holidays in visiting the schools of surgery first in Europe and later in the United States. He was a brilliant and bold operator and early accepted the teachings of Lister. Gentle in his handling of tissues or, as he expressed it, “caressing” them, and a master of technique, his results were unusually satisfactory. He regarded every operation as a religious rite or sacrament, He felt the magnitude of the patient’s surrender of the whole future and even his life to the judgement and manual skill of a perhaps hitherto unknown surgeon. Himself a master of his craft, he taught that there must be the same high standard of achievement in every detail, and that at no stage of an operation should anything be left to chance. Operations on the liver and gall-bladder, upon the stomach, and “short-circuiting” for duodenal ulcer, more especially interested him, and he made his results widely known by means of articles, addresses, and communications to the medical press. He learnt from observation that the appearances in the living tissues differ widely from those in museum specimens. He was thus led to consider the whole subject of surgical pathology, popularized Allbutt’s phrase “the pathology of the living”, and was insistent that an institution should be founded where experimental surgery could be studied, to supplement the morbid surgical anatomy usually taught in the schools. In this he was successful during the latter years of his life when he was president of the College. Largely at his instigation and with the munificent assistance of Sir George Buckston Browne, an experimental surgical farm was founded at Downe in Kent. It was affiliated to the College and was placed under the mastership of Sir Arthur Keith, F.R.S., who had been conservator of the Hunterian Museum. Moynihan realized early in life that English surgeons knew little about the work of their colleagues and less about the progress of surgery abroad. He therefore established in 1909 a small visiting club, the members of which travelled from surgical centre to surgical centre, watched and commented upon the methods of their colleagues and confrères, and cemented many friendships. This visiting surgical club changed its name in 1929 and became the Moynihan Chirurgical Club. He was an excellent expositor and even dramatic in his showmanship for visitors to his own clinic. He knew how to advertise his work, but it was of the very best. He was instrumental in calling into existence the Association of Surgeons to bring together the surgeons of Great Britain and the Dominions; in this he was much helped by H. S. Pendlebury. He took a leading part in founding the *British Journal of Surgery* in 1913, and held the important office of chairman of the editorial committee from its beginning until his death; Ernest Hey Groves and George Cask were his chief supporters in this work. Under this guidance the venture proved successful, and in July 1936 the subscribers presented him with a statuette, wrought by Omar Ramsden, in silver, and a cheque for one thousand guineas. The cheque he handed to the College for the benefit of its library, and presented a replica of the statuette to stand on the table at meetings of the editorial committee. As a man Moynihan was fairly tall, strong and well made, and in youth his hair was of a fiery red colour. He was always on the alert, with a pleasant smile, and a ready repartee for any friendly attack. He spoke well in a soft voice and liked speaking, for he had a fund of humour, an attractive delivery, and a real feeling for language. His pupils were devoted to him, and his lectures were always well attended. He was interested and well informed in painting, literature, and music. He had visited most of the European galleries, where his anatomical and surgical knowledge enabled him to detect many pathological facts unwittingly recorded by the great artists of the renaissance and later periods. He retained his love of swimming and practised it until his life’s end. Many honours came to Moynihan. He was a member or fellow of the chief medical societies throughout the world. The University of Leeds made him an honorary LL.D. on the occasion of its twenty-fifth jubilee in 1924. He was elected a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons in 1917, and he delivered the first Murphy memorial lecture at Chicago in 1920 and presented a great mace “from the consulting surgeons of the British Armies to the American College of Surgeons in memory of mutual work and good fellowship in the European War 1914-18”. He delivered the Romanes lecture at Oxford in 1932, and the Linacre lecture at Cambridge in 1936. He was created a baronet in 1922, and seven years later was called to the House of Lords with a patent as Baron Moynihan of Leeds. Amongst his other activities was his work in connexion with the Cancer Research Campaign fund at Leeds, when a sum of £150,000 was raised. As president of the Voluntary Euthanasia Legislation Society he had undertaken to introduce a Euthanasia Bill in the autumn session of 1936 in the House of Lords. Shortly before his death he had joined the Board of Directors of Droitwich Spa, and had intended to devote himself to its development as a centre for the cure of rheumatism. Moynihan’s name is inscribed in the Town Hall, Leeds among the Freeman of the City, and a ward has been named after him at the General Infirmary. His instruments are in the museum of the Leeds Medical School. His portrait, three-quarter length seated, was painted by Richard Jack, R.A., in 1927. The likeness is good but the hands do credit neither to sitter nor painter. The painting hands in the Board Room of the General Infirmary at Leeds; his own replica he presented to the Royal College of Surgeons shortly before his death. It hangs in the first hall, and beneath it is an inscribed silver tablet worked by Omar Ramsden. The same craftsman made the chain and badge of office, which Moynihan gave for the presidents of the Association of Surgeons. A bust by Sir William Reid Dick, R.A., in a setting designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, P.R.A., stands half-way up the main staircase facing the main entrance to the General Infirmary at Leeds; it was unveiled in the autumn of 1939. A bronze cast of his hands is in the library of the Leeds Medical School, with a replica in the City Art Gallery. The Medical School also possesses a bronze bust by F. J. Wilcoxson; the Royal College of Surgeons has a marble bust by Wilcoxson, presented by Lord Moynihan’s son. Starting as the son of a poor widow, Moynihan left a very large fortune due entirely to his own exertions; but he was no grasper after money, as was shown by the numbers of patients upon whom he operated in private either gratuitously or for a greatly reduced fee. He left bequests for eponymous lectures at Leeds University and the Royal College of Surgeons. The first Leeds biennial Moynihan lecture was delivered by Gordon Gordon-Taylor in October 1940; the first Moynihan lecture at the College by E. W. Hey Groves on 14 March 1940. Moynihan made time by early rising for much excellent writing during his busiest years of practice. His articles on clinical subjects were masterly, progressive, and clear. His later addresses on medico-political or historical subjects were full of knowledge and wisdom, and inspiring to his hearers. He had a natural gift for the short, memorable phrase, and cultivated his skill in selecting and arranging words. His surgical writings deal mainly with abdominal conditions and the appropriate treatment. Sir Arthur F. Hurst in his Harveian Oration for 1937, dealing with the physiology of the stomach, draws attention to the clinical picture of duodenal ulcer drawn by Moynihan; he says “It is as much a piece of original research as the discovery of a new element or a new star, and equally deserving of recognition”. *Principal publications*: Mesenteric cysts. *Ann. Surg*. 