Dean, Henry Percy (1864 - 1931)
by
 
Royal College of Surgeons of England

Asset Name
E003951 - Dean, Henry Percy (1864 - 1931)

Title
Dean, Henry Percy (1864 - 1931)

Author
Royal College of Surgeons of England

Identifier
RCS: E003951

Publisher
London : Royal College of Surgeons of England

Publication Date
2013-05-01

Subject
Medical Obituaries

Description
Obituary for Dean, Henry Percy (1864 - 1931), Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England.

Language
English

Source
Plarr's Lives of the Fellows

Full Name
Dean, Henry Percy

Date of Birth
19 September 1864

Date of Death
14 April 1931

Place of Death
London

Occupation
General surgeon

Titles/Qualifications
MRCS 9 June 1887
 
FRCS 17 October 1889
 
BSc London 1884
 
MB BS 1888
 
MS 1889

Details
Born 19 September 1864, the son of Henry Dean of 4 Rosary Gardens, London, SW. He was educated at University College, and had an undergraduate career of extreme brilliancy, winning medals in physiology and surgery, and being exhibitioner and gold medallist in anatomy. In 1889 he joined the staff of the Great (now Royal) Northern Hospital in Holloway Road, but appears to have resigned after a few months' service. In the same year he was elected surgeon to the Queen's Hospital for Children in Hackney Road and held office until 1899, when he resigned and was made consulting surgeon. In 1890 he was elected a Fellow of University College, and on 2 March 1892 he became assistant surgeon to the London Hospital after serving as surgical registrar, becoming surgeon on 1 December 1909 and consulting surgeon on 5 March 1913. Sir Frederick Treves was at the height of his reputation, when Dean was elected to the staff of the London Hospital, and swayed the affairs of the medical school at every crisis. Presently the influence of Dean's personality, one of exceptional power, became felt. He quickly and quietly took the place which Sir Frederick Treves had occupied in the Hospital and School, and with the appointment of Lord Knutsford as treasurer Dean at once began to re-organize, introducing as teachers Sir Leonard Hill, Sir Peter Chalmers Mitchell, Sir Henry Head, Sir Robert Hutchison, Sir Arthur Keith, and Dr William Bulloch. Then came the tragedy of his life; the death of his beloved wife and his only child from acute tuberculosis in 1912 plunged him into profound melancholia, and thereafter silence. He died on 14 April 1931 at 11 Abinger Road, Bedford Park, London and was buried at Highgate cemetery. He left three-fourths of the residue of his estate to the London Hospital; the other fourth was left to the Queen's Hospital for Children, Hackney Road, E. Sir Arthur Keith says of Dean: "He became the dominant spirit of the medical school at the London Hospital for an altogether too brief period. He could organize; he not only gave everyone the impression that he had great gifts: he possessed them. He had a most efficiently arranged mind; he reached conclusions after due and deliberate consideration; having formed his judgments, he at once proceeded to impose them on public policy, pursuing the objectives he had in view without fear or favour. He was a born teacher; his thoughts were clearly cut, he laid them before his students with a conviction which can be born only of personal experience. In these early days he had established himself as an authority on the surgical treatment and sequelae of middle-ear disease. His contributions to surgery attracted the attention and won the approbation of the medical world. He could operate, and he was a clinician. Students sought his help in their troubles, and practitioners his advice and skill with their patients. He seemed destined to reap the highest rewards his profession could confer on its most distinguished votaries." Publications:- *Cerebral compression* (MS thesis). London, 1889. Editor of Christopher Heath's *Injuries and diseases of the jaws*, 4th edition. London, 1894.

Sources
*Brit med J*. 1931, 1, 730 and 776
 
*Lancet*, 1930, 1, 1003
 
*Lond Hosp Gaz*. 1931, 34, 261, 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

URL for File
376134

Media Type
Unknown