Born at Liskeard, of parents of considerable standing and repute in the County of Cornwall. He received a classical education at the Liskeard Grammar School, and was then apprenticed to Philip Vincent, of Cranborne, where he had every opportunity to study mining accidents. He attended the lectures of the Graingers, Pereira, and others at the Aldersgate School of Medicine, as well as the practice of the Westminster Hospital. He was appointed House Surgeon of the Margate Sea-bathing Infirmary, where he remained eight years, and then settled in practice in London. He attracted the attention of Walter J Coulson (qv), and on many occasions assisted him in his more important operations. He soon became well known as a lithotomist. Appointed Surgeon to the Metropolitan Free Hospital, he was one of the earliest English surgeons to employ subcutaneous tenotomy for deformities of the foot, even suggesting the advisability of dividing the muscles for spinal curvature. Childs was connected with the Metropolitan Free Hospital for many years, but is perhaps best remembered as Surgeon-in-Chief to the City of London Police, and to the Great Northern Railway. He took, indeed, a large share in organizing the medical departments of these institutions, displaying on a wider field the characteristic forethought and ingenuity of his work as an operator. The sanitary and physical well-being of the City policeman was one of his prime interests. He devoted much thought and care to the process of selection of members of the force, to their housing and their dress. The last-mentioned is, in fact, his creation, for he introduced the helmet as we now know it, the gaiters, and so forth. He also established the City Police Hospital, which at first met with much opposition. Besides being an organizer, Childs was a leader, and would have made an excellent military officer, being, as it was, much devoted to his military duties. He took a keen interest in theatrical matters, was one of the founders of the Royal Dramatic College, and wrote some good plays for the students. At the time of his death he was Consulting Surgeon to the Great Northern Railway and to the Royal Dramatic College, and had been forty-one years Surgeon-in-Chief to the City Police Force, and for over thirty years Surgeon to the City of London Militia (4th Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers). He had also been examining Medical Officer to the Cape Mounted Rifles and President of the Militia Surgeons' Society. Several years before he died a fall from his horse rendered him somewhat deaf, and, on accepting a pension, he retired into private life in 1886. His London residence was 1 Aldridge Road Villas, Cornwall Road, Westbourne Park, W, and his country address Lawn Cottage, Barnet. He died on November 8th, 1888, and was buried at Kensal Green Cemetery. He left a widow, a son in the Colonial Service, and two daughters. Publications: *On the Improvement and Preservation of the Female Figure; with a New Mode of Treatment of Lateral Curvature of the Spine*, 8vo, London, 1840. *A Practical Treatise on the New Operation for Lateral Curvature of the Spine*, 8vo, plates, London, 1841. "Ovariotomy with reference to its Introduction into Legitimate Surgery." (He had operated successfully on a case in 1858.) *Gonorrhoea and its Consequences, with a short Historical Sketch of the Venereal Disease*, 12mo, London, 1843. *Copy of the Examination and Returns of G. Borlase Childs, Esq., F.R.C.S., by Examination, on the Sanitary Condition of the City Police Force (evidence before Commission on Regulations affecting Sanitary Condition of the Army)*, 8vo, London, 1858. *Copy of the General Report of G. Borlase Childs...on the Dress of the City Police Force*, 8vo, London, 1801. *Copy of a Report on the Probable Duration of Life of the Men in the City Police Force, with General Observations on the Medical History of the Force*, 8vo, London, 1863. In 1858 he edited for the Medical Circular Joberts' "Plastic Surgery", translated from the *Gazetta Medica*, with remarks, *Lancet*, 1849-50. "New Operation for Lateral Curvature of Spine." - *Lond. Med. Gaz.*, 1840-1, n.s. i, 370, 505, 816. "Constriction of the Hamstring Tendons." - *Ibid.*, 1841-2, n.s. i, 420. "Spinal Curvature." - *Ibid.*, 621.