1897, 26, 1-30. On the anatomy and pathology of the rarer forms of hernia. Arris and Gale lectures. *Lancet*, 1900, 1, 513-521; *Brit. med. J*. 1900, 1, 435-441 and 503-508. The surgery of chronic ulcer of the stomach. *Brit. med. J.* 1900, 2,1631. Pancreatic cysts. *Med. Chron.* 1902, 2, 241-284. Tumours of the mesentery. *Ibid.* 1902, 3, 345-371. The operative treatment of gastric and duodenal ulcers. *Med.-Chir. Trans.*, 1903, 86, 513-557. *Gallstones and their surgical treatment*. Philadelphia, 1904; 2nd edition, 1905. *Abdominal operations*. London, 1905; 4th edition, 2 vols. 1926. Surgery of the pancreas, in Keen’s *Surgery,* 1908, 3, 1035-1067. Surgery of the spleen. *Ibid.* pp.1068-1093. *Duodenal ulcer.* London, 1910; 2nd edition, 1912. *The pathology of the living and other essays.* London, 1910. On the treatment of gun-shot wounds. *Brit. med. J. *1916, 1, 333-337. *The spleen and some of its diseases,* Bradshaw lecture, R.C.S. 1920. London, 1921. Cancer of the stomach. *Practitioner*, 1928, 121, 137-148. *Addresses on surgical subjects*. London, 1928. A full bibliography by S. Wood is in the College library; it was published in *Univ. Leeds med. Soc. Mag*. 1937, 7, 111-116.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000226
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Dover, Frederick ( - 1885)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Drysdale, Charles Robert (1830 - 1907)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2011-10-06
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E001000-E001999/E001400-E001499
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/373632373632
Occupation Physician
Details Educated at University College, London, where he was Obstetrical and Ophthalmic Assistant, and in Paris. He was connected for a long time with the Metropolitan Hospital, and became Consulting Physician. He was also at one time Physician to the North London Hospital for Consumption and to the Farringdon Dispensary, and was Consulting Physician to the latter at the time of his death. Early attracted to the study of syphilis, he was led to investigate prostitution. These studies converted him to Malthusianism, of which he was an apostle. He was President of the Malthusian League, and he held his opinions honestly and defended them stoutly; a meed of respect cannot be withheld from one who sacrificed much in fighting for a cause which did not commend itself to the majority of his profession. He was also Physician to the Rescue Society of London. He died at his residence, 28 Carson Road, West Dulwich, SE, on December 2nd, 1907. Publications: "Alpine Heights and Climate in Consumption." - *St. Andrews Med. Grad. Jour.*, 1868. *On the Treatment of Syphilis and other Diseases without Mercury: being a collection of evidence to prove that mercury is a cause of disease, not a remedy*. 8vo, London, 1863. French translation of foregoing, 1864. German translation (Vienna), 1868. *Remarks on the Antecedents and Treatment of Consumption*, 8vo, London, 1865. "Prostitution Medically Considered: with some of its Social Aspects." A Paper read at the Harveian Society of London. With a Report of the Debate. 8vo, London, 1866. *On Cholera: its Nature and Treatment*. Being the Debate in the Harveian Society of London, edited by Dr. C. DRYSDALE, 8vo, London, 1866. *Recent Views as to the Causes and Nature of Pulmonary Consumption*, 8vo, London, 1868. "On the Inadequacy of Emigration as a Remedy for European Overcrowding and Destitution." Paper read before the London Dialectical Society, May 28th, 1869. London, 1869. *Medicine as a Profession for Women*, 16mo, London, 1870. *Syphilis: its Nature and Treatment. With a Chapter on Gonorrhea*. 8vo. London, 1872; 4th ed., 1880. German translation of 4th edition, 1882. "The Population Question at the Medical Society of London; or, the Mortality of the Rich and Poor." A Paper read at the Society, with the Debate, edited by CHARLES R. DRYSDALE, 12mo, London, 1879. "Debate on Infanticide, at the Harveian Society of London," May 17th, 1866, edited by C. DRYSDALE, 12mo, London, 1866; reprinted from the *Med. Press and Circ*. "Overpopulation considered a sa Prominent Cause of Misery and Early Death" (nd). "Report of the Committee for the Prevention of Venereal Diseases" (with J. BRENDON CURGENVEN ) read before the Harveian Society of London, July 1st, 1867. 8vo, London, 1867.
Resource Identifier RCS: E001449
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Doyne, Robert Walter (1857 - 1916)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2011-10-06
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E001000-E001999/E001400-E001499
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/373633373633
Occupation Ophthalmic surgeon
Details Born at Monart, Co. Wexford, the second son of the Rev Philip Walter Doyne. He was educated at Marlborough and matriculated from Keble College, Oxford, Oct 18th, 1875, but was prevented by illness from remaining at the University, on leaving which he entered the Bristol Medical School and then St George's Hospital. He was for a short time in practice at Bristol, where he was Clinical Assistant at the Eye Hospital. He was also at one time Clinical Assistant at the Royal Albert Hospital and Eye Infirmary, Devonport, and Surgeon to the Hambrook Hospital, near Bristol. He was a Surgeon in the Royal Navy from 1833-1885, and left the service in the latter year, when he married and settled in Oxford. From the outset of his life in Oxford he made a special study of ophthalmology. Beginning in a very small way, with an Eye Dispensary in a builder's yard, he worked on steadily, encouraged by the loyal support of many good friends, among whom were Sir Henry Acland, Dr Liddell of Christ Church, Bishop Paget, Dr Talbot, the Warden of Keble, and others. From these small beginnings grew the Oxford Eye Hospital, to which Doyne was Senior Surgeon till 1912, when he resigned after more than twenty-five years' continuous service, and became Consulting Surgeon. An excellent marble bust of him with an inscription commemorating his services was placed by his friends and admirers within the walls of the institution. A 'Doyne Memorial Lecture' is delivered at the Ophthalmological Society. Doyne held a number of other posts. He kept a London address at 30 Cavendish Square, and was at one time Senior Surgeon to the Royal Eye Hospital, Southwark. At Oxford he was Consulting Ophthalmic Surgeon to the Radcliffe Infirmary, first Reader in Ophthalmology to the University - a post which he held for eleven years (1902-1913) - and Ophthalmic Surgeon to St John's Hospital, Cowley, to Bourton-on-the-Water Cottage Hospital, and Hon Surgeon to Moreton-in-the-Marsh Cottage Hospital. It was due to his energies that there was started in Oxford for the first time a congress of ophthalmologists. He was also a designer of instruments for stereoscopy, tonometry, and retinoscopy. He died at his residence in Woodstock Road, Oxford, on August 30th, 1916, leaving a widow and two sons, of whom one - Philip Geoffrey Doyne, FRCS, - was then serving in Mesopotamia as a Captain RAMC(T), and had recently been Ophthalmic House Surgeon at St Thomas's Hospital. Publications: *Notes on the more Common Diseases of the Eye*, 16mo, test plate, London, 1890. "Conjunctivitis." - *Lancet*, 1910 i, 1674. "Visual Sensation, Perception, Appreciation and Judgment." - *Ophthalmoscope*, 1910, viii, 474. "Retinitis Pigmentosa." - *Ibid.*, 623. "Value and Misuse of Spectacles in Treatment of Headache, Migraine and other Functional Troubles of the Eyes." - *Brit. Med. Jour.*, 1910, ii, 361. "Description of hitherto Undescribed Forms of Iritis, Family Choroiditis and Con junctivitis." - *Trans. Ophthalmol. Soc.*, 1910, xxx, 93, 190, 274.
