Bunch, Frank Vigers (1869 - 1894)
by
 
Royal College of Surgeons of England

Asset Name
E001073 - Bunch, Frank Vigers (1869 - 1894)

Title
Bunch, Frank Vigers (1869 - 1894)

Author
Royal College of Surgeons of England

Identifier
RCS: E001073

Publisher
London : Royal College of Surgeons of England

Publication Date
2010-11-11

Subject
Medical Obituaries

Description
Obituary for Bunch, Frank Vigers (1869 - 1894), Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England.

Language
English

Source
Plarr's Lives of the Fellows

Full Name
Bunch, Frank Vigers

Date of Birth
15 July 1869

Date of Death
5 October 1894

Occupation
General surgeon

Titles/Qualifications
MRCS July 19th 1892
 
FRCS July 30th 1894
 
LRCP 1892

Details
Born on July 15th, 1869, the third son of John James Bunch, a medical practitioner in Wolverhampton. He was educated at the Royal Naval College, Gosport, and then at Charterhouse from 1882-1886, where he showed no special bent in his studies. He entered University College as a student in May, 1887, and soon became interested in scientific matters; in fact, he showed such ability and promise that after two years of anatomy and physiology he was appointed Assistant Demonstrator of Anatomy in the winter of 1889-1890. Beginning to work in the wards, he soon showed an exceptional character. He out-distanced all competitors and won numerous medals, including the Bruce Gold Medal. He was awarded the Filliter Exhibition of £30 in Pathology and the Atchison Scholarship of £60 for two years in Surgery and Medicine. After qualifying in 1892 he held the posts of House Surgeon, Ophthalmic Assistant, and Obstetric Assistant, and was appointed Surgical Registrar early in 1894. He passed the first part of the Fellowship Examination at the end of the winter of 1890 when only 21 years of age, and the final part in November, 1898, but was too young to receive the diploma. When he died at 25 he had just been admitted FRCS, and is notable as one of the youngest of the Fellows whose deaths are recorded up to October, 1894. Bunch had a thorough grasp of the science of his work, and his skill in diagnosis was phenomenal. He seemed to arrive at an appreciation of the nature of the case before him so rapidly and truly that it appeared to onlookers almost like an intuition rather than a reasonable weighing of the pros and cons. He was conscientious and devoted to his work, and his friends predicted for him a brilliant surgical career. Among his fellow-students he was known as a very well-read man, with a cultivated love for pictures, and as a facile, incisive, often rather sarcastic, speaker. He was Vice-President of the Hospital Medical Society at the time of his death. He died on Friday, October 5th, 1894, from diphtheria caught from a child in the ward, and was buried at Finchley Cemetery. His elder brother, John Lamare Bunch, born June 23rd, 1868, entered Charterhouse School on the same day as F Vigers Bunch and left in 1885; the two brothers were together in 'Weeksites'. He too was educated at University College Hospital and gained the Bruce Medal and the Filliter Exhibition, gaining a Gold Medal at the London University.

Sources
*The Charterhouse Register*, Tercentenary Edition, 1, 256

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/E001000-E001099

URL for File
373256

Media Type
Unknown