Search Results for Medical Obituaries - Narrowed by: Naval surgeon

First Title value, for Searching Edwards, John ( - 1848)

2024-05-03T12:48:17Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2011-11-16
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E001000-E001999/E001500-E001599
URL for Files https://livesonline.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/373780373780
Occupation Naval surgeon
Details Was a Surgeon in the Royal Navy. His death occurred on or before August 15th, 1848.
Resource Identifier RCS: E001597
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
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First Title value, for Searching Naulty, John ( - 1846)

2024-05-03T12:48:17Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2012-08-29 2013-08-21
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E002000-E002999/E002700-E002799
URL for Files https://livesonline.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/374975374975
Occupation Naval surgeon
Details John Naulty was a naval surgeon. He died on or before July 28th, 1846.
Resource Identifier RCS: E002792
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
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First Title value, for Searching Smith, John ( - 1890)

2024-05-03T12:48:17Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2013-02-07
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E003000-E003999/E003500-E003599
URL for Files https://livesonline.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/375737375737
Occupation Naval surgeon
Details Was a Surgeon in the Royal Navy, and latterly resided in Tasmania. He died in or before 1890. His name is not on the Admiralty books.
Resource Identifier RCS: E003554
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
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First Title value, for Searching Jones, Philip ( - 2018)

2024-05-03T12:48:17Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2020-03-19
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E009000-E009999/E009700-E009799
Occupation Naval surgeon Trauma surgeon Orthopaedic surgeon
Details Philip Jones was a surgeon commander in the Royal Navy. This is a draft obituary. If you have any information about this surgeon or are interested in writing this obituary, please email lives@rcseng.ac.uk
Resource Identifier RCS: E009716
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
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First Title value, for Searching Ring, Thomas Edward ( - 1856)

2024-05-03T12:48:17Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2012-11-07
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E003000-E003999/E003100-E003199
URL for Files https://livesonline.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/375284375284
Occupation Naval surgeon
Details Was a Surgeon in the Royal Navy; he died on or before June 5th, 1856.
Resource Identifier RCS: E003101
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
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First Title value, for Searching Evans, William ( - 1860)

2024-05-03T12:48:17Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2011-11-30
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E001000-E001999/E001600-E001699
URL for Files https://livesonline.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/373842373842
Occupation Naval surgeon
Details Became an Assistant Surgeon in the Royal Navy in 1805, and full Surgeon in 1808. He was at one time Surgeon to Lucien Bonaparte and his family. He died at his residence, 14 Prior Park Buildings, Bath, in June, 1860.
Resource Identifier RCS: E001659
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
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First Title value, for Searching Yeo, Gerald ( - 1887)

2024-05-03T12:48:17Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2013-03-06
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E003000-E003999/E003600-E003699
URL for Files https://livesonline.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/375853375853
Occupation Naval surgeon
Details Entered the Royal Navy as Assistant Surgeon on March 2nd, 1842, and retired with the rank of Staff Surgeon, later raised to Fleet Surgeon. He died at Harting, Sussex, on March 27th, 1887.
Resource Identifier RCS: E003670
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
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First Title value, for Searching Findlay, John ( - 1890)

2024-05-03T12:48:17Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2011-12-14
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E001000-E001999/E001700-E001799
URL for Files https://livesonline.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/373920373920
Occupation Naval surgeon
Details A surgeon in the Royal Navy (Findlay's name is not in the Navy List, but 'RN' is added as his designation in the College *Calendar*). He seems to have lived for many years in Victoria, Australia, where he apparently did not practise, as his name is not in the Victorian Medical Register. He died in or before 1890.
Resource Identifier RCS: E001737
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
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First Title value, for Searching Seed, Joseph (1788 - 1868)

2024-05-03T12:48:17Z

First Title value, for Searching Hayes, George ( - 2004)

2024-05-03T12:48:17Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2005-09-28 2012-03-22
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000000-E000099
URL for Files https://livesonline.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372260372260
Occupation Naval surgeon
Details George Hayes qualified from Durham University in 1938, having already joined the RNVR. When the second world war broke out, he joined the Royal Navy, serving overseas throughout the war and afterwards in shore-based hospitals in Ceylon, Mauritius and Malta. His last commission was as President of the Naval Medical Board, London. He took early retirement and he and his wife, Margaret, continued to travel abroad. He died on 10 February 2004, and is survived by his widow, three daughters and two sons.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000073
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
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First Title value, for Searching Paine, Michael Patrick William Halder (1939 - 2021)

2024-05-03T12:48:17Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2022-02-04
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E010000-E010999/E010000-E010099
Occupation General surgeon Naval surgeon Medical director
Details Michael Paine was a surgeon rear admiral in the Royal Navy. This is a draft obituary. If you have any information about this surgeon or are interested in writing this obituary, please email lives@rcseng.ac.uk
Resource Identifier RCS: E010078
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
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First Title value, for Searching Folds, William ( - 1869)

2024-05-03T12:48:17Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2011-12-21
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E001000-E001999/E001700-E001799
URL for Files https://livesonline.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/373973373973
Occupation Naval surgeon
Details Educated at St George's Hospital, where he was entered as a twelve-months' surgical pupil to Sir Everard Home on Sept 29th, 1820. He may have been a relative of Thomas Thynne Folds, RN, an earlier St George's pupil. He became a Surgeon in the Royal Navy, his Warrant being dated Jan 19th, 1830, was Surgeon to HMS *Pique* in 1836, and in 1861 was Staff Surgeon at Devonport Dockyard. He was appointed Surgeon to the Royal Naval Hospital at Stonehouse, and held this post at the time of his death, when he was also Hon Surgeon to Queen Victoria and Deputy Inspector-General of Hospitals and Fleets. He resided at 46 Durnford Street, Stonehouse, Plymouth. He died in 1869.
Resource Identifier RCS: E001790
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Cleave, Hugh Latimer (1910 - 2010)

2024-05-03T12:48:17Z

by RM Kirk
Publication Date 2011-11-09 2014-06-13
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E001000-E001999/E001500-E001599
URL for Files https://livesonline.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/373713373713
Occupation Naval surgeon
Details Hugh Latimer Cleave was a surgeon captain in the Royal Navy. He was born on 11 February 1910 in Exeter, the younger of two sons of Richard Charles Cleave, an engineer captain in the Royal Navy, and Ethel Elizabeth Cleave née Latimer. His older brother, Thomas (Peter), also served in the Royal Navy Medical Service, as a surgeon captain. From 1920 to 1926, Hugh was educated at Clifton College. He qualified in medicine at Bristol University and subsequently trained for the FRCS at Middlesex, Guy's and London hospitals. The teacher who most impressed him was Wilfred Adams, to whom he was a house surgeon at the Bristol Royal Infirmary. A memorable appointment was at Putney Hospital in 1933, when he was the sole resident medical officer. It is believed that he joined the Royal Navy early in his career. Certainly, he served throughout the Second World War. In 1939 he was mentioned in despatches, continuing in the Navy until his retirement in 1967, with the final rank of captain. He was awarded the CBE for his services. Hugh married a Miss P E W Hill in 1933. They had a son and daughter. His later life was spent in Buckland Monachorum, Devon, and he enjoyed most sports, in particular fishing and shooting. He died on 18 November 2010, aged 100.
Resource Identifier RCS: E001530
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Fletcher, John William (1818 - 1860)

2024-05-03T12:48:17Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2011-12-14
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E001000-E001999/E001700-E001799
URL for Files https://livesonline.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/373936373936
Occupation Naval surgeon
Details Born in April, 1818, and was educated at University College and Hospital, London. He was probably an Assistant Surgeon in the Royal Navy from 1841-1844. He joined the Bengal Army as Assistant Surgeon on Jan 1st, 1844, was promoted Surgeon on July 12th, 1857, and retired on July 25th, 1859. He saw active service in the First Sikh or Sutlej War (1845-1846). He was a member of the Oriental Club, Hanover Square, and died at his residence in Upper Gower Street, NW, on December 2nd, 1859 or 1860.
Resource Identifier RCS: E001753
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Seccombe, Thomas (1819 - 1909)

2024-05-03T12:48:17Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2012-12-21
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E003000-E003999/E003200-E003299
URL for Files https://livesonline.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/375472375472
Occupation Naval surgeon
Details Educated at the University of Edinburgh. He entered the Royal Navy as Surgeon on February 6th 1845; was promoted Staff Surgeon on February 25th 1853; Fleet Surgeon on October 10th 1867, and Deputy Inspector-General on retirement on November 14th 1880. He served in the Kafir War of 1851 as Surgeon to the native levies and was present at most of the skirmishes; for these services he received a Medal. In 1852 he had charge of the Field Hospital at the capture of Rangoon and took part in many boat expeditions in the river; he was mentioned in dispatches, promoted, and awarded the Burmese Medal. After his retirement Seccombe resided at Stockton House, Highland Road, Upper Norwood, SE, and died at Torquay on November 19th, 1909, being at the time one of the oldest retired Naval Surgeons.
Resource Identifier RCS: E003289
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
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First Title value, for Searching Morrow, Robert Joseph (1931 - 2016)

2024-05-03T12:48:17Z

by Jackie Morrow
Publication Date 2016-07-29 2017-07-27
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E009000-E009999/E009200-E009299
URL for Files https://livesonline.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/381409381409
Occupation General surgeon Naval surgeon
Details Robert Morrow was a surgeon captain in the Royal Navy. He was born in Galway, studied medicine at University College, Galway, and qualified MB BCh BAO in June 1955. He moved to work in England in accident and emergency surgery, and orthopaedic and general surgery at the German Hospital in Dalston, London. In September 1958 he joined P&O and started on SS *Orontes* as the ship's doctor, and that is where he fell in love with the sea. In April 1959 he arrived in Ryde, Isle of Wight, where he worked in the accident and emergency department and as the orthopaedic registrar. In 1959 he enlisted in the Royal Navy, officially joining in March 1960, with an appointment in Haslar, Hampshire. His naval career was divided between serving as surgeon at Haslar Royal Naval Hospital, and intervals on board ships as doctor and surgeon, including HMS *Camperdown*, HMS *Tyne* and HMS *Hermes*. His career also included appointments abroad, including Mauritius (January 1967 to September 1969) where, as medical officer in charge, he was asked by a pharmaceutical company to research one of their drugs for bilharzia. As a result, he published an article in the *Journal of the Royal Naval Medical Service* ('Bilharziasis in Mauritius.' *J R Nav Med Serv*. 1968 Winter;54[3]:227-31). He then returned to surgical duties at Haslar as a consultant in general surgery. From May 1971 to November 1972 he served as a surgeon in Malta, and returned to duty at Haslar in 1972, and occasionally in Plymouth too. In 1976 he returned to HMS *Hermes* as principal medical officer. He was then promoted to senior consultant in surgery and in December 1978 he was made surgeon captain. He retired from the Royal Navy and from surgery in 1982. In February 1982 he went to work as medical director of the Security Forces Hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where he stayed until 1984. He returned to Saudi Arabia briefly in 1986, working as a surgeon in Aflaj in the desert interior. Both spells in Saudi Arabia were rich in professional and cultural experiences. He also served in the Royal Fleet Auxiliary from May 1984 until March 1996 as a ship's doctor, finishing his medical career at sea after 41 years.
Resource Identifier RCS: E009226
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Drinkwater, John Brian (1931- 2018)