Resource Identifier RCS: E001450
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Lett, Sir Hugh (1876 - 1964)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2006-05-18 2012-03-14
JPEG Image
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000200-E000299
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372416372416
Occupation General surgeon
Details Hugh Lett came of an Anglo-Irish family but was born on 17 April 1876 at Waddingham, Kirton, Lincolnshire, where his father Richard Alfred Lett (M.B. Dublin 1869) was in general practice; his grandfather had also been a doctor. He was educated at Marlborough College and kept a close connection with the school, becoming a life governor and chairman of the school club and helping to compile the Record of the Old Marlburians. His surgical career was spent at the London Hospital, where he came as a student from Leeds Medical School in 1896. He qualified from Leeds in 1899, took the Conjoint Diploma in February 1901, and the Fellowship in June 1902. He was appointed surgical registrar at the London in 1902, becoming assistant surgeon 1905, surgical tutor 1909-12, surgeon 1915, and consulting surgeon 1934 when he retired. In the first world war Lett served from its outbreak (1914) in France, and later in Belgium and Egypt, was promoted Major, R.A.M.C., and awarded the CBE in 1920. Though his main interest was urology, he was always a general surgeon and his writings, while not frequent, covered many topics. He was one of the first to advocate adequate operation for appendicitis, to prevent recurrence. Between the wars Lett began to find operating sessions wearisome, and it was noticed that in the theatre he lost his usual imperturbability. Fortunately he had great abilities as an administrator and medical statesman, which he became free to use for the benefit of his colleagues and the country by retiring relatively young. Lett's association with the College was long, close, and extremely valuable. He served on the Court of Examiners 1923-25 and on the Council 1927-43. He was elected President in 1938 and held office for the customary three years, which were sadly spoiled for him by the anxieties and disasters of the war. Already before war broke out he was taking a personal initiative in safeguarding the College's treasures. He travelled to Aberystwyth in the summer of 1939 and arranged the removal of the most valuable paintings, books and other treasures to the National Library of Wales, and during 1940 secured a generous grant from the Rockefeller Foundation to evacuate the library to the west country. In May 1941 the Museum was bombed and much of the collection destroyed, in spite of Lett's provision of a deep vault to protect thousands of the Hunterian specimens. After this disaster he actively supported his successor Sir Alfred Webb-Johnson (as he then was) in planning to restore the Museum. He became a Hunterian Trustee in 1942, was the first permanent Chairman of Trustees 1955-59, and lived to see the Museum successfully renewed. He had been Bradshaw Lecturer in 1936, speaking on "The early diagnosis and treatment of tuberculous disease of the kidney", and was Thomas Vicary Lecturer in 1942, when he described "Anatomy at Barbers' Hall", an address based on original research. Lett married in 1906 Nellie, only daughter of (Sir) Buckston Browne F.R.C.S., a leading London urologist and afterwards one of the College's most munificent benefactors. Lett took an active interest in his father-in-law's two foundations at Downe: the Darwin Museum and the Surgical Research Farm. Sir Buckston had also endowed a dinner at the College, and in the year of Lett's Presidency he gave each guest a silver box full of snuff. Lady Lett died before her husband, on 9 August 1963, and Sir Hugh was survived by their three daughters. Lett was created a Baronet in 1941 while President of the College, and KCVO in 1947 to recognise his work for King Edward's Hospital Fund for London, where he had been one of the honorary secretaries since 1941. He was particularly concerned with the King's Fund's work for nurses and was the first chairman of its Staff College of Ward Sisters. He had previously been President of the Hunterian Society in 1917, and its Orator in 1919, President of the Sections of Surgery and of Urology at the Royal Society of Medicine in 1932-33, and Master of the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries in 1937-38. He was Chairman of the war-time Committee of Reference for allocation of medical man-power, and in 1946 succeeded his former surgical colleague Sir Henry Souttar as President of the British Medical Association. In this position his wise statesmanship proved invaluable to the profession and the nation in preparing for the start of the National Health Service. Lett was a tall man of serious demeanour, kindly and affable, utterly without affectation, and upright in all his ways. He was meticulous and regular in business, firm but courteous in personal contacts, and made an admirable chairman, with a wealth of experience and innate common sense. As a young man he enjoyed fencing and golf, but music was his favourite recreation, for he was an accomplished cellist. Lady Lett gave the College the portrait of her husband by Sir James Gunn R.A., which admirably catches his reserved, but slightly quizzical look, and gave a different portrait by the same artist to the Society of Apothecaries. Sir Hugh Lett died at his home at Walmer on 19 July 1964 at the age of 88. He had been so active and prominent in professional affairs that he was still widely known and held in affectionate regard by many colleagues much younger than himself, although he had retired from surgery thirty years earlier. Throughout his long life "he nothing common did or mean", but remained a pattern of unobtrusive and unselfish virtue.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000229
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Birch, William (1801 - 1869)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Buck, William Elgar (1848 - 1887)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2010-11-11
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E001000-E001999/E001000-E001099
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/373247373247
Occupation General surgeon
Details Educated at St John's, Cambridge, and St Bartholomew's Hospital. Before qualifying he served during the Franco-German War as Surgeon's Assistant in the Hessian Service of the German Army, being posted to the Alice Hospital, Darmstadt, in 1871. For his services he received the Hessian Sanitäts Kreuz for Medical Service and the Non-Combatant Medal. He then settled in practice at Welford Road, Leicester, where his family were medically well known, and was appointed Medical Officer of Health to the Leicester Combined Districts. At the time of his early death he was Physician to the Leicester Infirmary and Fever House, and Hon. Physician to the Leicester and Rutland County Lunatic Asylum. He died at Leicester on October 4th, 1887. Publications: Buck was author with Mr. George Cooper Franklin of a *Report on the Epidemic Diarrhoea* of 1875 in Leicester, 8vo, map and 3 diagrams, Leicester, 1875.
Resource Identifier RCS: E001064
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Bird, Henry ( - 1892)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Bird, James (1797 - 1864)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2010-03-04
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000800-E000899
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/373066373066
Occupation General surgeon
Details Entered King’s College, Aberdeen, in 1810; apprenticed to his uncle in Elgin in 1812, then became a clinical pupil at the Aberdeen Infirmary. He entered Guy’s and St Thomas’s Hospitals in 1815 and studied anatomy and surgery under Joshua Brookes at the Blenheim Street School, and midwifery under Merriman at the Middlesex Hospital. In 1816 he gained the second prize in anatomy and surgery at a viva voce examination by Sir Astley Cooper. After qualifying MRCS he joined the Hon East India Company’s service on the Bombay side, and on reaching India in August, 1818, found himself in the midst of a great cholera epidemic. His detailed observations as he travelled from Nagpore to Poonah and Tanneh were published in the *London Journal of Medicine* in 1849. He served with the 7th Regiment in Bengal in 1819 and noted the prevalent forms of tropical fever, serving through the Kaira campaign and being present at the siege of Kittore. He was diligent in acquiring the local vernacular and so came to act as vaccinator. He published “Observations on Guinea Worm” in the *Calcutta Medical Transactions*, i. In 1826 Mount Stuart Elphinstone appointed him Residency Surgeon at Saltara, which gave him leisure to pursue studies in Persian, from which he translated the *Political and Statistical History of Gujerat*, published by the Oriental Translation Fund in 1835. In 1832 on his way home he visited Egypt, including Nubia, and Syria, where he was received by Lady Hester Stanhope at Joorie. In 1834 he gave evidence before the Parliamentary Committee on Communications with India in which he supported Waghorn’s recommendation of the route by Egypt and the Red Sea as better than that overland by Aleppo and the Euphrates. On his return he acted as Surgeon to both the European and Native Hospitals in Bombay, and was Chief Medical Attendant of the Commander-in-Chief, Lord Keane. Later he was promoted to be Surgeon of a Division of Madras troops, and then Physician General with a seat on the Medical Board. On his retirement in 1847 he settled in London at 1 Brook Street, as the chief authority upon the diseases of Europeans in hot climates, and was an active member of the Medical Societies. He became President of the Harveian Society, Foreign Secretary for India of the Epidemiological Society, a Lecturer on Military Surgery and Tropical Medicine at St Mary’s Hospital, also senior Vice-President, Treasurer, and in 1863 Lettsomian Lecturer at the Medical Society. He died on July 10th, 1864, at Gerrard’s Cross; his wife predeceased him, leaving two children. In Bird’s *Contributions to the Pathology of Cholera*, 1849, there is no mention of infection through drinking water. In his Introductory Address to the Epidemiological Society in 1854 under the title “The Laws of Epidemics and Contagious Diseases” he quotes from Caius: “For as hereafter I will shew, and Galen confirmeth, our bodies cannot suffer anything or hurt by corrupt and infectious causes, except there lie in them a certain matter prepared apt and like to receive it.” And in a debate, “and though he was not prepared to deny altogether the truth of Dr Snow’s views that it could be multiplied through the medium of water, impregnated with the poisonous dejecta of cholera patients, he could not believe that such medium of communication had more than a partial effect.” – *Lond. Jour. of Med.*, 1849, i, 1082. His most serviceable address was: “The Military Medical Instruction of England compared with that of France, and its insufficiency for training Army Medical Officers” – being the introductory lecture to a Course of Military Surgery delivered in the School of St Mary’s Hospital, 1855.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000883
