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Resource Name:
Resource Type:
External Resource
Metadata
Asset Name:
E001176 - Clapton, Edward (1830 - 1909)
Title:
Clapton, Edward (1830 - 1909)
Author:
Royal College of Surgeons of England
Identifier:
RCS: E001176
Publisher:
London : Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date:
2011-05-26
Description:
Obituary for Clapton, Edward (1830 - 1909), Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England.
Language:
English
Source:
Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Full Name:
Clapton, Edward
Date of Birth:
28 April 1830
Place of Birth:
Stamford, Lincolnshire, UK
Date of Death:
28 September 1909
Place of Death:
Blackheath, UK
Occupation:
Titles/Qualifications:
MRCS April 4th 1853

FRCS May 23rd 1857 (one of the few Fellows by examination to turn their attention to Medicine and be elected FRCP)

MD Lond 1857

FRCP Lond 1870
Details:
Born at Stamford on April 28th, 1830, the second son of Jeremiah Clapton, at one time Mayor and Alderman of Stamford, and Steward of one of the Manors of which the Marquis of Exeter was lord. Jeremiah Clapton was Conservative agent for the borough for some forty years. Edward Clapton accordingly inherited a strong Conservative tradition. Through both parents also he was heir to a devout evangelicalism. One of a large family, he had from the first to make his way in the world. He was educated at Stamford Grammar School, where among his schoolfellows were the future Bishops Ellicott and Atlay. Apprenticed at the age of 16 to William Burdett, a local practitioner, he showed great promise, being thorough and possessed of a good memory. He entered St Thomas's Hospital, then situated at London Bridge, in 1850. Here he carried off a number of scholarships and prizes, and in 1861 was appointed an Assistant Physician. He had become Lecturer in Botany in 1860, and was Lecturer in Materia Medica and Therapeutics in 1861, when he designed a map showing the distribution of medicinal plants mentioned in the *British Pharmacopoeia* of 1867. He acquired a successful consulting practice at No 10A St Thomas's Street, while residing at Towercroft, Eltham Road, Lee. He was often called in consultation in the City and South of London, and proved a valuable physician to the South-Eastern and to the London, Brighton and South Coast Railways. His business-like habits enabled him not only to carry on his professional work, but also to devote much time to his many scholarly interests. Poor health, which had lasted from boyhood, compelled him early (1875) to resign his positions as Physician (elected 1871) to St Thomas's Hospital and Lecturer on Materia Medica, but he continued for some time to practise and to hold the posts of Physician to the Magdalen Hospital and to the London Assurance Company, as well as being Hon Consulting Physician to the Miller Memorial Hospital, Blackheath, St John's Hospital, Blackheath Cottage Hospital, and the Royal Kent Dispensary. A saintly and deeply religious man, Clapton was a firm supporter of various evangelical movements and an ingenious biblical scholar. His work, the *Precious Stones of the Bible*, employed most of his leisure for many years. In order to secure material for this study, he obtained specimens of precious stones of all kinds from Bible lands, many of these being obtained for him after the most laborious search by grateful patients. He then made a minute investigation of the passages in the Scriptures containing symbolical references to these precious stones, connecting the stones in the breast-plate of the High Priest with the description of the foundations of the New Jerusalem. As an instance of the remarkable character of these researches may be quoted his comments concerning the ruby, which is distinguished by its blood-red colour; but the similarity of the ruby to blood is more close than mere resemblance, for the colour in each case may be attributed to the presence of oxide of iron. Again, the word for ruby in Hebrew is Odem, and means 'blood-red', and is composed of the same Hebrew letters as Adam, which means 'taken out of red earth', which, the author says, is "an exact description of the ruby, which consists of pure alumina". Clapton made various, purely theological deductions from this, but was also always on the lookout for other lessons connected with the chemistry of the human body, more particularly the existence of certain derivatives of alumina in man. He was thus led to formulate theories as to the origin of cancer, which he submitted to the Cancer Research Committee. He caused a casket to be constructed of the different woods mentioned in the Bible, and in this he deposited his gems, and exhibited the collection in 1899 at the Ecclesiastical Art Exhibition of the Church Congress, each day giving demonstrations thereon. He, however, preferred to speak on his curious collections only to friends in his own home, where his museum proved him to be a Biblical critic from the scientific point of view. He was brought by his studies into close contact with the leaders of the Palestine Exploration Fund, the Victoria Institute, and the London Society for Promoting Christianity among the Jews, of which he was Hon Physician. He was one of the earliest members of the Medical Prayer Union, and was connected with many other institutions, such as Marshall's Trustees, of which he was Chairman. Himself very tolerant, he enjoyed the friendship of many distinguished men, both in and out of the Church. He was a member of the Athenaeum. "He journeyed to Cos to identify the plane tree under which the Father of Medicine sat to expound his wisdom," and presented to the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons two of the boughs and a bundle of twigs of the sacred tree. In his holidays he visited all the spas of Europe in succession in order to test their merits or the reverse, and was a high authority on the subject. His museum was designed to illustrate the early history of Judaism, Christianity, and Medicine. Clapton died at his residence, 41 Eltham Road, Lee, Blackheath, on Tuesday, September 28th, 1909, and was buried in the family vault at Stamford. His wife, eldest daughter of John S M Churchill, the medical publisher, had predeceased him. His son, the Rev Louis C Clapton, was (1909) Rector of Lee, and his elder daughter married a son of an old friend and colleague, Le Gros Clark, FRCS (qv). There is a photograph of Clapton in the Fellows' Album. . Publications: *The Precious Stones of the Bible*, 2nd ed., 1899. *The Life of St Luke*, 1902, in which he states that St Paul's 'thorn in the flesh' was probably recurrent malaria, Beelzebub being the 'Lord of Flies' and the thorn being Beelzebub's messenger. *The Life of St George*, 1902. "Map of Geographical Distribution of Medicinal Substance contained in the British Pharmacopoeia of 1867." "On the Effects of Copper upon the System." - *Clin. Soc. Trans.*, 1870, iii, 7. Various papers in medical journals, *Pathol. Trans.*, and *St Thomas's Hosp. Rep*.
Sources:
*Brit. Med. Jour.*, 1909, ii, 530

*Lancet*, 1909, ii, 1184
Rights:
Copyright (c) The Royal College of Surgeons of England
Collection:
Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format:
Obituary
Format:
Asset
Asset Path:
Root/Lives of the Fellows/E001000-E001999/E001100-E001199
Media Type:
Unknown