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Resource Name:
Resource Type:
External Resource
Metadata
Asset Name:
E001562 - Naylor, Henry Gordon (1937 - 2010)
Title:
Naylor, Henry Gordon (1937 - 2010)
Author:
N Alan Green
Identifier:
RCS: E001562
Publisher:
London : Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date:
2011-11-10

2012-03-21
Description:
Obituary for Naylor, Henry Gordon (1937 - 2010), Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England.
Language:
English
Source:
Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Full Name:
Naylor, Henry Gordon
Date of Birth:
3 February 1937
Place of Birth:
Batley, Yorkshire, UK
Date of Death:
15 January 2010
Occupation:
Titles/Qualifications:
MRCS 1960

FRCS 1967

MB BS London 1960

LRCP 1960
Details:
Henry Naylor, always known as 'Harry', was a consultant general surgeon to the Basildon and Thurrock NHS Trust and trained at the Royal Free Hospital in London. He was for a time medical director at Basildon Hospital. He had a fine reputation as a surgeon, and as a teacher he was very popular with London Hospital graduates. His family roots were in the countryside near Burnley in Lancashire. His father, Tom Naylor, was a 'weights and measures' inspector and his mother, Grace née Leaver, worked in the mills after leaving school early, as did her three brothers. The couple married in 1935. After qualifying, Tom was promoted, and he and Grace moved to Batley in Yorkshire, where Harry was born on 3 February 1937. Tom Naylor served in the Army during the Second World War, and sadly died of starvation and dysentery in a Japanese prisoner of war camp in south-east Asia. Grace and young Harry moved back to Burnley to live with her brother, Bruce Leaver, and her sister-in-law Annie. She did not know her husband's fate for several years after the war. The Leavers had one son Kenneth, several years younger than Harry, and the two boys were more like brothers than cousins, and developed a lifelong relationship. Harry went to a local primary school and passed the 11-plus scholarship to Burnley Grammar School. Hating school dinners, he went home each day for lunch. Out of school, he was taught to smoke by his uncles on the Leaver side of the family, a habit that lasted for many years. Harry joined the local scout group; the scoutmaster was the Reverend Harry Hardman, a late entrant to the Church of England. He married young Harry's mother in 1951. Stepfather Harry served in several rural parishes and exerted a great influence on his 14-year-old stepson, encouraging in him a deep love and appreciation of the countryside. In 1954 Harry went to the Royal Free Hospital in Gray's Inn Road to study medicine. Even in his student days he was a charismatic character and enjoyed life to the full. Having failed the second MB at the first attempt, he mixed with students in the next intake. As a result, he met Ann Worsfold in 1960 and married her the following year. They had no children. House appointments followed qualification. He enjoyed his time as an orthopaedic house surgeon working with Charles Gray, but was less enamoured with the statutory medical post at the North Middlesex Hospital. Examinations did not come easily to him, and at one stage he seriously considered entering general practice and joining his good friend, Michael Hudson, who had taken this pathway. They met each year on a Thursday of a Lord's test match, and continued this tradition as a token of their friendship over the years. Deciding on surgery as a career, he first did a casualty post at the Royal Free Hospital, before going to the Luton and Dunstable Hospital. Here he fell under the spell of Donald Barlow and was greatly influenced by him. Harry followed Barlow to Southend, one of the many hospital appointments of this talented surgeon in the days when travel by car was much easier. His chief also built up a reputation as a chest surgeon and Harry worked with him at the London Chest Hospital. He also worked under (Sir) Reginald 'Reggie' Murley at the Royal Northern Hospital, 'a member of that dwindling band of men known as "characters": a quality composed of a judicious mixture of intelligence, ability and individuality'. He valued his time as a surgical registrar to George Qvist at the Royal Free Hospital, and admired this superb clinical teacher of undergraduates and postgraduates in the generality of surgery, even if he was a little 'tempestuous and impatient' of character. Qvist expected his assistants to be readily available, capable and tolerant of his demands on them. It was a time when registrars accepted their post was not just a job, but a way of life. Therefore, at the Royal Free there existed a friendly spirit between all those in surgical training, fostered by Harry Naylor in particular. Registrars were encouraged to write many clinical papers, but not engage in the type of research leading to a MS thesis, as Qvist regarded this as a mark of a future academic 'professor of surgery'. Harry was in his element when hospitals celebrated Christmas, at a time when patients were admitted for several days: as a result the wards had a 'family atmosphere'. Many old patients were invited back if they were living alone and, as was the case at the Royal Free Hospital, many 'down and outs' were invited to share the patients' Christmas meals and enjoy the festivities. Staff and families dined off the remnants of the turkeys, carved to perfection by the surgeons on the unit for the 'patients'. All this helped the great spirit of friendship existing in those days. The remnants of the meals were washed down with a plentiful supply of alcohol, now forbidden by most NHS trusts on 'health grounds'. He joined John Hopewell as a senior registrar. Hopewell was a general surgeon and the first urologist to the Royal Free, and the first surgeon in the UK to carry out a renal transplant. Harry Naylor was taught modern urology and, more importantly, how to behave as a consultant in an ethical manner. His chief described Harry as 'enthusiastic and very cheerful' as a colleague. Even at these early stages of his surgical career, he was a great charmer of ladies and could defuse any explosive situation, particularly when the ward sister was laying down the law. As a time-expired senior registrar, he went to Orsett to join Eric Colburn, a general practitioner, but an unexpected vacancy of locum consultant came up, which he occupied until he gained his definitive appointment. Harry Naylor was a member of the Peripheral Vascular Club, initially intended for surgeons working in peripheral hospitals, and also freeman of the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries. He had many hobbies, including fishing, which was almost an obsession, shooting, gardening, and good food and wine in the company of friends. He enjoyed watching cricket, particularly test matches, and was a follower of Burnley Athletic Football Club. Another abiding passion was jazz music, on which he was very knowledgeable and certainly enthusiastic. After 30 years of marriage to Ann, they separated and divorced in 1994. He then married Sue née Jennings, and this brought further happiness and support to Harry. His later years were blighted by debilitating ill-health. But he did not allow this to dampen his spirits and he maintained an active life with immense support from Sue. In the end he was wheelchair-bound and in need of permanent oxygen. He died on 15 January 2010. At his funeral service a jazz band played and later a memorial service was held in Basildon on 15 April. He was survived by his second wife Sue and by Ann Naylor.
Sources:
Information from Ann Naylor, Sir Bernard Ribeiro, John Hopewell, Adam Lewis, R M Kirk and John Harris
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/E001500-E001599
Media Type:
Unknown