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Bird, Peter Hinckes (1827 - 1891)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Bird, Robert (1866 - 1918)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Birks, Melville (1876 - 1924)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2010-03-04 2015-06-12
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000800-E000899
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/373069373069
Occupation General surgeon Occupational health specialist
Details The following was published in volume one of Plarr's Lives of the Fellows. Was a student of Adelaide University and Hospital, and at the London Hospital, acting at the former as House Physician and House Surgeon. He practised for many years at Petersburg, South Australia, and later became Surgeon Superintendent of the Broken Hill and District Hospital, New South Wales. He died in or before the year 1925. Publications: "Mine Accidents at Broken Hill and District Hospital." - *Med. Jour. Australia*, 1918, i, 507. "Health Conditions at Broken Hill Mines." - *Jour. State Med.*, 1921, xxxix, 121. See below for an amended version of the published obituary: Melville Birks was surgeon superintendent of Broken Hill Hospital from 1913 to 1923 and an authority on industrial diseases. He was born on 30 January 1876, the son of Walter Richard Birks and Jemima Scott Birks. He was educated at state schools and at Way College, and then attended Roseworthy Agricultural College in South Australia. He was awarded a silver medal and his diploma of agriculture in 1896. He went on to study medicine at the University of Adelaide, gaining his medical degree in 1902. He served for a year at Adelaide Hospital as a house surgeon and then went to England, where he spent three years. He gained his FRCS in 1907. While in London he met Miss MacIntyre, daughter of P B MacIntyre of Ross-shire, Scotland, a crofters commissioner, and they married shortly afterwards, on 5 March 1909. He returned to South Australia, where he practised at Peterborough until 1913. While he was in the town he was also involved in civic affairs and served for a time as mayor. He was then appointed surgeon superintendent at Broken Hill. Here he made a study of miners' diseases. He was also a referee under the Workers' Compensation Act; he had a reputation for fairness and was respected by both miners and employers. He worked for long hours in the operating theatre, supported only by nursing staff. After some time at Broken Hill he began to suffer from ill health. In 1918 he was granted leave for a year. He went to Europe and America with his wife and family, and made a study of occupational diseases, visiting factories and hospitals. He attended a Medical Congress in Brussels, where he read a paper on lead poisoning. He returned to Broken Hill in 1920, but in August 1922 his health broke down once again and he was advised to go to the eastern states of Australia. He was in a private Melbourne hospital for 11 months and then in Melbourne General Hospital for a further three months. He returned to his mother's home in Adelaide in December 1923 and died there on 24 April 1924 at the age of 48. He was buried in Payneham Cemetery, Payneham South, South Australia. He was survived by his wife and their children - two sons and a daughter. Sarah Gillam
Resource Identifier RCS: E000886
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Harper, William Michael (1955 - 2008)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by N Alan Green
Publication Date 2011-06-16 2013-09-06
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E001000-E001999/E001200-E001299
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/373432373432
Occupation Orthopaedic surgeon Trauma surgeon
Details William Michael Harper was professor of orthopaedic trauma at the University of Leicester. Born in Jersey, 'Joe' Harper was proud of his roots in the Channel Islands and was equally fond of the years he spent in Bolton, Lancashire, where he went to school. Harper was one of the pioneering band of students that made up the first cohort at the Leicester Medical School in 1975. A gap year before commencing his studies was not spent trekking in the Himalayas, but in a factory in Bolton. Not one of the archetypal medical students of his day, 'Joe' Harper possessed a mop of unruly hair, generally had a cigarette dangling from his mouth, and had a broad Lancastrian accent. He did not flaunt his academic ability, but never struggled with the course work and moved easily into his clinical studies. This period of undergraduate training was interrupted on two occasions. He apparently caught chicken pox from a patient and was banished from the wards. According to a colleague, he 'attempted to make an early comeback but he was, in more ways than one, "spotted"'. A fractured femur, under unknown circumstances, occasioned an even longer absence and may have stimulated his later interest in orthopaedics. Awarded his MB ChB in 1980, he undertook junior surgical training in Leicester, where he obtained his first true exposure to his chosen specialty in the trauma and orthopaedics unit. It was said by one of his classmates that: 'the odds on his becoming a professor would have been as long as on an Englishman winning Wimbledon!"' He moved around the country to obtain more experience in general surgery at senior training level, before returning to Leicester as a lecturer in orthopaedic surgery. His academic career blossomed in the department then run by Paul Gregg. From 1988 to 1990, he held the Smith and Nephew trauma research fellowship in the department of orthopaedic surgery. During this specialist training, Harper researched different questions in the management of fractures of the neck of the femur. In a randomised trial, he evaluated internal fixations and hemiarthroplasties. He assessed the results and attempted to find the best surgical option, also noting the modes of treatment failure. This work was submitted to the university for an MD thesis in 1995. Completion of his higher surgical training saw him appointed as a senior lecturer/honorary consultant in trauma and orthopaedic surgery at the University of Leicester in 1993. His work on fractures of the neck of the femur continued and he established the renowned Trent regional arthroplasty study with Gregg in 1989. This was the inspiration for the National Joint Registry, now well established by the Department of Health. Much of this work continues, as does the new undergraduate musculoskeletal programme in the University. He fought hard to maintain trauma and orthopaedics as an independent department within the medical school. In the mid-nineties, Harper was appointed as clinical director of the trauma unit at the Leicester Royal Infirmary and was instrumental in changing clinical practice in several important ways. These included the appointment of a consulting physician to oversee the medical management of patients with fractures of the neck of the femur and nurse-led clinics for simple fractures. A framework of management for complex trauma was established and soft tissues were not ignored, and he set up and ran a multidisciplinary team for the management for bone and soft tissue tumours. As professor, he made a significant contribution to research and training, and in the Trent region area developed various aspects of his chosen specialty, particularly in the management of sarcoma. It took nobody by surprise at this later stage when 'Joe' Harper became professor of orthopaedic trauma at Leicester University in 1997 and, not long after that, head of the academic unit when Paul Clegg moved to Newcastle. He ran a busy research unit, publishing extensively on outcomes of arthroplasty of the hip and knee. Under his guidance many young doctors completed their MD dissertations on subjects ranging from cementation in hip arthroplasty to infection management. Increasingly senior roles in UK orthopaedics engaged his attention and he was the chairman of the Association of Professors of Orthopaedic Surgery from 2000 to 2003, a member of the Intercollegiate Specialty Board of Examiners for Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgery from 2002, and of the Specialist Advisory Committee in the disciplines from 2005. With his publishing skills, he became a valued member of the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery for two terms. These commitments were enough for a very full life, but he spent much time on local issues, being very supportive of his staff and colleagues, all of whom held him in the highest regard. Outside these commitments, he enjoyed a relaxed family life. With his wife Liz and daughter Alice he spent time in northern France, renovating a farm cottage over many years. He was a lifelong collector of stamps, Marvel comics and cards. Throughout a two-year illness leading to his death on the evening of 13 May 2008 he managed to maintain his optimism and showed great courage and independence, pursuing his clinical and academic work almost to the end. He was survived by his wife and daughter. Of his open-minded approach, it was recorded: 'There could be no doubt that, with "Joe" Harper, what you saw was what you got.'
