A history of Plarr’s Lives of the Fellows

1912

Sir John Bland-Sutton suggested that the College librarian, Victor Plarr, begin compiling biographical information on fellows, from the establishment of the fellowship in 1843 onwards.

1929

Plarr died on 28 January 1929; his notes on the fellows were subsequently edited and revised by the honorary librarian Sir D’Arcy Power, assisted by Walter George Spencer and George Ernest Gask.

1930

The first two volumes of the Lives were published (as Plarr’s Lives of the Fellows of the Royal College of Surgeons of England), thanks to a legacy from Thelwall Thomas. The volumes included obituaries of the College’s first 300 fellows.

1940

Power continued writing the obituaries throughout the 1930s. On his 85th birthday, 11 November 1940, he presented a transcript copy of the obituaries he had written to the Council of the College. Power died the following year and William Le Fanu, the College Librarian, took on the task of compiling and writing the obituaries.

1953

The third volume of the Lives was published (for 1930 to 1951), thanks to a bequest by George Grey Turner.

1970

The fourth volume was published (for 1952 to 1964), written by R H O B Robinson, chairman of the library committee, and Le Fanu.

1981

The fifth volume was published (for 1965 to 1973), written by Sir James Paterson Ross and Le Fanu. Sir Cecil Wakeley compiled many of the obituaries in the book and was honoured with an appreciation.

1988

The sixth volume was published (for 1974 to 1982), written by Eustace Cornelius, librarian of the College, and Selwyn Taylor, with an introduction by Sir Reginald Murley, chairman of the Lives of the Fellows subcommittee.

1995

The seventh volume was published (for 1983 to 1990), written by Ian Lyle, librarian of the College, and Selwyn Taylor, with an introduction by Murley.

2000

The eighth volume was published (for 1991 to 1996), written by John Blandy and Christina Craig, the deputy College librarian, with an introduction by Sir David Innes Williams, chairman of the Lives of the Fellows subcommittee.

2005

Publication of the final, printed volume of the Lives, the ninth, covering 1997 to 2002, by John Blandy and Christina Craig, assisted by Sarah Gillam and with a preface by Sir David Innes Williams. The volume also included an index for the first eight volumes.

Sir Barry Jackson took over as chair of the Lives committee.

2006

In July the new Livesonline website was launched. We began putting online obituaries from 2003 onwards, plus entries from the printed volumes.

2008

The 500th obituary was put online, for Joseph Lister, pioneer of antiseptic surgery. The 500 obituaries included the past presidents of the College. We then began inputting entries for the first 300 fellows and moved on to all the other historical obituaries.

2011

Chris Russell took over from John Blandy as honorary editor of the Lives.

2016

In January we finished uploading all the obituaries from the nine printed volumes.

Irving Taylor became honorary editor of the Lives.

2018

A new website was launched, linked to the library, museum and archive catalogues.

John Black took over from Sir Barry Jackson as the chair of the Lives committee.

2021

In October 2021 the 10,000th obituary was uploaded, of Irene Irving, a paediatric consultant surgeon in Liverpool.

2022

An oral history pilot project was started.

2023

Project to add the fellows of the Faculty of Dental Surgeons (FDSRCS) to the Lives was started.