2024-05-03T12:48:17Z

by Carole Drinkwater
Publication Date 2018-03-27 2018-11-21
JPEG Image
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E009000-E009999/E009400-E009499
URL for Files https://livesonline.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/381835381835
Occupation Naval surgeon Medical officer
Details Surgeon Rear Admiral John Brian Drinkwater was a naval medical officer of considerable distinction, serving clinically as a highly-respected surgeon before moving into leadership roles. John was born in Beeston, Nottinghamshire on 5 June 1931 to Ellis Drinkwater and Hilda May Drinkwater (née Spicer). He gained a place at Henry Mellish Grammar School in Nottingham and at the age of 17 entered Sheffield University Medical School. He qualified in June 1954 and undertook house officer posts in Doncaster and Sheffield before joining the Royal Naval Medical Service in August 1955. He was appointed as squadron medical officer to the 6th Frigate Squadron in October that year and spent 20 months at sea in the eastern Mediterranean, including during the Suez crisis. In April 1957, he embarked on surgical training at Royal Naval Hospital Haslar, Royal Hospital Portsmouth and Hammersmith Hospital, obtaining his FRCS in 1961. He then served as a surgical specialist in HMS *Ganges* and Royal Naval Hospitals Haslar, Plymouth, Malta and Gibraltar before being granted consultant surgeon status in 1968. As a consultant surgeon he again served in Haslar, Plymouth and Malta, becoming head of the surgical department at Haslar in the mid 1970s and adviser in surgery to the medical director general (Navy) in 1981. He was appointed as medical officer-in-charge of RNH Haslar in 1983 and became deputy medical director general (Navy) in 1984 before his final appointment as surgeon rear admiral (operational medical services) from 1985 to 1987. He was an Officer of the Order of St John, and appointed Queen’s Honorary Surgeon in 1983. ‘JBD’, as he was affectionately known by his juniors, was an excellent clinical opinion, a fine surgeon, a skilled administrator and a natural leader, qualities that were recognised in his rapid rise to senior ranks when he gave up clinical surgery. He was also an accomplished pianist and was renowned for his production and performance in mess cabarets at the Royal Naval Hospital at Stonehouse in Plymouth in the 1970's. The ‘JBD Follies’ were staged cabaret style in the officers’ mess and became eagerly anticipated annual events which were guaranteed to entertain and amuse, especially when the pride of senior colleagues was mischievously but gently tickled. He retired from the Royal Navy in 1987 and joined Muscular Dystrophy UK as director of support services, where he revelled in being able to help those affected by muscle wasting conditions and their families. A few years later, he moved with his family to Argyll, taking up a part-time post as clinical medical officer with the Argyll and Clyde Health Board and enjoyed the quieter rural environs of Kintyre. John’s flair for administration and efficiency was recognised when he was asked to stay on beyond normal retirement age, which he did, before finally hanging up his stethoscope and putting aside his briefcase in 1998. In his younger days, John was a keen participant in rugby, tennis and squash and at university was well known for his considerable poker skills. Later in life, these pastimes were replaced by bridge, snooker and woodwork – including making toys for his children. His interest and enjoyment in linguistic and logic puzzles was satisfied by broadsheet crosswords and super fiendish sudoku, both of which were tackled assiduously. As well as continuing to play the piano daily, he was a member of a local barbershop chorus and played the organ in the local church most Sundays and at weddings for many years. John, with his family, relocated several times around Scotland, exploring and enjoying some of the more rural and remote coastal spots, before moving six years ago to Cumbria. It was there he passed away peacefully, surrounded by his family, in his favourite chair, on 11 February 2018 at the age of 86. John was survived by his wife Carole, their daughters Alexandra and Olivia, and two daughters from his first marriage, Sylvia and Julia.
Resource Identifier RCS: E009431
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
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First Title value, for Searching Pugh, Patterson David Gordon (1920 - 1993)

2024-05-03T12:48:17Z

by Sarah Gillam
Publication Date 2016-07-27 2019-11-27
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E009000-E009999/E009100-E009199
URL for Files https://livesonline.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/381367381367
Occupation Naval surgeon Trauma surgeon Orthopaedic surgeon
Details Patterson David Gordon Pugh was a surgeon rear-admiral in the Royal Navy. He was born in Carshalton, Surrey on 19 December 1920. His father, William Thomas Gordon Pugh, was medical superintendent of Queen Mary’s Hospital for Children, Carshalton; his mother, Elaine Victoria Augusta Pugh née Hobson, was the daughter of a farmer. Pugh was educated at Lancing College and then went on to Jesus College, Cambridge and the Middlesex Hospital Medical School, where he gained the Freeman scholarship in obstetrics and gynaecology in 1944 and qualified in the same year. He was a house surgeon at the North Middlesex Hospital and served in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve for two years from 1945, on HMS *Glasgow* and HMS *Jamaica*. He then returned to civilian life, as a house surgeon at the Middlesex and Hammersmith hospitals. In 1950, he joined the Royal Navy on a permanent commission. He served on HMS *Narvik* and HMS *Warrior* and became a consultant in orthopaedics in 1960. He was posted to Royal Naval hospitals in Malta, Haslar and Plymonth. In 1973, he was appointed as a senior medical officer at Plymouth. From 1974 to 1975 he was medical officer in charge of the Royal Naval hospital in Malta. From 1975 to 1978 he was surgeon rear-admiral of naval hospitals and also the Queen’s honorary surgeon. He edited several editions of *Practical nursing* (Blackwood, 16th to 21st editions), a textbook originally written by his father. He retired from the Navy in 1978 and was, for two years, a medical officer in the prisons department of the Home Office. He was awarded an OBE in 1968 and became a Commander of the Order of St John in 1976. He emigrated to South Africa in 1980. He was a prolific collector of Staffordshire portrait figures and naval ceramics. In 1970, his collection of over 5,000 pieces was loaned to the Potteries Museum and Art Gallery in Stoke-on-Trent, and was eventually sold to the museum. He wrote a classic text on the subject – *Staffordshire portrait figures and allied subjects of the Victoria era* (London, Barrie & Jenkins, 1970). He also wrote •Nelson and his surgeons: being an account of the illnesses and wounds sustained by Lord Nelson and of his relationship with the surgeons of the day• (Edinburgh, E & S Livingston, 1968), *Naval ceramics* (Newport, Mon, Ceramic Book Co, 1971) and *Heraldic china mementoes of the First World War* (Newport, Mon, England, Ceramic Book Company, 1972). He was married twice. In 1948, he married Margaret Sheena Fraser. They had three sons (one of whom is Lewis Pugh, an endurance swimmer and ocean advocate) and a daughter. They divorced in 1964 and in 1967 Pugh married Eleanor Margery Jones. They had a son and a daughter. Pugh died on 15 July 1993. He was 72.
Resource Identifier RCS: E009184
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
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First Title value, for Searching Falconer, Alan Scott (1921 - 2013)

2024-05-03T12:48:17Z

by Alastair Falconer
Publication Date 2013-09-30 2014-03-07
JPEG Image
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E004000-E004999/E004400-E004499
URL for Files https://livesonline.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/376622376622
Occupation General surgeon Naval surgeon Obstetrician and gynaecologist School doctor
Details Alan Falconer had a long and varied surgical career in the Royal Navy, practising initially as a general surgeon before training as an obstetrician and gynaecologist. After he left the Navy, he became a school doctor at Sedbergh School in Cumbria. He was born in Darlington on 2 June 1921, the eldest son of Dallas Scott and Isabelle Falconer. Alan's father was a GP surgeon in Darlington. He had obtained a classics scholarship to Edinburgh University, where he studied medicine, and trained as a surgeon, obtaining the FRCS (Edinburgh) in 1920. At the beginning of the NHS he was appointed as a consultant surgeon at Darlington Memorial and Bishop Auckland hospitals. Alan was sent to Sedbergh School in 1934, at that time in the West Riding of Yorkshire. The school had a lasting influence on his life and in particular fostered his passion for sport. Cricket was his first love and he represented the school as a wicket keeper. He went on to Peterhouse College, Cambridge, in 1939 to study natural sciences. In his third year he studied anatomy, focusing on the evolutionary development of the human hand. Although he enjoyed Cambridge and meeting highly talented students from other disciplines, Sedbergh always remained his most fondly remembered educational experience. Alan completed his medical training at St George's Hospital, London, which was then at Hyde Park Corner. There he met his wife Veronica (née Guise), who was training to become a nurse. Alan's undergraduate training and their courtship took place during the Blitz. As well as providing startling anecdotes, this gave Alan early experience of the management of trauma. He became an expert at performing venous 'cut downs' for blood transfusions using steel reusable cannulae. His postgraduate surgical training included posts at the Whittington Hospital. During his training he assisted (later Lord) Rodney Smith at the Victoria Hospital for Children in Tite Street, Chelsea. He obtained his FRCS in 1953. In the early fifties the costs of living in London and providing for a family of three children exceeded his NHS salary. This led to his decision to return to the Royal Navy, where he had undertaken his National Service, and take a commission as a surgical specialist. His naval career included posts in Ceylon and Malta, as well as a Far East tour on the commando carrier HMS *Bulwark*. In the sixties the Navy planned to develop an obstetric service in the United Kingdom. Alan was selected to train in obstetrics and gynaecology, with a view to leading the new service. He undertook busy training posts at St George's Hospital, London, and St Mary's Hospital, Portsmouth. He passed the membership examination of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists in 1964 and was subsequently made a fellow of the college. He enjoyed using his surgical skills in his new specialty and also the intellectual challenges and decision making of intrapartum obstetrics. He was grateful for his surgical experience, which made him safely independent when faced with difficult gynaecological cases in theatre. However, he always demonstrated humility about his surgical prowess. He was well respected by his colleagues and patients. Sadly the Navy obstetric unit never materialised because of financial constraints, so Alan's obstetric posts were in civilian hospitals in Plymouth, in Malta (from 1968 to 1972) and finally with the RAF in Germany (from 1973 to 1976). He was a consultant adviser in obstetrics and gynaecology to the Royal Navy and also Queen's honorary surgeon. He achieved the rank of surgeon captain and was offered the post of surgeon rear admiral in the late seventies. Reluctant to sacrifice his love of clinical medicine for an essentially administrative post, he applied for the vacant post of school doctor at Sedbergh and left the Navy to return to his alma mater. Alan thoroughly enjoyed being back at Sedbergh. It allowed him to combine his medical skills with his love for sport, at which the school excelled. The final 10 years of his life were overshadowed by a severe head injury, which left him with significant physical and cognitive disabilities. He was nursed at home throughout this time by Veronica, even when they were both in their nineties. Veronica predeceased Alan in January 2013. Alan died peacefully of a stroke four months later on 2 May 2013, at the age of 91. Alan will be remembered for his surgical and obstetric skills, and for his wide knowledge of the classics, his encyclopedic knowledge of sport, his conviviality and his enjoyment of whisky, pipe smoking, fell-walking and the company of friends and family. He was survived by his four children (Jennifer Anne, Catherine Scott, John Hedley and Alastair Robert), one of whom qualified as a nurse and two as doctors.
Resource Identifier RCS: E004439
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
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First Title value, for Searching Head, Peter Warren (1924 - 2013)