Resource Identifier RCS: E001249
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Ashford Hodges, William Anthony (1922 - 2011)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by N Alan Green
Publication Date 2012-10-17 2013-09-02
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E003000-E003999/E003000-E003099
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/375216375216
Occupation Orthopaedic surgeon
Details Anthony Ashford Hodges was a consultant orthopaedic surgeon in Great Yarmouth, Gorleston-on-Sea and Lowestoft. Very general in his approach to orthopaedic conditions, he particularly enjoyed performing joint replacements. He was a unique character, and had an unusual upbringing and an eventful life. He was born in Vienna on 24 July 1922, the only child of William Ashford Hodges, an architect, and Anna (Nitza) Bonna. William had trained in the UK, but was sent to Alexandria, Egypt, to advise on the rebuilding of Victoria College and then stayed on as chief architect to the Egyptian government. Anthony's mother was born in Turkey, the daughter of an Austrian diplomat. She was a gifted pianist and studied music at the Vienna Conservatoire, before moving with her family to Alexandria after the death of her father. There she met and married William, shortly before the outbreak of the First World War. Anthony's father died of pneumonia in 1925, and Nitza decided to move to Switzerland with her son. Anthony went to the English school at Chateau d'Oex, where the headmaster introduced him to lepidoptery, which remained a lifelong passion. He collected butterflies and moths from various parts of the world, particularly Tanzania. Hundreds of specimens are preserved in cabinets, still in the possession of the family. From Switzerland he went to Downside School, where his academic record was good. Although he contemplated a career as an entomologist, he went into medicine, first as an undergraduate at Downing College, Cambridge, and then for his clinical studies to the London Hospital, which bore the brunt of the German bombing of the East End. Some of his clinical training took place at Billericay Hospital, followed by stints at Brentwood and Chase Farm hospitals. He took the MRCS and LRCP examinations when he was still only 21. In 1943, while still a student, Anthony met his future wife, Joan Halliday, when they both were working at Chase Farm Hospital, Enfield. She was a student nurse from the London Hospital. They married in 1944 when both were back working at the London. After house appointments at Chase Farm and Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, Anthony then moved to the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital in May 1945 as a house surgeon to Herbert Alfred 'Tommy' Brittain and Ken McKee, later expressing his gratitude to both of these pioneering surgeons. He saw Brittain's work in treating the fractured neck of the femur with a trifin pin, and was able to witness his new methods of arthrodesis of the hip joint in tuberculosis as he perfected the ischiofemoral variety of fixation. McKee, on the other hand, designed a pin and plate for fixation of pertrochanteric fractures of the femur, as well as a lag screw used in arthrodesis of the hip joint. Based on his enthusiasm for taking motor-cycles and car engines to pieces and then rebuilding them, Ken McKee conceived the notion that worn out human joints could also benefit from 'spare parts', hence his original concept of metal to metal artificial hip joints that heralded a new era in the surgical treatment of disabling osteoarthritis. National Service then called, and Anthony served on a hospital ship from 1945 to 1948 as a captain in the RAMC. When demobilised he returned to the London Hospital as an orthopaedic registrar under Sir Henry Osmond-Clarke. He also did periods at Queen Mary's Hospital, Carshalton, and St Peter's Hospital, Chertsey. He passed the FRCS in 1950 and decided to specialise in general trauma and orthopaedics. In 1952 Anthony took a job with the Colonial Service in Tanganyika. He was called a special grade medical officer and was expected to do everything from general medicine to general surgery. He became involved with two leprosy hospitals and published a paper on 'The treatment of deformities of the foot in leprosy' (*East Afr Med J* 1956 Aug;33[8]:301-3). After various postings to provincial towns around the country, he ended up in 1963 as surgical specialist in the country's then capital, Dar es Salaam. Here he was instrumental in creating and running the Muhimbili Rehabilitation Centre. In 1964 Anthony and Joan decided that they must come home for the sake of their children (Hugh, Anne, Nicholas and Gabrielle), who were all at school in England. Being out of touch with the NHS after so many years abroad, Anthony wrote to his former chief at the London Hospital, Sir Henry Osmond-Clarke, and also to Sir Herbert Seddon of the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, seeking their advice. They told him to wait another year, by which time he would be in a position to apply for consultant posts and they would give their support. In February 1965, Anthony and Joan returned to the UK. Eschewing the more conventional sea voyage, they decided to travel by car, a distance of around 5,000 miles. They were accompanied by a Czech nursing sister, Jari Kolar, and travelled in two cars. For much of the time Anthony drove a small Peugeot without an operative clutch. Along the way they also had 42 punctures. The journey initially took them through Kenya, Uganda and into the Sudan, where they discovered a civil war was raging. Their visa for Sudan was torn up at the border, but they managed to persuade the authorities to let them through and drove 250 miles to Juba. On route they encountered villages with charred houses, and no sign of human or animal habitation. But they did link up with some rebels, who were very friendly, even going so far as to construct a makeshift ferry for them to make a river crossing. From the Sudan they travelled through the Central African Republic, Chad, Cameroon, northern Nigeria and Niger, and then across the Sahara to Algeria. They had various adventures on the way, including being stuck in sand for two days, being rescued and then helping to rescue a trans-Sahara expedition. The trio also spent some time with the French Foreign Legion in the Arak gorges. In 1966 Anthony Ashford Hodges' began his NHS consultant orthopaedic post at Great Yarmouth, Gorleston-on-Sea and Lowestoft, and continued until he retired in 1983. For much of his time working for the Great Yarmouth and Waveney Health Authority, orthopaedics was carried out at Gorleston Hospital, which was half way between Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft. Gorleston Hospital had originally been built at the end of the 19th century, but in 1965 a new operating suite was installed and the following year the hospital became the orthopaedic unit for the district with 23 beds. Orthopaedic emergences were treated at the main hospitals in Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft. Prior to Anthony's appointment to Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft, orthopaedics was overseen by consultants from Norwich. David Burgess joined him in 1972 and together they started to build a department of orthopaedics. Anthony was always full of enthusiasm, cheerful and keen to listen and learn. He was good at DIY and on one occasion when an instrument was not available for an operation, he left the theatre, drove home and obtained the necessary part from his workshop! He had monocular vision for much of his later adult life, having had surgery for a melanoma in 1972 at Moorfields Hospital, somewhat delayed in its diagnosis. This did not impair his handling of bones and joints, nor his energetic outside pursuits of sailing in the North Sea and further afield, and gardening. Presumably short of excitement in the NHS, in 1974 Anthony took a two-year sabbatical to work as surgeon superintendent at the Vila Base Hospital in the New Hebrides, a small Melanesian country in the South Pacific, now called Vanuatu. Joan and Anthony bought a 46 ft ferro-concrete ketch, in which they had many enjoyable and hair-raising trips around the islands, until the end of Anthony's tour, when they decided to sail the boat back to the UK. They got as far as Papua New Guinea and were in the process of negotiating the Torres Strait, a well-known hazard, when they holed the vessel on the edge of a reef and had to paddle ashore to a nearby island, where they were rescued. After the loss of his boat in the Torres Strait, Anthony immediately bought a 45 ft ketch (with a steel hull this time) and worked on it in his garden in Norfolk until he retired from the NHS in 1983. He and Joan then set sail for the Bahamas and spent a year living on the boat in the Caribbean. The return journey was extremely hazardous: they ran into a hurricane and only narrowly escaped. For several years following his retirement, he did a number of locums around the country, as well as some medico-legal work, but it did not dim his adventurous spirit. In 1986, now aged 64, he and Joan embarked on their final sailing adventure. They planned to sail back to East Africa via the Mediterranean and the Red Sea. Clutch trouble occasioned an enforced stop in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, where they were held at gunpoint by the Saudi authorities, as they had no visa. Fortuitously their son-in-law was just coming to the end of a diplomatic posting in Saudi Arabia and he managed to get them released. Within a day of setting sail though, they had grounded the yacht on an uncharted reef and were stuck for 10 days. After jettisoning almost everything on board, they got the boat afloat and limped into Port Sudan. The boat was shipped back the UK and repaired! Thereafter, they decided to confine their sailing adventures to the Mediterranean, leaving their boat in Bodrum in the south western region of Turkey: they spent four months each year sailing around the southern Med. When the boat was sold, they decided to settle for a quieter lifestyle, first in Norfolk and then Thaxted in Essex, but this did not stop them travelling to their beloved Tanzania in 2005 and to Australia in 2007, when Anthony went snorkelling on the Barrier Reef. Anthony Ashford Hodges died on 2 September 2011, aged 89. Perhaps his death notice, published in the national newspapers, best sums up his life: 'Orthopaedic surgeon, sailor, adventurer and friend of Africa and passionate gardener, adored husband, father, grandfather and great grandfather of a family running to keep up.'
