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Resource Name:
Resource Type:
External Resource
Metadata
Asset Name:
E003905 - Bristow, Walter Rowley (1882 - 1947)
Title:
Bristow, Walter Rowley (1882 - 1947)
Author:
Royal College of Surgeons of England
Identifier:
RCS: E003905
Publisher:
London : Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date:
2013-04-22
Description:
Obituary for Bristow, Walter Rowley (1882 - 1947), Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England.
Language:
English
Source:
Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Full Name:
Bristow, Walter Rowley
Date of Birth:
12 December 1882
Date of Death:
10 November 1947
Place of Death:
London
Occupation:
Titles/Qualifications:
MRCS 7 February 1907

FRCS 9 December 1909

MB BS London 1908

LRCP 1907
Details:
Born 12 December 1882, son of Henry Joseph Bristow of Bexley, Kent, underwriter, and Fanny Clara Sheppard, his wife. He was educated at Brighton Grammar School, and at St Thomas's Hospital, where he served as demonstrator of anatomy, and house surgeon to Sir George Makins. He was early interested in electro-therapy and was appointed surgeon in charge of the hospital's electric treatment department; later he became chairman of the War Office committee on electro-therapy. On the outbreak of war in 1914 he became regimental medical officer to the Middlesex Yeomanry and saw active service at Gallipoli, being twice mentioned in despatches. From 1916 he was surgeon to the military orthopaedic hospital at Shepherd's Bush, with the rank of major, RAMC, and continued to hold the post, when the hospital passed under the charge of the Ministry of Pensions, from 1919 to 1923. He was also assistant inspector of military orthopaedics 1916-18, working under Sir Robert Jones, from whose work he received lasting inspiration. Jones was appointed in 1919 director of the newly formed orthopaedic department at St Thomas's with Bristow as his deputy; but the organisation and direction of the department were really in Bristow's hands, and he carried out Jones's ideals and his own with brilliant ability. He was at the same time surgical director of St Nicholas and St Martin Orthopaedic Hospital, Pyrford, and contrived that it should be in effect a country annexe to his department at St Thomas's, with great advantage to both institutions. This hospital was founded by the Church of England Children's Society, formerly the Committee for Waifs and Strays, who renamed it the Rowley Bristow Orthopaedic Hospital after his death (*Brit Med J*. 1948, 1, 82). During the war of 1939-45 he served as consultant in orthopaedics to the Army with the rank of brigadier (1941-45). He spared no energy to make the orthopaedic service of the Army as good as possible. He flew frequently to the Mediterranean and Middle East seats of war and also flew the Atlantic on official duty. Some of his best work was done in this capacity. He was awarded the French decorations of Croix de Chevalier of the Legion of Honour, and Croix de Guerre with palm, with a *citation à l'ordre de l'Armée* in 1946. He was consulting orthopaedic surgeon to King Edward VII convalescent home for officers at Osborne. Bristow retired from the active staff at St Thomas's in 1947 and was elected consulting orthopaedic surgeon. He served as a Hunterian professor at the College in 1935, lecturing on internal derangement of the knee joint, and gave the Robert Jones lecture on 12 December 1946, his sixty-fourth birthday. He was vice-president of the section of orthopaedics at the British Medical Association in 1931 and 1932, president of the orthopaedic section of the Royal Society of Medicine, and president of the British Orthopaedic Association in 1937. He was an honorary member of the American, French, and Belgian orthopaedic societies. Bristow married in 1910 Florence, only daughter of James White, LLD, who survived him with a son and two daughters. He died in a London nursing-home on 10 November 1947, aged 64, and was cremated. A memorial service was conducted by the Bishop of Rochester in St Thomas's Hospital chapel on 21 November. He had practised at 149 Harley Street, after his beautiful Adam house, 102 Harley Street, was destroyed in an air raid. Bristow was a man of abounding vitality; as a student he had excelled at association football, lawn-tennis and water polo; in later life he found his recreation in shooting, fishing, and golf, and was a keen player of bridge. He was a good teacher with much humour and humanity, and a hospitable man with many friends and a love of good living. He did much to lead the developing specialty of orthopaedics along the best lines. Publications:- *The treatment of joint and muscle injuries*. London, 1917. Diagnosis of injuries of the peripheral nerves, with T. G. Stewart, in Sir Robert Jones's *Orthopaedic surgery of injuries*, Oxford, 1921,2,51-136; also, Postoperative treatment of peripheral nerve injuries, pp 227-239; Electrical department, pp 489-501. *The treatment of fractures in general practice*, with C Max Page. London, 1923; 2nd ed 1925; 3rd ed 1929. The results of operations on peripheral nerves. *Brit J Surg*. 1923-4, 11, 535-567. Internal derangement of the knee-joint (Hunterian lecture RCS 1935). *J Bone and Joint Surgery* 1936, 17, 605-626. The treatment of fractures, some principles re-affirmed (Hugh Owen Thomas memorial lecture 1937). *Liverpool med chir J*. 1937, 45, 96. Orthopaedic surgery, retrospect and forecast (presidential address, British Orthopaedic Association 1937). *Lancet*, 1937, 2, 1061-1064. Injuries of peripheral nerves in two world wars (Robert Jones lecture RCS 12 December 1946). *Brit J Surg*. 1947, 34, 333.
Sources:
*The Times*, 11 November 1947, p 7e and 11 May 1948, will

*Brit med J*. 1947, 2, 845, with appreciations by G Perkins, FRCS and G R Girdlestone, FRCS, and p 936, memorial service, and p 979, appreciation by Major-General D C Munro

*Lancet*, 1947, 2, 776, with portrait and appreciations by Sir C Max Page, KBE, FRCS, Harry Platt, FRCS and G R Girdlestone, and p 849, appeal for endowment of memorial lecture for British Orthopaedic Association

*St Thos Hosp Gaz*. 1947, 45, appreciation on his retirement, with portrait in uniform

*J Bone Jt Surg*. 1948, 46B, 200-202, with portrait
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/E003900-E003999
Media Type:
Unknown