2024-05-03T12:48:17Z

by R Peter Craig
Publication Date 2014-01-10 2014-02-24
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E004000-E004999/E004800-E004899
URL for Files https://livesonline.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/377049377049
Occupation ENT surgeon Naval surgeon
Details Surgeon captain Peter Warren Head was an ENT consultant in the Royal Navy. He was born on 4 October 1924. He trained at Guy's, qualifying MB BS in 1948, and then held house posts at Hampshire County Hospital in Winchester, including a six-month appointment in ear, nose and throat surgery. In 1950 he joined the Royal Navy, and promptly went to Bickleigh barracks near Plymouth to undertake training to join the Royal Marines. He passed, achieving his 'green beret', and became regimental medical officer of 41 Independent Commando on its deployment to Korea alongside the US Marines under General McCarthy, during the advance into what is now North Korea. The unit lost 31 soldiers and 95 were wounded. During this period Peter gained extensive experience of the injuries of war. On his return from Korea, he renewed his interest in ENT and proceeded to take the diploma in laryngology and otology at the Royal College of Surgeons, in 1954. He was graded a junior specialist and continued his career in the Royal Navy, with postings to the Royal Naval Hospital at Haslar, on the tip of the Gosport peninsular, and also at the Royal Naval hospitals at Chatham and Portland as a specialist in ENT, followed by a three-year posting to Malta. He took a great interest in the introduction of microsurgical techniques in ENT and he pursued this with attachments in both France and at St Thomas' Hospital, London. He then introduced these techniques to the hospital at Haslar. In 1968, at the venerable age of 44, Peter gained his fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons, at his first attempt, paving his way to senior specialist and consultant status. This was a formidable achievement considering that he had done no actual general surgical training since being a student, although his experience in Korea must have helped. He continued in the Royal Navy, including a posting as medical officer in charge of the Royal Naval Hospital at Haslar, considered for most of its history as the premier military hospital in the Royal Navy. To command it was undoubtedly a sign of singular recognition by the Sea Lords and also demonstrated the respect that was afforded him by the hospital staff. As medical officer in charge he managed to install a striking ship's figurehead by the main gate of the hospital, where it remains today. He was made an honorary surgeon to The Queen, which entailed him being present and on medical duty at a number of functions at Buckingham Palace. He wrote numerous publications, all specifically related to ENT problems in the military, including papers on temporary and permanent loss of hearing after exposure to sound. He retired from the Royal Navy in 1982, but remained very keen to follow his clinical specialty. He went on to take civilian medical practitioner consultant ENT posts at military hospitals in Münster and Berlin. By all accounts he was meticulous and methodical in his approach to both clinical and administrative problems, almost a perfectionist, and always insisted on developing and maintaining high standards. He was intelligent, had a quick mind, and had a strong sense of duty. He got the best out of his people by setting a strong personal example. Throughout his career he was famed for always being able to clear his desk before finishing for the day. His wife Betty was a marvellous support during his career. They had one son. Sadly, his wife predeceased him and he missed her enormously. Peter died on 26 November 2013, at the age of 89.
Resource Identifier RCS: E004866
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
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First Title value, for Searching Osborne, Anthony Howard (1940 - 2015)

2024-05-03T12:48:17Z

by Glynis Osborne
Publication Date 2015-09-14 2016-02-12
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E008000-E008999/E008000-E008099
URL for Files https://livesonline.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/380231380231
Occupation Naval surgeon Orthopaedic surgeon
Details Tony Osborne was a consultant orthopaedic surgeon in the Royal Navy. He was born in York to Laura (née Chatterton) and William Osborne. Laura was a woman ahead of her time: she dabbled in the Stock Market before it was easy or fashionable to do so. She also did photographic modelling and was a charming family woman. William was a teacher at Ampleforth College, before joining the Royal Navy at the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939. He reached the rank of instructor lieutenant, but was killed in December 1941 in the sinking of HMS *Neptune*. When Tony was seven his mother married again. His new stepfather was George Leo Watson, a Cambridge graduate who had spent the war years as a district officer in India. George was a highly respected mathematician who worked for many years as professor of mathematics at University College, London. George soon adopted Tony, who settled into his new family life in Oswaldkirk, Yorkshire. Tony attended school at Ampleforth Junior House and then Ampleforth College (St Bede's house). He took up rugby as his favourite sport with considerable success, playing prop for the first XV. His housemaster - Father (later Cardinal) Basil Hume - was also first XV coach and Tony had very fond memories of this fair, loyal and charismatic man. After leaving school, Tony became a medical student at Guy's Hospital and always said that his entry was helped greatly by their being short of a prop forward! During his student days he joined the Royal Navy as a surgeon sub-lieutenant. On completion of his house jobs, he joined the Navy proper as a surgeon lieutenant. After qualification, together with his first wife Ann, Tony was stationed in Singapore for three years, where he served on HMS *Forth*, a submarine depot ship. The marriage produced his eldest four sons, but sadly Ann was to die when they were quite young. Tony was married to his second wife, Glynis, for almost 40 years after they met over the operating table at the Royal Naval Hospital, Haslar, where she was serving as a senior nursing officer in the Queen Alexandra's Royal Naval Nursing Service. Tony and Glynis had a fifth son and a daughter. Tony also served on HMS *Bulwark*, HMS *Ark Royal* and HMS *Illustrious*, and was also medical officer in charge of a field surgical team in Oman for six months supporting the troops of Sultan Qaboos. In this role he dealt with many gunshot, shrapnel and mine injuries. The experience in Oman was invaluable when, in 1982, Tony treated wounded service personnel repatriated from the Falklands conflict. In 1976, Tony obtained fellowships of the Royal Colleges of Surgeons of England and of Edinburgh, and became an orthopaedic registrar and then senior registrar at the Royal Naval Hospital, Haslar. In 1978 he commenced higher training at Lord Mayor Treloar Hospital in Alton and then at Southampton General Hospital, both in Hampshire. In 1980 Tony spent a year as an honorary lecturer in Liverpool whilst studying and obtaining his MCh in orthopaedics. He subsequently also gained an FRCS in orthopaedics from Edinburgh. In 1981 he was appointed as a consultant orthopaedic surgeon to the Royal Naval Hospital and in 1988 was appointed head of orthopaedics, a role he fulfilled until retirement. Tony's career featured a range of academic accolades. In 1982 he was awarded the Errol Eldridge prize for his work on various aspects of the knee joint. He also received a grant from the Medical Research Council to fund a graduate researcher to evaluate the knee signature system. He published many papers in journals, including the *Journal of Urology*, the *Journal of the Royal Naval Medical Service* and the *Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery*. He was also a founder member of the British Association for Surgery of the Knee. His medical successes also meant that, during the 1980s, Tony was appointed Surgeon to Their Royal Highnesses the Prince and Princess of Wales for their foreign tours. With them he often toured out of the way places. When keeping the electricity supply to fluids and drugs was a challenge, the RAF or Navy usually came to the rescue! Tony developed his love of opera when visiting La Scala in Milan with the Prince and Princess. He was a most loyal and dedicated servant to the Crown. Rather than bringing rest, Tony's 'retirement' in 1993 (at the rank of surgeon captain) meant establishing a successful medico-legal practice in partnership with his wife. He alternated clinics at Harley Street with extensive international travel. In the last year of his life alone he travelled to Australia, America, Germany, Greece and Cyprus. Tony also remained an active member of the Royal Society of Medicine, the British Society for Surgery of the Hand, the Royal Colleges of Surgeons of England and Edinburgh, the British Orthopaedic Association, the British Medical Association, the British Library, the Royal Asiatic Society and the Royal Opera House. He was still working, travelling and pursuing his interests when he died unexpectedly on 2 July 2015, aged 75. Tony's fondest times were spent with family - his five sons and daughter - and eight grandchildren. In April 2015 all gathered to celebrate his 75th birthday, which was a joyous occasion. Since his death many letters of condolence have been received by his family from colleagues both within and outside of the Royal Navy. The common theme is of remembrance of a quiet, intelligent, inspiring surgeon. One surgeon to whom Tony acted as a mentor said knowing Tony had helped him on his path to surgery as he had been so well taught and supported. Tony's wife and family were sincerely touched by the letter of condolence they received from HRH The Prince of Wales.
Resource Identifier RCS: E008048
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Cox, Hugh Jeremy (1956 - 2017)