Resource Identifier RCS: E003033
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Bhatia, Dipak (1909 - 1992)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Ranjit Bhatia
Publication Date 2012-10-17 2012-11-22
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E003000-E003999/E003000-E003099
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/375217375217
Occupation General surgeon
Details Dipak Bhatia was head of India's national family planning programme in the 1960s. He was born in Punjab on 27 November 1909 and educated in Lahore, leaving high school at the age of 14. After receiving an MB BS degree from Lahore Medical College, he went to England and stayed in London for a few years, becoming a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons. He returned to India and joined the Indian Army as a commissioned officer in the mid-1930s. During the Second World War he was posted to North Africa and later Italy with the Indian troops of the Eighth Army. He was awarded an OBE for his wartime services. Colonel Bhatia, as he then was, quit the army at the time of independence and the partition of India in 1947 and joined the government of Indian Punjab. He served for nearly 20 years as civil surgeon, chief medical officer, deputy director of research and medical education (in which capacity he was closely involved with the establishment of the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh) and director of health services. In the mid-1960s, Bhatia was deputed to the central government of India as commissioner of family planning, to head the national family planning programme. In 1969 he retired from government service. After his retirement, the Ford Foundation, which was then funding family planning programmes in India, asked him to join them as an adviser. In 1973 the United Nations Development Programme posted him to Cairo as an adviser on family planning in Egypt. Bhatia retired from this assignment after five years in 1978. Bhatia remained associated with family planning issues, as a member of the governing body of the Family Planning Foundation (India) until his demise. In 1945, after his return from the war, Dipak Bhatia married his long-time fiancée, Pushpa Bery. They had two sons. Bhatia was in indifferent health during his last years, due to respiratory problems and Parkinson's disease. He died on 1 December 1992.
Resource Identifier RCS: E003034
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Black, Cornelius (1822 - 1886)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2010-03-18
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000800-E000899
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/373077373077
Occupation General surgeon
Details Born on August 2nd, 1822, at Radcliffe-on-Trent, Notts. Educated at the University of Edinburgh until 1844, apprenticed to John Cartledge Botham, of Catherine Street, Hartlepool, who was Surgeon to the Hartlepool Iron Works. He settled at Chesterfield, Derbyshire, where he practised at St Mary’s Gate, and died there on June 24th, 1886. He was Physician to the Chesterfield Dispensary; a Fellow of the Medical Society of London; a Member of the Pathological Society of London; a Corresponding Fellow of the Imperial Society of Physicians, Vienna, and of the Société Medicale, Lyons. Publications: “The Management of Health.” “The Pathology of the Broncho-Pulmonary Mucous Membrane,” 8vo, Edinburgh, 1853; reprinted from *Monthly Jour. Med. Soc. Lond. and Edin*. “The Clinical Examination of the Urine in Relation to Disease,” 8vo, London, 1840; reprinted from the *St Andrews Med. Grad. Assoc. Trans.,* London, 1869, iii. “Hydatids from the Left Lung, Subsequently to the Occurrence of Typhoid Fever, Complicated with Double Pneumonia,” 8vo, plate, London, 1853; reprinted from *Trans. Pathol. Soc.*, iv, 44-61. *The Pathology of Tuberculous Bone*, 8vo, Edinburgh, 1859. *The Insanity of George Victor Townley*, 8vo, London ; 2nd ed., 1865. “How to Prevent Pitting in Small-pox.” – *Lancet*, 1867, i, 792. “On Arsenic a Remedy for Cholera.” – *Assoc. Med. Jour.*, 1854, N.S. ii, 971. “On Conception.” – *Med. Gaz*. “On Caries of the Tarsal Bones and Amputation at the Ankle-joint.” – *Monthly Jour. Med. Sci. Edin.*, 1852, xv, 113. “Case of Ileus, in which a Portion of the Ileum was Discharged per Anum, followed by Recovery of the Patient.” – *Trans. Pathol. Soc.*, 1855-6, vii, 199. “On Perforating Ulcer of the Stomach.” – *Ibid.*, 191. “Melanic Cancer of the Horse.” – *Ibid.*, 1851, vii, 400. “On Ovariotomy.” – *Lancet*, 1857, i, 110, 138; 1863, 62. “On the Value of Arsenic in Cholera,” (serial). – *Ibid.*, 1857, ii, 388, 541, 573.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000894
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Blackmore, Edward (1808 - 1883)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Blades, William Dawson ( - 1869)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

First Title value, for Searching Grime, Roland Thompson (1916 - 2012)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Sarah Gillam
Publication Date 2012-10-17 2014-10-17
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E003000-E003999/E003000-E003099
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/375219375219
Occupation General surgeon
Details Roland Thompson Grime was a consultant general surgeon in Stockport. He was born in Cheadle Hume, Cheshire, on 18 July 1916, the son of Horace Grime, who was in the cotton trade, and Lily Grime née Thompson. He was educated at Ellesmere College, Shropshire, and then studied medicine at Manchester University, graduating MB ChB in 1939. After a house surgeon post, he joined the Royal Army Medical Corps in 1940 and served throughout the Second World War in Ireland, India, Egypt and Italy. He became a major and a specialist in blood transfusion and resuscitation, and was mentioned in despatches. Following his demobilisation in 1946 he trained as a general surgeon in Manchester. From 1950 to 1971 he was a consultant surgeon at Ashton-under-Lyne, and then, from 1971 to 1981, he was a consultant at Stepping Hill Hospital, Stockport. A fellow of Manchester Medical Society, he was president of the section of surgery from 1977 to 1978. He was chairman of the surgical training committee in the Manchester region from 1975 to 1980, and a member of the Medical Appeals Tribunal in Manchester from 1977 to 1984. Once he retired he moved to Nefyn, north Wales. He married Mary Diana Eastburn in 1942. She predeceased him in 1993. They had two sons, Stephen and John. Roland Thompson Grime died on 18 August 2012, aged 96.
