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Resource Name:
Resource Type:
External Resource
Metadata
Asset Name:
E003608 - Smith, Thomas Heckstall (1806 - 1881)
Title:
Smith, Thomas Heckstall (1806 - 1881)
Author:
Royal College of Surgeons of England
Identifier:
RCS: E003608
Publisher:
London : Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date:
2013-02-21
Description:
Obituary for Smith, Thomas Heckstall (1806 - 1881), Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England.
Language:
English
Source:
Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Full Name:
Smith, Thomas Heckstall
Date of Birth:
4 October 1806
Place of Birth:
Nottingham
Date of Death:
3 May 1881
Occupation:
Titles/Qualifications:
MRCS March 31st 1843

FRCS November 10th 1859

LSA 1828
Details:
Born in Nottingham on October 4th, 1806, of a good family, but was without means. He went to Lincoln Grammar School, and, through the kindness of a relative, was apprenticed to White, of Nottingham. He then studied at St Thomas's Hospital, whilst supporting himself almost entirely by writing for the *London Medical Gazette*. Nevertheless he won prizes and was Dresser to Joseph Henry Green (qv), from whose scholarly and philosophic mind he learnt much. A favourite leader among the students, he was earnest, energetic, and wasted no time in idle pursuits. He was Physician's Assistant (House Physician) at Westminster Hospital, next Assistant to Septimus Wray, of Salisbury Court, Fleet Street. In 1829, on the recommendation of the St Thomas's Hospital staff, he was introduced at St Mary Cray, Kent, where he built up a large and remunerative practice and gained the esteem of friends and patients by the freshness and originality of his remarks. He was a zealous member of the British Medical Association from early days; in 1862 and 1863 he was President of the South-Eastern Branch; in 1870-1871, of the Metropolitan Counties Branch, and was for many years a Member of Council of the Association. His chivalrous defence of the honour of the profession on the occasion of the action of Bonney v Smith in 1869 was recognized by a testimonial presented to him by the South-Eastern Branch. With Propert and others he took an active part in establishing the Royal Medical Benevolent College at Epsom. In his own district he held the usual appointments and for years was Surgeon in the West Kent Yeomanry. He was an ardent Churchman, and was successful in founding an Ecclesiastical and Vicarage District at Crocker Hill, and, with others, the endowment of a local Church. In politics he described himself as an 'old Pitt Tory'. He retired in 1873, and in June, 1876, experienced an attack of apoplexy from which he rallied, and died from bronchitis, after a few days' illness, on May 3rd, 1881. There is no portrait of him in the College Collection, but his Obituary Notice refers to the fine head and handsome, genial face of this grand old man.
Sources:
*Brit Med Jour*, 1881, i, 831
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/E003000-E003999/E003600-E003699
Media Type:
Unknown