2024-05-03T12:48:17Z

by Gareth John
Publication Date 2017-11-02 2018-03-21
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E009000-E009999/E009300-E009399
URL for Files https://livesonline.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/381550381550
Occupation ENT surgeon Head and neck surgeon Naval surgeon
Details Hugh Cox was an ear, nose and throat surgeon in Poole, Dorset whose main interest was head and neck surgery. He was born in Chatham, Kent, to Derek Joseph Cox, a lieutenant commander in the Royal Navy, and Joan Cox, a nurse originally from south Wales. He had three siblings - David and twins Sian and Christopher. Hugh attended the Monterey Preparatory School in Cape Town, St John's Preparatory School in Porthcawl and finally Portsmouth Grammar School. He did his preclinical course at King's College, London and then went on to the Westminster Hospital for his clinical course. He was a member of the Westminster Hospital Sailing Club and was in the United Hospitals Sailing Team. He qualified in 1980. His first house job was at the Westminster group of hospitals. On his first day as a house officer at the Gordon Hospital he met a recently-qualified staff nurse, Lynne, who was to become his wife. By the time he moved to his second job in Guildford, Lynne had moved to Bristol Royal Hospital for Children for further training, and the relationship necessitated a good deal of travelling. Hugh next took up a one-year orthopaedics and accident and emergency rotation in Brighton, followed by an 18-month surgical rotation in Portsmouth. In 1986 Hugh joined the Royal Naval Reserve in the rank of surgeon lieutenant commander. He transferred to the Royal Navy with a regular commission in 1988. His sole general duties posting was as a medical officer in HMS *Nottingham*. During his time at sea the ship took part in a Gulf patrol and was present during a royal visit to the Far East and a heads of Commonwealth conference in Malaysia. After the required general training, Hugh specialised in ENT surgery. He obtained the FRCS in both general surgery and in otolaryngology. After two years as an ENT registrar at the Royal Naval Hospital, Haslar he took up senior registrar jobs in Southampton, the Royal Marsden and the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital. He was promoted to surgeon commander towards the end of his higher surgical training, and he was appointed as a consultant ENT surgeon at the Royal Naval Hospital, Haslar in late 1994, where he was the lead clinician for both head and neck surgery and paediatric ENT surgery. He also had honorary consultant status at Portsmouth and Southampton hospitals, where he held clinics. He taught on the underwater medicine course and also on the training programmes for Royal Naval medical officers and medical assistants. He was the consultant adviser in otorhinolaryngology to the medical director general (Naval) from 1997 to 1999. With the establishment of cancer centres in the early 1990s and the transfer of paediatric services to the NHS, Hugh found it difficult to pursue his clinical interests at Haslar and he was granted premature voluntary release from the Royal Navy in early 2000. He rejoined the Royal Naval Reserve at the end of the year and contributed to the visiting ENT clinics at the Royal Naval Hospital, Gibraltar until 2006. After leaving the Navy, Hugh was appointed as a consultant ENT surgeon at Yeovil District Hospital and Dorset County Hospital in Dorchester. He and his family settled in a village in rural West Dorset. However, Hugh's main interest was head and neck surgery and the main cancer centre for Dorset was in the east of the county, at Poole Hospital. In 2000, we were looking to expand the ENT department in Poole, and in particular we were looking to appoint a surgeon with an interest in head and neck cancer surgery. ENT is a small specialty, and we were delighted when Hugh applied for our new post in Poole. He joined the ENT department in Poole in 2001, but continued to live in West Dorset and continued to do a head and neck clinic in Dorchester. As well as his head and neck commitment, Hugh did a weekly paediatric ENT clinic at Poole. Hugh was a very reliable, conscientious and supportive doctor and colleague. Patients were always given the time that they needed in his clinic, and his clinics were notorious for over-running! Patients rarely complained of the wait to see him. He was always happy to provide a courteous second opinion to a difficult clinical problem, and I can personally attest to the value of his thoughts, both on the ward and in theatre. Though very committed clinically, he was a keen cyclist and hill walker and a lover of books on a wide range of subjects. In 2004, he somehow found time to complete a law degree with the Open University. Unfortunately, in February 2015, he was involved in a road traffic accident while cycling. He was found unconscious after what seemed to have been a hit and run encounter with a vehicle, which was never identified. He sustained a head injury and several significant fractures. Though he returned to work, he was unable to return to his full operating schedule. In retrospect, this very conscientious doctor perhaps took more care of his patients than of himself. He failed to attend his clinic on 20 June 2017. This was most out of character, and the alarm was raised promptly. At his inquest, the coroner described Hugh as an intelligent man, who 'always went the extra mile for all those he cared for'. He was 60 when he died. The cause of death was drowning, details of which were provided at the coroners' inquest (see attached reference). He was survived by his wife, Lynne, three adult children (Jonathan, Matthew and Victoria) and a grandson (Daniel). Matthew is a doctor. Over 200 people attended his memorial service.
Resource Identifier RCS: E009367
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Dale, Richard Foley (1945 - 2016)

2024-05-03T12:48:17Z

by Oliver Dale
Publication Date 2017-01-25 2017-10-19
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E009000-E009999/E009200-E009299
URL for Files https://livesonline.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/381474381474
Occupation Colorectal surgeon General surgeon Naval surgeon
Details Richard Dale was a surgeon in the Royal Navy. He was born in Worcester on 18 March 1945, the son of Reginald William Dale, a county planning officer, and Margaret Dale née Norman. He grew up in Somerset, where he was to return in retirement, along with his wife Hilary. He attended Taunton School and went on to study medicine at Westminster Medical School in London, during which time he joined the Royal Navy. Following his qualification in 1968, Richard secured his first house job at West Middlesex Hospital. Working for Ian Ranger, this job inspired him to choose surgery and was a formative experience, shaping the surgeon he would become. Richard then joined Westminster Hospital's medical and dialysis unit, where he worked for Malcolm Milne. These were the early, heady days of organ transplantation, and for a period his love of cars and surgery briefly combined as he rushed around the country with critical cargo. It was also during this time that Richard impressed his future wife with his dedication and enthusiasm: as a patient on the ward, post appendectomy, in his dressing gown, he jumped in to sort out a dialysis machine for a fellow patient. Perhaps it was this or his clambering up the scaffolding of the nurses' accommodation to ward off a rival, but not long after he and deputy sister Hilary Closs were married. In 1969, Richard went to work at the Royal Naval Hospital Haslar. Soon after, he was called to action in the Cod War, the confrontations with Iceland over the right to fish in the north Atlantic. He later joined the nuclear submarine HMS *Conqueror* in Liverpool, where his main responsibility was to evaluate health hazards on board, including the threat from radiation. He took to this task with vigour and ensured the atmosphere was as lively and spirited as it was healthy. To broaden his surgical experience, Richard completed his junior training in the NHS, where he joined the rotation at Addenbroke's and in Ipswich, working for Roy Calne. In 1977, he became a lecturer for John Kinmonth at St Thomas' Hospital and during this period completed an MS on 'The inheritance of primary lymphoedema'. It was here that his passion for quality would first cause controversy. Always an early adopter and pioneer, Richard was fascinated by the use of computers for the recording of surgical outcomes. This proved too much for some of his seniors, one even branding him 'a dangerous man'. In the early eighties, Richard moved back to Cambridge to work with David Dunn, and then in 1988 returned to the Navy as a surgeon commander and consultant at the Royal Naval Hospital, Stonehouse, Plymouth. Although truly a general surgeon, he started to specialise in colorectal surgery. He would often bring home stories of the latest developments in surgery, including bowel pouch surgery, colonoscopy and laparoscopic surgery. Alongside his interest in technological developments, his interest in quality deepened. During this time, he established a great friendship with Brendan Devlin, working with him in the Royal College of Surgeons' surgical epidemiology and audit unit, where Richard was assistant director from 1995 to 1998. This work was recognised when he was awarded an honorary fellowship of Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in 1995. Although he was not on active duty during the first Gulf War, this period was deeply informative as he reflected on the medical infrastructure needed to support the front line. In 1990 Richard was made a professor of naval surgery. It was an exciting time within the services as there was a genuine wish for tri-service collaboration. He brought a huge amount of energy and original thinking to his role. Drawing on these experiences, Richard developed the concept of the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine, along with the idea of embedding Ministry of Defence hospital units within NHS trusts. His occasional tours on HMS *Illustrious* and HMS *Invincible* helped him develop his work on quality and care pathways. It was during one of these tours that the captain of the *Illustrious* commented on the great numbers of his crew who appeared to have had elective surgery, even when crossing the rough seas of the Bay of Biscay. Richard, pleased that his work was being recognised, stated he believed in the importance of the team's ability to function at peace time as well as at war. The best way to keep the team sharp was to keep them active! As assistant medical director of the Defence Secondary Care Agency, he was to have a profound impact on the effectiveness and sustainability of military medicine. His proudest contribution was perhaps the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine, which was described as 'his baby' by his commanding officer. Richard left the Navy in 2003 as a surgeon captain and joined Benenden Hospital as a consultant surgeon. Later he became the medical director at Benenden, where he soon took on the responsibility for restructuring and reorganising the care there. This experience led to his becoming the medical director of the commercial directorate at the Department of Health. In this role, Richard was to play a key figure in the Independent Sector Treatment Centre (ISTC) programme, whereby private sector-owned treatment centres were contracted within the NHS. Whilst politically controversial, Richard's singular focus on delivering quality elective surgery to many allowed him to keep to the task. Whilst the conflict went on around him, he was not troubled by the rhetoric, preferring the comfort of the reality instead. Apart from some consultancy work, this was his last post before he retired, however this did not mean a quiet life. Shortly before his death, Richard was to start his final career as a politician for the local Conservative Party. In the 2015 election he ran a close second in the county council elections. Recognising his diplomatic skills, he was then elevated to the post of local party chairman. It was with much regret and sadness that he had to give up this role when he became ill as he was a great believer in democracy, political discourse and the Conservative Party, in that order. Never afraid to challenge vested interests, he thought it far more flattering to be admired by his juniors than his seniors. Since his death, many have approached the family with tales of how he supported them. As a family, we recognise that he was a very effective leader. One of his qualities was his ability to inspire those around him to achieve more than they thought they were capable of. It is difficult to unpick how he did this, but he was not particularly afraid of failure and this allowed him to enjoy learning and allow others to enjoy it too. Richard died on 23 November 2016 following 11 months and two days of treatment for oesophageal cancer. He was 71. Shortly after his diagnosis and after much research, he predicted to the day when he would die. He was survived by his wife, Hilary, three children, four grandchildren and a beloved fox terrier.
Resource Identifier RCS: E009291
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Gaskell, Sir Arthur (1871 - 1952)