Resource Identifier RCS: E003036
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Hendry, William Forbes (1938 - 2012)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Justin Vale
Publication Date 2012-10-17 2013-05-17
JPEG Image
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E003000-E003999/E003000-E003099
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/375220375220
Occupation Urologist
Details William Forbes 'Bill' Hendry was an internationally known urologist who spent his consultant career enhancing the reputations of St Bartholomew's Hospital, the Royal Marsden and the Institute of Urology in London. He also had a few sessions at the Chelsea Hospital for Women, and in addition served as a civilian consultant to the Royal Navy. He has been described as 'one of the UK's most influential urologists in the 1980s and 1990s'. Bill was born in Birmingham by caesarean section performed on 15 June 1938 by Dame Hilda Lloyd, later president of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. He was the son of Duncan William Hendry and Edna Beatrice Hendry née Woodley. He had a younger sister, Joy, who was born after the Second World War - she became a professor of anthropology. His younger brother, Ian, became a Foreign Office lawyer. Bill's father was in general practice before the Second World War and, after war service, became a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist in Nuneaton. His mother was a nurse who trained and worked at the Royal Glasgow Infirmary. Bill was educated at Uppingham School, where he showed considerable academic promise and proceeded to Glasgow University for his medical studies, thus following in his father's footsteps. When he was at university Bill met Chirsty Macdonald, a nurse. They married at St Columba's Church, Glasgow, in November 1961. They had three children, Duncan Forbes, a gardener, Catherine Louise, a consultant haematologist at the Royal Surrey County Hospital, and Alexander Donald, a journalist in Hong Kong. Bill and Chirsty were superb parents, and placed great emphasis on a normal family life. After house appointments in Glasgow, Bill obtained a Fulbright scholarship to travel to the USA for two years, at a time when Duncan was just a year old. Bill spent his time working in Boston, Massachusetts, at the Boston City Hospital, being trained quite broadly in pathology. He always maintained that this was an excellent grounding for anyone thinking of taking up surgery. Bill's salary was supplemented by Chirsty, who worked as a nurse in Boston: American hospitals were always delighted to have UK-trained nurses working on their staff. Returning to the UK, Bill continued his surgical training in Glasgow. When he decided to specialise in urology, he was advised to move south. He became a senior registrar on a rotation between Portsmouth and the Institute of Urology in London. He gained good urological experience on the south coast under the supervision of John Vinnicombe and Forbes Abercrombie. Here he was able to see and be trained in the diverse disease patterns seen in a provincial hospital. He proved a rapid learner and much enjoyed this experience. Later he went to the Institute of Urology in London, where he was able to see and assist the many specialist urologists in their various fields. In 1973 he was appointed as a consultant at Bart's. A year later he joined the Royal Marsden. Working as a consultant urologist at Bart's, the Royal Marsden and the Chelsea Hospital for Women gave him ample opportunity to exercise his fertile mind. He was quick to spot the important connection between oncology and infertility, and the link between testicular cancer, retroperitoneal surgery and andrology. One of his trainees at Bart's said: 'He was always top of his game - whatever he set out to do it was always going to be as good experience for the patient and for the outcome as it could possibly be. He treated each new patient as a challenge requiring continuous refinement.' Towards this end he sought the collaboration of colleagues in clinical problems. He adopted this approach from the outset of his consultant career. One example of this was to challenge radiotherapy as the treatment of choice for bladder cancer. He began to perform total cystectomies, both as primary procedures and also after radiotherapy. Cystectomy was only performed by a few urologists in the UK at the time because of its difficulty and the high incidence of complications. He published the results of his studies in the *British Journal of Urology*, showing that the three- and five-year survivals were 10% better in those patients who had preoperative radiotherapy and cystectomy, compared with those undergoing radical radiotherapy ('Treatment of T3 bladder cancer: controlled trial of pre-operative radiotherapy and radical cystectomy versus radical radiotherapy' *Br J Urol*. 1982 Apr;54[2]:136-51). This article was only one of some 304 of his publications on urological oncology and male subfertility. The key to his considerable success in publishing was his care in collecting data and his honesty in publishing his results. From the start of his consultant career he took home nearly all the theatre patient call-cards and stored them in a Kardex system in his study. This made it easier to trace his patients for careful follow-up. Such a degree of introspection and self-critical analysis is most unusual in a surgeon. He was one of the first to show that, in cases where testicular cancer had spread to retroperitoneal lymph nodes, the removal of the nodes improved survival rate and guided further treatment. In this area, as well as pelvic surgery, he honed his techniques to limit damage to nerves connected with ejaculation. This was aided by studies he did in the post-mortem room. Another interest was in the area of male fertility and reversal of vasectomy performed for contraceptive purposes. He was interested in the role that anti-sperm antibodies played in poor results after vasectomy reversal. He recognised the part played by the use of steroids, while at the same time his publications conceded the complications of a high dose steroid regime. Bill was a patient and inspirational teacher, who became a role model for many of those passing through his department, be it in testicular cancer, bladder cancer or infertility. He was never late and was always at his desk in outpatients before the start time, and stressed the importance of this on those fortunate enough to work with him. They in their turn remember his many aphorisms. He used such phrases as 'most ureteric stones pass spontaneously if you ignore them', 'be nice to anaesthetists, we cannot do without them', 'don't rely on luck in surgery', and many others. He was president of the British Association of Urological Surgeons (BAUS) from 1996 to 1998 and St Peter's medallist in 1999, and president of the section of urology of the Royal Society of Medicine in from 1993 to 1994. He was joint editor of the *British Journal of Urology* with Hugh Whitfield from 1992 to 1996, stepping down when he became president of BAUS. He was Hunterian Professor in 1989 and again in 1998, and Sir Arthur Sims Commonwealth Travelling Professor from 1989 to 1990, when his main visits were to Australia and New Zealand, and also to Zimbabwe. Bill Hendry gave his final address 'A humble shop floor worker' at a valedictory meeting held in his honour on 26 June 2000 at St Bartholomew's Hospital. He believed that a surgeon's skills had a limited lifespan and, as a clean break from a busy life in medicine, Bill and Chirsty moved to the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides in 2000. They took up a croft next door to the Macdonald's, his wife's parents. Together they set up a herd of highland cattle, the second in Brue. In addition to helping to improve and renovate a community centre in Barvas, he organised the Westside Agricultural Show. Raising rare breed cattle became a passion. Bill and Chirsty remained a devoted couple throughout their married life. Chirsty developed Alzheimer's disease, and he cared for her over this difficult period, nursing her until she predeceased him by six months after a long decline. Typically, he was planning to write about his experience, and this would have been a unique and insightful lesson in caring for a life-long partner. Sadly he died on 3 October 2012, at the age of 75, after a heart attack, before he could carry out this task.
Resource Identifier RCS: E003037
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Mukherji, Santanu ( - 2010)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Dee Mukherji
Publication Date 2012-10-17 2014-05-02
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E003000-E003999/E003000-E003099
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/375221375221
Occupation General practitioner
Details Santanu Mukherji was a general practitioner in Yorkshire, with a special interest in cardiology. He was born in Calcutta. His father, Captain Maniklal Mukherji, was a founder member of the Indian Radiological Association, and physician to and friend of the poet Rabindranath Tagore, a winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature. Santanu was educated at St Xavier's College, Calcutta, and the Nilratan Sircar Medical College (formally the Campbell Medical School). He went to Britain for postgraduate studies, and gained his FRCS and FRCS Edinburgh in the same year, 1968. He was appreciated by his fellow doctors. Derek J Rowlands, a consultant cardiologist at Manchester Royal Infirmary, records how he was 'a delightful, stimulating and inspirational colleague'. He was survived by his wife Dee, his son and two daughters, and one granddaughter. One of his daughters entered the medical profession.
