Claremont, Hetty Ethelberta (1892 - 1924)
by
 
Royal College of Surgeons of England

Asset Name
E001178 - Claremont, Hetty Ethelberta (1892 - 1924)

Title
Claremont, Hetty Ethelberta (1892 - 1924)

Author
Royal College of Surgeons of England

Identifier
RCS: E001178

Publisher
London : Royal College of Surgeons of England

Publication Date
2011-05-26

Subject
Medical Obituaries

Description
Obituary for Claremont, Hetty Ethelberta (1892 - 1924), Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England.

Language
English

Source
Plarr's Lives of the Fellows

Full Name
Claremont, Hetty Ethelberta

Date of Birth
1892

Date of Death
27 March 1924

Occupation
General surgeon

Titles/Qualifications
MRCS November 9th 1916
 
FRCS December 9th 1920
 
MB BS Lond 1917
 
MS 1922
 
LRCP Lond 1916

Details
The daughter of A W Claremont, JP. Her grandfather and many of her relations were members of the medical profession. She was educated at King Alfred School, Hampstead, and received her professional training at the London School of Medicine for Women, the Royal Free Hospital, and St George's Hospital. On becoming a medical student at the former institution "her extremely youthful appearance" evoked comment, but her independence of thought, concentration, and great perseverance soon gained the respect of all who could appreciate a character set on achievement and inspired by the tradition of her family. She worked so well that she became FRCS at the age of 27. At St George's Hospital she won the John Hunter Gold Medal, and held a number of appointments, viz, those of Surgical Registrar, Resident Anaesthetist, House Surgeon, House Physician, Assistant Curator of the Museum, Casualty Officer, and Clinical Assistant in the Venereal Diseases Department. She had come to St George's during the war period, when the staff was much depleted. Sir Humphry Rolleston, writing of her work at the Hospital Museum, says that he came to respect "her high ideals and practical efficiency", and both he and Mrs Scharlieb bore witness to the keenness of her intellect and her personal charm. From St George's she went in 1920 to Zurich, where she spent a year as voluntary Resident Assistant Surgeon at the University Clinic, and she also visited the clinics at Vienna, Budapest, Frankfurt, and Madrid. On her return to England she became Surgical Registrar to the London Temperance Hospital, Surgeon to the Bermondsey Medical Mission Hospital, and Clinical Assistant to the Out-patient Department of the South London Hospital for Women, as well as, temporarily, to the Female Lock Hospital. As a surgeon Miss Claremont showed outstanding abilities and perseverance. Her skill as a diagnostician was great, but even more remarkable was her discernment of human nature. She was deeply concerned with the welfare of her patients, in whom she took a lasting interest. At the time of her sudden illness she was developing some original research work which will now be lost to medicine. Miss Claremont had more than average linguistic ability. She was athletic, possessing an exceptional physique and some experience of mountain-climbing. She could walk twenty miles a day. Her hobbies included carpentry, gardening, and music. At the time of her death she was in private practice as a consulting surgeon at 31 Devonshire Place, W. She died of typhoid fever on March 27th, 1924, the first to die among the women Fellows. Publications: "Shortening of Post-operative Convalescence." - *Lancet*, 1922, i, 427. "Inverted Pylorus obstructing Gastro-jejunostomy Aperture" (with J McClure). - *Ibid*., 1923, i, 750. "Case of Mycosis Fungoides." - *Proc. Roy. Soc. Med.*, 1913.

Sources
*Lancet*, 1924, i, 727, with portrait. She was a Fellow by Examination under the Medical Act, 1876

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

URL for File
373361

Media Type
Unknown