2024-05-03T12:48:17Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2014-06-04
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E005000-E005999/E005300-E005399
URL for Files https://livesonline.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/377571377571
Occupation Naval surgeon
Details Born at Dartmouth on 6 July 1871 fifth child and second son of Hunter Gaskell JPO and his wife née Stempkowska, he was educated at Tavistock and at University College Hospital, and was commissioned in the Royal Naval Medical Service in 1893 and posted to the Royal Naval Hospital, Chatham. He was in charge of the surgical section of the advanced base hospital at Leu-Kung-Tao in China during the Boxer rebellion of 1900. He was promoted Staff-Surgeon in 1902 and Fleet-Surgeon in 1906. In 1914 he was appointed Professor of Hygiene and Director of Studies at the RN Medical College at Greenwich. During the war of 1914-18 he fitted out the hospital ship *Soudan*, and was then Assistant Director of Medical Services to the Naval Division at Gallipoli (1915). From 1916 he was in charge of the Naval Hospital at the Cape of Good Hope, and returned to Chatham in 1919 as a surgical specialist with the rank of Surgeon-Captain (1920). While in South Africa he distributed at his own expense a primer which he had written on first-aid, and was subsequently employed to write the official Naval first-aid handbook. He was created CB in 1916 and OBE in 1919 for his war services. Gaskell was promoted Surgeon Rear-Admiral in 1923 and Surgeon Vice-Admiral in 1927, when he was appointed Medical Director-General of the Navy. He was knighted as a KCB in 1930, and retired in 1931. He subsequently served on the advisory committee on the medical branches of the fighting services. Gaskell was a Fellow of the Royal Sanitary Institute, and was elected a Fellow of University College. He was an honorary surgeon to the King. He married in 1911 Sophie, daughter of the Hon Sir Lewis Michell CVO; Lady Gaskell survived him with a son and daughter. Their elder son was killed in action in 1944. He died suddenly at his home Greenwood, Fareham, Hampshire on 12 January 1952 aged 80. A memorial service was held on 19 January in the Royal Naval Hospital, Haslar.
Resource Identifier RCS: E005388
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Nicholls, Sir Percival Thomas (1877 - 1959)

2024-05-03T12:48:17Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2014-03-28
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E005000-E005999/E005100-E005199
URL for Files https://livesonline.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/377377377377
Occupation General surgeon Naval surgeon
Details Born on 8 May 1877, the son of Harry and Ellen Nicholls, he received his medical training at the Middlesex Hospital. After qualifying he held the post of house physician at the Middlesex followed by that of house surgeon at the Brighton and Hove Hospital. In 1901 he joined the Navy Medical Service and was present during the earthquake at Messina in 1907, being decorated for his services. He was promoted Staff Surgeon in 1909 and Fleet Surgeon in 1915. He served throughout the war of 1914-18, and on 22 September 1914 was serving in HMS *Cressy* when she was torpedoed. He transferred his casualties first to the *Hogue* only to suffer the same fate, and finally to the Aboukir which was also in her turn torpedoed. In 1926 he was promoted Surgeon Captain, and from 1927 to 1929 was Principal Medical Officer of HMS *Victory*, RN Barracks, Portsmouth, and from 1929 to 1932 was Senior Medical Officer of the medical division at the RN Hospital, Haslar. In 1932 he was promoted to Surgeon Rear-Admiral and appointed in charge of the RN Hospital, Bighi, Malta, to be followed in 1937 by promotion to Surgeon Vice-Admiral as Medical Director-General of the Navy, retiring in 1941 but being re-employed in charge of the RN Auxiliary Hospital at Kilmacolm until 1946. From 1935 to 1952 he was an Honorary Physician to the King, and in 1937 he was made a Commander of the Order of St John. Tall, handsome and a good athlete, having played tennis for the Royal Navy in 1917, he was a capable administrator with sound clinical sense and a calm imperturbable manner. He married in 1905 Hilda Boys Curry, who survived him and by whom he had two daughters. He died on 1 March 1959 in the RN Hospital, Haslar aged 81.
Resource Identifier RCS: E005194
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Kent, William (1805 - 1862)

2024-05-03T12:48:17Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2012-06-13 2019-03-27
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E002000-E002999/E002400-E002499
URL for Files https://livesonline.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/374616374616
Occupation General surgeon Naval surgeon
Details He was perhaps a son of William Kent, surgeon, of Nantwich, who died in February, 1831. He was educated at St George's Hospital, where he entered as a twelve months surgical pupil to Sir Everard Home on October 5th, 1826. He was a Surgeon in the Royal Navy, reached his Seniority on July 20th, 1838, and was still on the Active List in 1849. He practised at Nantwich, Cheshire, and died in August, 1862. See below for an expanded version of the published obituary: He was perhaps a son of William Kent, surgeon, of Nantwich, who died in February, 1831. He was educated at St George's Hospital, where he entered as a twelve months surgical pupil to Sir Everard Home on October 5th, 1826. He was a Surgeon in the Royal Navy, reached his Seniority on July 20th, 1838, and was still on the Active List in 1849. He practised at Nantwich, Cheshire, and died in August, 1862. William Kent was a naval surgeon who served as the assistant surgeon on board the *Beagle* from 1833 to 1836, during Darwin’s epic voyage. He was born in Nantwich, Cheshire in around 1805, the son of George and Mary Kent. He gained his MRCS in January 1828 and joined the Royal Navy as a naval surgeon in April of the same year. He served on the *Samarang*, *Pylades* and *Spartiate* ships, and then on 18 September 1833 joined the *Beagle* from Montevideo as the assistant surgeon, serving under Benjamin Bynoe, the acting surgeon. By this time, the *Beagle* had already been at sea for almost two years. While a member of *Beagle* crew, Kent, along with several others, including Robert FitzRoy and Bynoe, helped Darwin gather natural and geological specimens. In early 1834, Kent collected rocks in the Falkland Islands, which Darwin noted in his ship’s journal and later acknowledged in his 1846 paper ‘On the geology of Falkland Islands’ (*Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London* 2: 267-279): ‘[m]y examination was confined to the eastern island; but I have received through the kindness of Captain Sulivan and Mr Kent, numerous specimens from the western island, together with copious notes, sufficient to show the almost perfect uniformity of the whole group.’ Some of the specimens Kent collected are now held in the Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences in Cambridge. Kent stayed with the Beagle until she returned to England, arriving at Falmouth, Cornwall on 2 October 1836. He was discharged from his duties on 17 November 1836. He later served on the *Charlotte* and *Clio*, again as an assistant surgeon. In March 1839, he was promoted to surgeon and appointed to the *Serpent*. His last posting was a four-year term as surgeon on the *Aigle* from 1841 to 1845. He then retired on half pay. He was elected as a FRCS on 26 August 1844. In 1841 in Nantwich he married Charlotte Deane, who was born in Barbados. They settled in Nantwich and had five children – Charlotte Deane, Emmeline Maria, William George Henry, Richard Elwood and Edward Salmon. William Kent died on 9 August 1862. Sarah Gillam
Resource Identifier RCS: E002433
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Coulter, Jack Leonard Sagar (1907 - 1968)

2024-05-03T12:48:17Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2014-10-30
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E006000-E006999/E006200-E006299
URL for Files https://livesonline.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/378422378422
Occupation Naval surgeon
Details The only child of Percival and Lilian Coulter, he was born on 18 October, 1907. He was educated at King's School, Canterbury and King Edward VI, Bath, entering medical school at Bristol University in 1925, from whence he qualified MRCS, LRCP in 1931. He entered the Royal Navy as a Surgeon Lieutenant on 7 August of that year. Coulter's naval career was varied and successful. He was awarded the Parkes Memorial Prize while still a Surgeon Lieutenant for original work on the problems of health in tropical climates. He chose urology as his professional specialty but did not pursue this after the conclusion of the second world war, through which he served in convoys to Russia, being awarded the Distinguished Service Cross in 1943. Coulter devoted his attention to literature and for the next seven years was employed on the production of the Naval medical history of the second world war, for which he was awarded the Gilbert Blane Medal in 1954. In collaboration with Christopher Lloyd he was responsible for the last two volumes of Medicine and the Navy, following the death of Surgeon Commander John Keevil, the author of the first two volumes. In October 1949 he was called to the Bar at Gray's Inn, and in April 1960 elected to the Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons of England. Promoted to Surgeon Captain in 1955, he served in that rank until 1961, when he retired at his own request, his last appointment being that of Medical Officer-in-Charge of the Royal Naval Hospital Medical School. On leaving the Navy he joined the staff of a pharmaceutical firm, and was appointed to the board of directors. Coulter was a splendid after-dinner speaker and gifted raconteur. He was also an accomplished cricketer, having been chosen to represent the Navy on several occasions. He was twice married, first to Margaret Helen May in 1933, by whom he had two sons and one daughter. His second marriage was to Frances Emily O'Driscoll in 1948. He died on 11 January 1968, aged 60 years. Publications: *Official Naval Medical History of the War*, 1954. *Medicine and the Navy*, 1960-1963.
Resource Identifier RCS: E006239
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Colborne, William John (1894 - 1971)

2024-05-03T12:48:17Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2014-10-30 2017-10-16
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E006000-E006999/E006200-E006299
URL for Files https://livesonline.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/378410378410
Occupation Naval surgeon
Details Born in 1894 the son of William John Colborne MRCS 1886, Surgeon Royal Navy and afterwards Deputy Surgeon General of the Navy in the first world war and later Inspector General of Naval Hospitals, John Colborne (he did not use his first name) qualified with the Conjoint Diploma from Charing Cross Hospital and was at once commissioned as a Surgeon-Lieutenant RN and posted to Haslar. He was on active service in the battleship HMS *Barham*, flagship of Rear-Admiral Evan-Thomas at the Battle of Jutland in the summer of 1916. After a second period at Haslar he was posted to the battleship HMS *Resolution* during 1919-20 and served in HMSS *Comus* and *Colombo* before appointment to the Royal Marine Infirmary at Deal. He was much encouraged in his work at this time by R G Willan, professor of surgery at the University of Durham, who served with distinction in the Naval Reserve in both world wars; Willan was later a member of the College Council (see *Lives of Fellows* 1952-64 pages 442-444). Colborne was posted to the RN Hospital at Stonehouse, Plymouth as ear, nose and throat specialist in 1928, and after serving in the cruiser *Sussex* as Surgeon Lieutenant-Commander he returned to Plymouth as surgical specialist 1932-35. His next post was a surgeon specialist in the Flagship of the Home Fleet HMS *Rodney*, but from 1938 he was again at Stonehouse until in 1942 he was given command of the RN Auxiliary Hospital, Sherborne, in the rank of Surgeon Captain. He was sent out to Durban in 1943 at the height of the second world war, but contracting a severe illness, from which he never wholly recovered, he was invalided home in 1944. He was however well enough to resume full duties at Sherborne till appointed Senior Medical Officer (Surgery) at Haslar in 1947. The summit of his career was achieved in October 1948, when he was promoted Surgeon Rear-Admiral and appointed Medical Officer in charge of the RN Hospital Plymouth. He was created CB in 1950 and retired in 1951, and was made an Honorary Surgeon to the King. He served for a few years as administrative medical officer to the Regional Hospital Board for Wales, but subsequently lived at Croft House, Yealmpton. His health failing he became a patient in the Royal Naval Hospital at Plymouth, which he had served so often and so long; he died there after long illness on 3 November 1971 aged seventy-seven. Colborne had married Florence Alice Cutbush in 1924; she supported him in all his work and devotedly looked after him in his illness, practically living in the Hospital in the final years.
Resource Identifier RCS: E006227
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Stephens, Horace Elliot Rose (1883 - 1959)

2024-05-03T12:48:17Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2014-06-25
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E005000-E005999/E005500-E005599
URL for Files https://livesonline.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/377751377751
Occupation Naval surgeon
Details Born on 4 January 1883 the son of the Rev Horace Stephens, Rector of Handley, Cheshire, he was educated at Christ College, Brecon, Manchester University and, for his postgraduate studies, the London Hospital. While at Manchester he played Rugby for the University and also represented Cheshire and Lancashire. He obtained a prize for clinical medicine while a student at Manchester Royal Infirmary, where after qualification he served as house surgeon. For a time he acted as junior demonstrator of anatomy at Manchester University. In 1910 he joined the Royal Navy as a surgeon and in August 1914 was appointed to HMS *Eclipse*, in April 1915 transferring to the battlecruiser *Lion*, Admiral Beatty's flagship at the Battle of Jutland, after which Stephens was commended for his services, becoming staff surgeon in 1916, and in 1921 being appointed to the RN Hospital, Plymouth as operating surgeon. In 1920 he visited the United States at his own expense and, as a result of this visit, he became a personal friend of the Mayo brothers. In 1922 he was promoted Surgeon-Commander and in 1932 Surgeon-Captain. At various times he served on the Atlantic, Mediterranean, China, North America and West Indies stations and at Haslar, Devonport and Chatham Hospitals. After a period of illness in 1935, he became Professor of Naval Hygiene and Director of Medical Studies at the RN medical school at Greenwich. He was promoted Surgeon-Rear-Admiral in 1939 and appointed to the RN Auxiliary Hospital at Kingseat, retiring on 4 January 1943. He was President of the United Services Section of the Royal Society of Medicine in 1933, giving an address on "The Influence of Wars on the Craft of Surgery". He was the author of numerous papers in particular "Surgical Experiences at the Battle of Jutland", and he contributed to Keen's *American Textbook of Surgery* with an article on surgery in fighting ships. He married in 1911 Frances Mary Butt by whom he had a son and a daughter, Mary, who married Surgeon-Rear-Admiral R W Mussen. Stephens retired to Trearddur Bay, Anglesey, where he was a keen golfer, and died on 18 February 1959 survived by his wife and two children.
Resource Identifier RCS: E005568
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Ellis, Sir Herbert Mackay (1851 - 1912)

2024-05-03T12:48:17Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2011-11-16
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E001000-E001999/E001600-E001699
URL for Files https://livesonline.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/373792373792
Occupation Naval surgeon
Details The second son of John Ellis, of The Elms, Chudleigh, Devon. He was educated at St George's Hospital, and entered the Royal Navy as a surgeon in 1875. He served with the Battalion of Royal Marines (Artillery) throughout the Egyptian Campaign in 1882, being present at the engagements of Kassassin on August 28th and September 9th, and at the Battle of Tel-el-Kebir. He was mentioned in despatches and received the Egyptian Medal with Clasp for Tel-el-Kebir, and the Khedive's Bronze Star, and for his active services was specially promoted to the rank of Staff Surgeon. He was promoted Fleet Surgeon in June, 1891, and was Principal Medical Officer of HMS *Victoria*, the flagship of Sir George Tryon, when that vessel was sunk off Tripoli after collision with HMS *Camperdown* on June 22nd, 1893, the Admiral, 21 other officers, and 350 men being drowned. Becoming Deputy Inspector-General in 1899, he served for three years in charge of Bermuda Hospital. He was promoted Inspector-General in February, 1904, was in charge of Haslar Hospital for a few months, and in September was made Director-General of the Medical Department of the Navy, holding this position till May, 1908, when he voluntarily retired. His services, although notable, did not differ in a great degree from the ordinary run of service until he was made Medical Director-General in 1904. He succeeded to this post under circumstances of considerable difficulty. Reform was in the air and was urgently required in the medical department as well as elsewhere. Unfortunately the initiative in medical matters had to a considerable extent drifted from the medical department, and it was to regain this initiative that Sir Herbert directed his efforts. By his force of character and absolute straightforwardness he attained his object, and in this way, although no notable reforms were carried out in his time, he paved the way to their possibility in the future. From 1905-1910 he was Honorary Physician to King Edward VII, and to King George from his accession. Sir Herbert Mackay Ellis commanded attention by his fine physique and presence. In 1893 he married Mary Lily, eldest daughter of G B Ellicombe, of Rocklands, Chudleigh, Devon. He left no family. He died on September 30th, 1912, at his residence, Leavesden, Weybridge.
Resource Identifier RCS: E001609
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Tarn, John (1793 - 1877)

2024-05-03T12:48:17Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2012-11-28 2023-01-17
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E003000-E003999/E003100-E003199
URL for Files https://livesonline.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/375380375380
Occupation Naval surgeon
Details Educated at St George's Hospital, where he was entered as a six-months pupil to Thomas Keate in June, 1812, and in November of that year took out a further six-months ticket. He entered the Royal Navy in 1813, and served as Surgeon on board HMS *President*, HMS *Salisbury*, and HMS *Melville* between 1815 and 1820. He retired with the rank of Staff Surgeon, and was Agent for Sick at Liverpool in 1849. He won the Gilbert Blane Gold Medal and the Silver Naval Medal with Clasp. He died at Knowles Hill, Newton Abbot, on November 7th, 1877. **See below for an expanded version of the original obituary which was printed in volume 1 of Plarr’s Lives of the Fellows. Please contact the library if you would like more information lives@rcseng.ac.uk** John Tarn was a naval surgeon who served on the *Adventure* during a surveying expedition to South America with the *Beagle* under Captain Robert FitzRoy and later on convict ships taking prisoners to Australia. He was born in the village of Shipton-Under-Wychwood in Oxfordshire, the son of the Reverend John Tarn and Charlotte Tarn née Brookes. He studied medicine at St George’s Hospital in London, where he was a pupil of the eminent surgeon Thomas Keate. He was appointed as an assistant surgeon in the Royal Navy on 11 May 1813 and gained his MRCS in 1815. Between 1815 and 1820 he served on the *President, *Salisbury* and *Melville*. In 1817 he was a member of the *Beever* crew. He was promoted to surgeon on 8 September 1818 and was acting surgeon on board the *Sybille* in October 1819. In 1821 he was appointed as surgeon to the *Satellite*. He was the surgeon superintendent on the Brunswick emigrant ship from Cork to Quebec in 1825. His journal of the voyage survives – *Medical Journal of the Brunswick Emigrant Ship, by John Tarn, Surgeon and Superintendent, During which Time the Said Ship was Employed in Conveying Emigrants from Cork to Quebec. 5 April - 27 June 1825*. From 1826 to 1830 he served as a surgeon on the *Adventure* on the historic first voyage of the *Adventure* and *Beagle* to survey South America. Tarn appears in Captain FitzRoy’s account of the voyage (*Narrative of the Surveying Voyages of his Majesty’s ships Adventure and Beagle between the Years 1826 and 1836 Describing their Examinations of the Southern Shores of South America, and the Beagle’s Circumnavigation of the Globe* London, Henry Colburn, Great Marlborough Street, 1839). A newly recorded species of bird *Hylactes tarnii* was named in his honour. FitzRoy records: ‘The specific name I have selected is a compliment to Mr John Tarn, surgeon of the Adventure, to whose attention, in procuring and preserving numerous specimens in ornithology, I am greatly indebted.’ A mountain in what is now Chile was also named after him, after he became the first European to makes its ascent in February 1827. ‘During our excursion we ascertained the best place to ascend the snowy mountain, since named “Tarn”; and the surgeon, whose name it bears, set off with a party of officers to make the attempt, in which he succeeded…’ FitzRoy also notes that Brook Harbour was so named at ‘Tarn’s request’ – possibly to honour his mother’s family. In the 1830s and 1840s Tarn was surgeon superintendent on five convict ship voyages to Australia. Three ships took prisoners to New South Wales: the *Georgiana* (1831), the *George Hibbert* (1834) and the *Bengal Merchant* (1836). Two ships sailed to Van Diemen’s Land: the *Surrey* (or *Surry*) (1842) and the *Pestonjee Bomanjee* (1849). In 1849 he was at a dinner in Sydney at the Australian Club to mark a visit to Europe by a Captain King. Tarn was awarded the Sir Gilbert Blane medal and the Silver Naval medal with clasp. He became a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England in 1844. He retired with the rank of staff surgeon and was agent for the sick at Liverpool in 1849. In the 1861 Census he was recorded as living at the house of his unmarried sister Mary at Newton Abbot, Devon. Also living with Mary was their brother Miles and a sister, Sophia. Tarn died at Knowles Hill, Newton Abbot on 7 November 1877. Sarah Gillam
Resource Identifier RCS: E003197
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Busk, George (1807 - 1866)

2024-05-03T12:48:17Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2006-02-01 2012-03-22
JPEG Image
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000100-E000199
URL for Files https://livesonline.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372384372384
Occupation Biologist Naval surgeon
Details Born at St. Petersburgh on August 12th, 1807, the second son of Robert Busk (1768-1835), merchant, and a member of the English colony there, by his wife Jane, daughter of John Westly, Custom House clerk at St. Petersburgh. His grandfather, Sir Wadsworth Busk, was Attorney-General of the Isle of Man. Hans Buck (1772-1862), scholar-poet, was his uncle; Hans Busk the Younger (1816-1862), a principal founder of the Volunteer movement in England, was his cousin. George Busk was educated at Dr. Hartley's School, Bingley, Yorkshire, and seved a six years' apprenticeship to George Beaman, being articled at the Royal College of Surgeons. He was a student at St. Thomas's Hospital, and for one session at St. Bartholomew's. In 1832 he was appointed Assistant Surgeon to the *Grampus*, the Seamen's Hospital Ship at Greenwich, and afterwards to the *Dreadnought* which replaced it. He served in this capacity for twenty-five years. During his service he worked out the pathology of cholera and made important observations on scurvy. In 1843 he was one of the first batch of Fellows of the College; from 1856-1859 he was Hunterian Professor of Comparative Anatomy and Physiology; from 1863-1880 a Member of the Council; a Member of the Court of Examiners from 1868-1872; Chairman of the Midwifery Board in 1870; Vice-President for the year 1872-1873, and again in 1879-1880; President in 1871; and Trustee of the Hunterian Collection from 1870-1876. He was a Member of the Senate of the University of London, and was for a long period an Examiner for the Naval, Indian, and Army Medical Services. He was also a Governor of the Charterhouse, Treasurer of the Royal Institution, and the first Home Office Inspector under the Cruelty to Animals (Vivisection) Act. The last office he held until 1885, performing the difficult and delicate duties with such tact and impartiality as gained him the esteem both of physiologists and of the Home Office. When he resigned his post of Surgeon to the *Dreadnought* in 1855, Busk retired from the active practice of his profession and turned to the more congenial subject of biology. In this department he did excellent work, more especially in connection with the Bryozoa (Polyzoa), of which group he was the first to formulate a scientific arrangement which appeared in 1856 in his article in the *English Cyclopaedia*. His collection is now in the Natural History Museum at South Kensington. The name *Buskia* was given in his honour to a genus of Bryozoa by Alder in 1856, and again by Tenison-Woods in 1877. The Royal Society elected him a Fellow in 1850, and he was four times nominated a Vice-President, besides often serving on the Council. He received the Royal Medal in 1871. He was elected a Fellow of the Linnean Society in December, 1846, acted as its Zoological Secretary from 1857-1868, served frequently on the Council, and was Vice-President several times between 1869 and 1882. He joined the Geological Society in 1859, served twice on the Council, was the recipient of the Lyell Medal in 1878, and of the Wollaston medal in 1885. He became a Fellow of the Zoological Society in 1856, assisted in the formation of the Microscopical Society in 1839, and was its President in 1848 and 1849. He was one of the Editors of the *Quarterly Journal of Microcopical Science*. In 1863 he attended the conference to discuss the question of the age and authenticity of the human jaw found at Moulin Quignon. His attention being thus drawn to palaeolontogical problems, he visited the Gibraltar Caves in company with Dr. Falconer, and henceforth devoted much time to the study of cave fauna and later to ethnology. He was President of the Ethnological Society before it was merged in the Anthropological Institute, of which he was President in 1873 and 1874. One result of his visit to Gibraltar was his gift of the Gibraltar Skull to the Museum of the College. He died at his house, 32 Harley Street, London, on August 10th, 1866. He married on August 12th, 1843, his cousin Ellen, youngest daughter of Jacob Hans Busk, of Theobalds, Hertfordshire, and by her had two daughters. Busk was full of knowledge, an unwearying collector of facts, a devoted labourer in the paths of science, and cautious in the conclusions he drew from his observations. He wrote but little in surgery, though his surgical work at the Dreadnought was altogether admirable and he was an excellent operator. He was a man of unaffected simplicity and gentleness of character, without a trace of vanity, a devoted friend, and an upright, honest gentleman. A good portrait painted by his daughter, Miss E. M. Busk, hangs in the Meeting-room of the Linnean Society at Burlington House. It was presented by the subscribers in 1885. There is a fine engraved portrait by Maguire and a large photograph of him as an old man. Both are in the College collection. PUBLICATIONS:- *A Catalogue of Marine Polyzoa in the British Museum*, 3 parts, London, 1852-75. Report on the Polyzoa collected by H. M. S. Challenger, 4to, 2 vols., London, 1884-6. An article on "Venomous Insects and Reptiles" in Holmes's *System of Surgery*, 1860. He was a joint translator with T. H. Huxley of Von Kölliker's *Manual of Human Histology* for the Sydenham Society, 2 vols., London, 1853-4, and he translated and edited Wedl's Rudiments of Pathological Histology also for the Sydenham Society in 1855. Buck was editor of the *Microscopical Journal* for 1842, and of the *Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science* from 1853-1868; of the *Natural History Review* from 1861-1865; and of the *Journal of the Ethnological Society* for 1869-70. Notable amongst his papers in the *Philosophical Transactions* are: (1) "Extinct Elephants in Malta", and (2) "Teeth of Ungulates".
Resource Identifier RCS: E000197
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Bynoe, Benjamin (1803 - 1865)

2024-05-03T12:48:17Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2010-11-11 2018-07-04
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E001000-E001999/E001000-E001099
URL for Files https://livesonline.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/373282373282
Occupation Botanist General surgeon Naturalist Naval surgeon
Details Entered the Royal Navy and retired with the rank of Staff Surgeon. He died at Old Kent Road, SE, on November 15th, 1865. See below for an expanded version of the published obituary uploaded 4 July 2018: Benjamin Bynoe was a Royal Navy surgeon, botanist and naturalist who served aboard the *Beagle* during Charles Darwin's epic five-year voyage. He was born in Barbados on 25 July 1803, the son of Samuel and Elizabeth Bynoe, and was baptised on 26 December 1803 at Christ Church, Barbados. There are no records of his medical education, but on 20 May 1825 he became a member of the Royal College of Surgeons and on 26 September 1825 joined the Royal Navy as an assistant surgeon. He joined the maiden voyage of HMS *Beagle*, tasked with surveying the coasts of South America south of the Rio Plata. In July 1828, the ship's surgeon Evan Brown was invalided home and Bynoe was made acting surgeon in his place. The *Beagle* surveyed Patagonia, Tierra del Fuego and the channels adjoining the Straits of Magellan and the island of Chiloe. During the voyage, Bynoe collected geological and other specimens, and two landmarks were named after him - Cape Bynoe and Bynoe Island. By October 1830 the *Beagle* had returned to England and Bynoe was living on half-pay in the New Kent Road area, London. He studied through the winter and on 5 July 1831 passed his examination as a surgeon in the Royal Navy, but promotion was slow, and two days later he rejoined the *Beagle* with the rank of assistant surgeon, serving under the surgeon Robert McCormick. Also on board was Charles Darwin, then just 22, a guest of the captain, Robert FitzRoy. The rest of the year 1831 was spent preparing the ship for the voyage; Bynoe made sure the medical supplies included foods to prevent scurvy, including 'pickles, dried apples, and lemon juice - of the best quality'. On 27 December 1831, the *Beagle* set sail and passed via the Canaries to the Cape Verde Islands. Towards the end of April 1832, McCormick invalided himself home, disgruntled that Darwin had in effect been made the ship's naturalist, a role he assumed, as surgeon, was his own. Bynoe was made acting surgeon, in which role he continued for the rest of the long voyage. The ship sailed across the Atlantic and then coasted South America, visiting Bahia, Rio, Monte Video, Buenos Aires, Bahia Blanca and Teirra del Feugo. Bynoe found himself dealing with unknown fevers among the crew (probably yellow fever), together with the more familiar pulmonary tuberculosis. In the autumn of 1834, the *Beagle* had reached Valparaiso, Chile. After visiting Santiago and the Andes, Darwin became ill at the end of September; Bynoe attended him ashore for a month while the ship was being repaired and restocked with supplies. After further cruises off the Chilean coast, they reached Callao, the port of Lima, Peru, then headed to the Galapagos Islands, where Darwin made the observations which led to his theory of natural selection. For nine days Bynoe and Darwin were ashore with just three seamen with them, studying the rocks, lizards, tortoises and vegetation. The *Beagle* then sailed west to Polynesia, Tahiti and New Zealand, before heading home via Sydney, Keeling Island, Mauritius, the Cape, St Helena, Brazil and then the Azores and home, setting anchor at Falmouth on 2 October 1836. Once again, Bynoe returned to London on half-pay. In December 1836, he married Charlotte Ollard and in the same month, after many years as an acting surgeon he was, on the recommendation of FitzRoy, officially confirmed in his post as surgeon. He rejoined the *Beagle*, this time commissioned to survey Australian waters. The ship left Plymouth in July 1837. After investigating western Australia, the *Beagle* continued eastwards, visiting Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania), Sydney and the Great Barrier Reef. They then turned south, to the Adelaide River and then north to the Timor Sea, where a bay in what is now the Northern Territory was named Bynoe Harbour. In August 1841, the ship was in the Gulf of Carpentaria in northern Australia, when one of the officers, Fitzmaurice, who was surveying onshore, was accidentally shot in the foot by a musket. Bynoe attended the injured man and saved his foot; the river Fitzmaurice had been investigating was named Bynoe River in his honour. During the voyage, Bynoe collected numerous specimens and wrote several papers, including one on marsupial gestation and on geological formations in Queensland. The ship eventually sailed back to England via Mauritius and Cape Verde, arriving back in 1843. In February 1844, he was appointed surgeon superintendent of the convict ship *Blundell*, which was sailing to Norfolk Island with prisoners from Millbank prison. The journal he wrote during the first part of the journey has survived, listing the case he treated, including patients with diarrhoea, rheumatism, an injured finger (which required amputation) and a case of pulmonary tuberculosis. On 26 August 1844, Bynoe was made a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons. Bynoe left the *Blundell* in April 1845. His next appointment was on the *Lord Auckland*, another convict ship, this time bound for Hobart, which left England in March 1846. With him was his long-suffering wife; the couple may have been planning to emigrate to New South Wales. But in July, the ship landed in Simon's Bay, in southern Africa, so Bynoe, who was ill with pneumonia, could be transferred to Cape Town Hospital. Once he recovered, the Bynoes boarded the *Maria Soames* and returned back to England in October 1846. His next appointment was to Ireland, then facing serious famine after the failure of successive potato crops. At the end of February 1847, he was directed to go to Cork 'to aid in carrying out measures for the relief of the Distressed Irish'. A relief centre was set up at Belmullet, which Bynoe joined in April, to help with outbreaks of typhus and dysentery. But the promised medical supplies were slow to arrive and Bynoe himself became sick with dysentery. By September his appointment had ended and in October he was back in London and on half-pay. He then had two short appointments, to the *Ocean* and the *Ganges*, and then in February 1848, joined the *Wellington*, where he remained for nearly three years. He was subsequently appointed to the *Monarch*, on which he served until March 1851. In November 1851, he was appointed to the *Aboukir*, another prison vessel taking convicts to Van Diemen's Land. His journal of the voyage survives and describes treating a prisoner for advanced tuberculosis (and carrying out a post mortem), treating catarrh, constipation and diarrhoea, and directing that the woodwork of the living quarters be washed down with the antiseptic chloride of zinc. On 22 March 1852 Bynoe arrived in Hobart, and a few weeks later sailed homeward. After almost a year on half-pay in London, in the autumn of 1853 he was appointed to the *Madagascar*, a receiving ship at Rio, where he spent almost six gruelling years, returning on the *Industry* in the spring of 1859. In the autumn of 1860, Bynoe was promoted to staff surgeon, but was not appointed to any further voyages and on 23 January 1863 was placed on the retired list by the Admiralty. Benjamin Bynoe died in the Old Kent Road, London on 13 November 1865 and was buried at Norwood Cemetery, Lambeth. Despite taking part in several important surveying voyages, aiding Darwin with his ground-breaking work and collecting a large number of specimens in his own right, his name had been largely forgotten. Even during his lifetime, he arguably failed to get the credit he was due; only one species (of acacia) was named after him - *Acacia bynoeana*. But, perhaps just as importantly, he was remembered as a kind and caring surgeon by his colleagues and crew: Robert FitzRoy, his long-standing captain on board the *Beagle*, noted movingly of the 'affectionate kindness of Mr Bynoe…which…will never be forgotten by any of his shipmates'. Sarah Gillam
Resource Identifier RCS: E001099
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset

First Title value, for Searching Cheyne, Sir William Watson (1852 - 1932)

2024-05-03T12:48:17Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2006-05-11 2012-06-27
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E000000-E000999/E000200-E000299
URL for Files https://livesonline.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/372409372409
Occupation General surgeon Member of Parliament Naval surgeon
Details The only child of Andrew Cheyne of Ollaberry, Shetland and Eliza Watson, his wife (d. 1856), was born off Hobart's Town, Tasmania, on 14 December 1852. His father (d. 1867) was the owner of ships trading in the South Sea islands. His parents dying young, Cheyne was brought up by his uncle, who was the Minister of Fetlar, one of the Shetland Islands. He was educated in the name of William Watson at the local grammar school until 1864, when he went to the Aberdeen Grammar School. In November 1868 he entered King's College, Aberdeen, where he remained until the summer of 1870. He entered the University of Edinburgh in May 1871, resuming his full name of William Watson Cheyne, but symptoms of incipient tuberculosis prevented him from taking the full medical course. He devoted himself therefore to chemistry and obtained the first university prize in the subject in his first year and again in his second year. He was anxious to go to sea at this time but was unable to afford the preliminary expense, and he continued his medical studies, hoping to get the position of a ship's surgeon. In 1872 he won medals for anatomy, physiology, and chemistry, becoming the possessor of twelve such medals before he graduated. The courses of surgery, physiology, and practical anatomy were so arranged in his second year as to leave the hour 12-1 free. One wet day in October 1872 during this interval he drifted for the sake of shelter and warmth into Joseph Lister's lecture room, was fascinated by what he heard, the chemistry of anaesthetics, and attended the full course in 1872-73. At the end of the course it happened that the examinations for the physiology and the Lister class prizes were held on the same day. Chyene entered for both, tied with his chief competitor in physiology, both obtaining 99 per cent marks, in the morning and gained the Lister prize with 96 per cent marks in the afternoon. This success brought him prominently under the notice of Lister, at whose suggestion he applied for a dressership and was selected out of a class of 200-300 students. Cheyne graduated M.B., C.M. with first-class honours in the university and, again at Lister's suggestion, applied for the post of house surgeon at the Royal Infirmary. As there was no vacancy for a year, Cheyne, who had been left a legacy of £150, visited Strassburg and Vienna in the autumn of 1875. On his return to Edinburgh he began some bacteriological experiments and won the Syme bacteriological scholarship, which was of the value of £100 a year and was tenable for two years. He served as house surgeon to Lister from October 1876 and was appointed demonstrator of anatomy in the university. One spring morning in 1877 he awoke in his lodgings to find Lister standing beside his bed with the news that he was going to London as surgeon to King's College Hospital. He said that he had accepted the invitation on condition that he might bring his own house surgeon and he asked Cheyne to accept the post. Cheyne was overjoyed, and with him went John Stewart as senior assistant, W. B. Dobie and James Altham as dressers. Lister with this team took over the wards at King's College Hospital in the winter of 1877-78, and Cheyne acted as house surgeon until he was chosen additional surgical registar to the hospital in 1879, with special charge of Lister's patients, when he was succeeded by John Stewart as house surgeon. Cheyne's position as a resident in the hospital at first was neither easy nor pleasant. He had to contend with the open hostility of the nursing staff who were Sisters of St John and looked upon surgery as a hand-maid of nursing and an incentive to the high church ritual to which they were devoted; the other surgeons, his colleagues, were merely apathetic and the students, finding that the methods taught had no examination value, attended Lister's lectures in such small numbers that Cheyne was often present to assist in forming an audience. As there was no immediate prospect of making a living Cheyne entertained some thoughts of entering the Indian Medical Service. Lister, however, came to the rescue and gave Cheyne a retaining fee of £200 a year to administer anaesthetics for him and share with R. J. Godlee, F.R.C.S., the work as his private assistant. In 1879 he passed in immediate succession the examinations for the Membership and Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons of England; in 1880 he gained the Boyleston medical prize and gold medal; in 1881 he won the Jacksonian prize for his essay on the history, principles, practice, and results of antiseptic surgery, and in 1889 he was awarded the triennial Astley Cooper prize. Gerald F. Yeo, F.R.C.S., resigned his office of assistant surgeon at King's College Hospital in March 1880 to devote himself wholly to experimental physiology. Cheyne was appointed in his place, becoming surgeon in October 1887 and consulting surgeon on 25 October 1917. At the Royal College of Surgeons Cheyne was a Hunterian professor of comparative anatomy and physiology in 1888, 1890, and 1891, and a Hunterian professor of surgery and pathology in 1892. He delivered the Bradshaw lecture in 1908 and the Hunterian oration in 1915. From 1902 to 1907 he was a member of the Court of Examiners and a member of the Council from 1897 until 1918, becoming President in 1914-16. In 1924 he was awarded the first Lister medal in recognition of his contributions to surgical science, and in the same year he delivered the Lister memorial lecture which was afterwards published. His war service was considerable. During the South African war he served as a civil consulting surgeon to the forces and was created C.B. In 1908 he received a commission as surgeon rear-admiral in the Royal Naval Reserve and saw active service during the war of 1914-18, first with the fleet in the Dardanelles and afterwards at the naval hospital in the lines at Chatham. For these services he was created a K.C.M.G., and in 1919 was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Orkney and Shetland with the rank of vice-admiral. He retired from practice in 1917, and was then elected M.P. for the Universities of Edinburgh and St. Andrews; from 1918 to 1927 he represented the combined Scottish universities. He spoke rarely and confined himself strictly to medical subjects. The House always listened to him with attention not unmixed with amusement, for he addressed it as though he was lecturing to a class. He married: (1) in 1887 Mary Emma (d. 1894), daughter of William Servanté, of Plumstead, by whom he had two sons, Joseph Lister Cheyne, lieutenant-colonel, Military Cross, in command of the 16/5th Lancers until 18 Janaury 1933, who succeeded to the title, and Hunter Cheyne; (2) in 1894 Margaret (d. 1922), daughter of George Smith of Lerwick, by whom he had one son, who predeceased his father, and a daughter. He died in a nursing home after a prolonged illness on 19 April 1932. Watson Cheyne rose to the top of his profession. He owed his position in part to the accidents of fortune, but mainly to his indomitable pluck and perserverance. An early and favoured disciple of Lister, he did much to promote the spread of antisepsis both by example and precept. He was not endowed by nature with a great degree of originality and was sometimes wrong in his deductions, but he clung firmly to the principles he had learnt from his great master. A good and safe surgeon, he was not a brilliant operator; as a speaker a certain shyness taught his hearers to look to the matter rather than to the manner of what he said. Accident made him a London surgeon. His blue eyes, open countenance, bluff and hearty manner showed him to be a Norseman by heredity and that his real home was the sea. W. G. Spencer, F.R.C.S. wrote of him: "He gave at King's College Hospital a flamboyant account of Koch's tuberculin to those invited, including C. Macnamara, F.R.C.S. and myself. There were two children in Macnamara's ward at Westminster Hospital with advanced hip-joint disease. On repeating Watson Cheyne's prescription and injecting tuberculin, both had acute suppuration and quickly died; no further use was made of the remedy. Operations for cancer of pharynx: he operated very well, but by removing the pillars of the fauces rendered the patients liable to fatal pneumonia by deglutition, as distinguished from the tongue operations then done in front of the fauces." *Publications*: For reprints of his articles up to 1896 see Surgeon General's Library, Washington, *Index Catalogue* 2nd Series, v.3, p.413. *Antiseptic surgery: its principles, practice, history, and results.* London, 1882; German translation 1883. Jacksonian prize essay; original MS. in College library. *Manual of antiseptic treatment of wounds, Ibid.* 1885. *Suppuration and septic diseases.* Edinburgh, 1889. *Abstract of all cases of tubercular disease…treated..with tuberculine.* London, 1891. *The treatment of wounds, ulcers, and abscesses. *Edinburgh, 1894; Philadelphia, 1895. *Tuberculous disease of bones and joints, its pathology, symptoms, and treatment.* Edinburgh, 1895; 2nd ed. London, 1911. *The objects and limits of operations for cancer.* Lettsomian lectures. London, 1896; New York, 1896. *Treatment of wounds* (Bradshaw lecture R.C.S.). London, 1908. *Lister and his achievements *(1st Lister lecture R.C.S.). Ibid. 1925. *Three orations: the Lister centenary. Ibid. *1927. *Manual of surgical treatment,* with F. F. Burghaard, 6 parts. London, 1899-1903; new edition, 5 volumes. Ibid. 1912-13. Editor of *Recent essays by various authors on bacteria in relation to disease.*New Sydenham Society, London, 1886.
Resource Identifier RCS: E000222
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
Format Asset