Resource Identifier RCS: E003038
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Rowland, Frederick Henry (1943 - 2012)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Sarah Gillam
Publication Date 2012-10-17 2014-10-17
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E003000-E003999/E003000-E003099
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/375222375222
Occupation General surgeon Military surgeon
Details Frederick Henry Rowland ('Fred') was a surgeon commander in the Royal Navy. He was born in Merton on 28 May 1943, the eldest son of Frederick Rowland, a plumber, and Cissie Florence Minnie Rowland née Shelley. He was educated at All Saints School, south Wimbledon, and Rutlish School, Merton, where he gained a scholarship. He went on to study medicine at Manchester University, graduating MB ChB in 1966. He was a house physician and house surgeon at Cirencester and then a demonstrator in anatomy at the University of Manchester. He subsequently joined the Royal Navy. While at the Royal Naval Hospital Devonport he carried out research on varicose vein surgery. He left the Navy and then worked in Saudi Arabia, Australia and Fiji. He eventually settled in Australia, where he was a visiting surgeon at Kalgoorlie Regional Hospital and Esperance District Hospital, and took Australian citizenship. He was married five times. He died from urosepsis on 3 May 2012, aged 68.
Resource Identifier RCS: E003039
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Scott, John Eric Somerville (1926 - 2012)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Laurie Rangecroft
Publication Date 2012-10-17 2013-01-17
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E003000-E003999/E003000-E003099
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/375223375223
Occupation Paediatric surgeon
Details John Scott was the first full-time paediatric surgeon in the then Northern Region when he was appointed as a senior lecturer and honorary consultant in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1960. He continued to provide the service essentially single-handed for the next decade. He was born in Zanzibar, East Africa, where his father, Douglas Somerville Scott, was in the Colonial Medical Service. His mother was Dorothy May Scott née Fletcher. Later in Scott's childhood his family relocated to Penzance, Cornwall, where his father was a GP. His later childhood was also considerably saddened by the death of his elder sister following a, possibly unnecessary, operation to straighten her legs. Scott was educated at Upcotte House and Sherborne, before going up to Queens' College, Cambridge, to follow a wartime accelerated course in medicine. He carried out his clinical studies at the Middlesex Hospital. National Service was spent as a medical officer in the RAF. On graduation he soon developed an interest in the then comparatively new specialty of paediatric surgery and naturally gravitated to Great Ormond Street Hospital to train under Sir Denis Browne. He then won a Harkness scholarship and spent time at the Boston Floating Hospital with Orvar Swenson and others to fine tune his skills. On his arrival in Newcastle John worked at the Fleming Memorial Hospital for Sick Children, the Royal Victoria Infirmary and the Babies Hospital where, with the anaesthetist John Inkster and a dedicated nursing team, he made considerable advances in the management of the surgical neonate. He was an active member of the British Association of Paediatric Surgeons (BAPS), serving as the honorary secretary and treasurer, and becoming president from 1982 to 1984. He travelled widely during these years and established important international connections and friendship, particularly in the USA. In 1984 he was made an honorary fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics, and in 1990 was awarded the highest honour of BAPS, the Sir Denis Browne Gold Medal. While inevitably starting his consultant career as a general paediatric surgeon, when further colleagues were gradually appointed John increasingly developed his interest and expertise in the developing sub-specialty of paediatric urology. Through his research and writing he made many important contributions to the field, and had a particular interest in the pathologies associated with the ureterovesical junction. He retired, with great reluctance it has to be said, in 1991. Having previously been instrumental in setting up both the Northern Region Maternity Survey and the Congenital Abnormality Register, he spent much of his 'retirement' in these offices and continuing to publish. Thus his first publication - a case study of surgical constipation - appeared in 1955 and his last, 50 years later, in 2005! Work was certainly John's driving force, but he played squash to a fairly advanced age, was a strong supporter of classical music in the North East, and for many years shared his daughter Georgina's passion for horses. He was a forceful character with strong opinions, which he was never afraid to express, but there are many in the north of England who have every reason to be grateful for his single-minded devotion to his patients. He was survived by his wife Audrey née Avison, whom he married in 1951, son Jason and daughter Georgina. John Scott died on 5 September 2012, at the age of 86.
Resource Identifier RCS: E003040
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Juby, Herbert Bernard (1925 - 2004)

2025-08-14T10:52:08Z

by Neil Weir
Publication Date 2009-10-21
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000700-E000799
URL for Files https://scp.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372902372902
Occupation ENT surgeon
Details Bernard Juby was a consultant ENT surgeon at the Ipswich Hospital. He was born in Stowmarket, Suffolk, on 9 April 1925, the only son of L H Juby, a draper, and Ethel née Quinton. He was educated at Culford School. His early wish was to be a farmer, but was encouraged by his mother to read medicine. He attended St Bartholomew's Medical School from 1942 to 1947. As a house surgeon to F C W Capps he had an early experience of ENT surgery. After a surgical officer post at the Luton and Dunstable Hospital, where he gained from the influence of Donald Barlow, Juby became an ENT registrar at the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital and was later a senior registrar at the Royal National Throat, Nose and Ear Hospital. His training was interrupted by National Service in the RAMC in Berlin. There he rapidly learnt to cope with all surgical emergencies, including salvaging the one remaining upper limb of a brigadier involved in a road traffic accident. Bernard Juby’s interest in ENT must have been maintained during this period as in 1953 he published a paper entitled ‘The incidence of middle ear disease in serving soldiers’ in the *Journal of the RAMC* (*J R Army Med Corps*, 1953 Apr;99(3):115-7). In early 1958 he was appointed as a consultant ENT surgeon at the Dryburn Hospital and the following year to the Durham and Shotley Bridge General Hospital. He longed, though, to return to his native Suffolk and, in 1962, was appointed to the West Suffolk General Hospital in Bury St Edmunds. Three years later, on the retirement of Kenneth Mackenzie, he moved over to Ipswich Hospital, where he continued his ENT practice until his retirement in 1987. Juby’s was a general ENT practice, but he will be remembered for his review paper published in 1969 in the *Journal of Laryngology and Otology* entitled ‘The treatment of pharyngeal pouch’ (*J Laryngol Otol* 1969 Nov;83(11):1067-71)and for his chapters on the same subject in Rob & Smith's *Operative surgery* (London, Butterworth’s, 1986). Bernard Juby represented East Anglia on the council of the British Association of Otolaryngologists and served on council of the section of otology of the Royal Society of Medicine. He was medical officer to Ipswich Town football club. Outside medicine, he built a dry stone wall whilst in Yorkshire. He was a keen golfer and a long-standing member of the Ipswich Philatelic Society. A charming man with a dapper demeanour, Bernard Juby married Elizabeth Birdwood (a Bart’s nurse) in 1949. They had two sons (one a solicitor) and two daughters (one a nurse who died of cancer of the spine at the age of 46 and the other an occupational therapist). Bernard Juby died peacefully in St Elizabeth Hospice, Ipswich, of hepatocellular carcinoma on 22 May 2004.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000719
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset