JUNE 15, 1912.

OBITUARY.

MEDICAL JOURNAL

TH BRITI

1399

013 hItual-Li.
SIR WILLIAM THORNLEY STOKER, BART., M.D.,
DUBLIN.

'build

BY the deatlh of Sir Thornley Stoker Irisls surgery has lost one of its most brilliant exponenits, and Dtublin society one of its best known and most widely esteemed figures. Hle was the son of Abralhamn Stoker, wlho for fifty years occupied an important position in the office of the Cliief Secretary for Ireland. Born sixty-seven years ago, the elclest of a family several of wlhose imlembers have woln distiuction in varied fields and in diverse parts of the emiipire, young Stokei was selnt to an English public school, anid thenice to study miiedicine at tlle Royal College of Surgeons, Duiblin, and Queen's College, Galway. He took the degree of MI.D. in tlle Queeni's University (subsequently nierged in the Royal University) in 1866 and at once devoted hiimself to
private

teaching. His remarkable from the outset, and in a very short timlle he was
success was
of
he

appointed

stalf

Dublin
1873

to the surgical the City In

W

Hospital.

migrated to the Richlmond Hospital, the group of hospitals-t by Riclhmond, Whiitworthi,

and Hardwicke a] popularly kno0vn whlei Irislh stdents conever

as

1_

gregate.
of the
made

In

the

waf ls
the

old

Richmond,

famouis
Adams,

by

work of
Cor-rigan,
othners,

Smilt,

hlard ionulation
to
train
was

anid many proceeded by work and the aceulie of

hinmself

experience
for the

distinguLished
the

place
to fill

hie
in

afterwards Irisli suargery.

Chair of
of of

He

filled
at

on tlhe mllost generous scale. and they found equally generous donors to pay for it. The character of Sir Thornley Stoker's surgical worl imay be julded by the titles of some of his contributions to the Proceedings of the old Surgical Society and of the Royal Academiy of Medicine. They included: "Hysterectomy and Ovariotomy," 1880; "Remov'tl of Tlhyroid Gland," 1883; " Excision of the Knee-joint, ' 1887; "Epidural Haemorrhage Treated by Treplhining," 1888; " Laparotomy in Ectopic Gestation," 1889, and many others on matters whicht then were, or have since become, "live " problemis. On accou-nt of hiis connexion with Dean Swift's foundationi, lhe took a special interest in tlho surgery of the cerebro-spinal cavity. He drained cerebral abscesses successfully in tlle Eighties, and performned decompression operationis lolig before the name was invented. He attained great skill in lithotrity, and -vas among the first to practise prostatectomy, advocating that operation as warmly as the late Sir William Thomson. As of another great Irishman, it may be said of Ihim, Nihil tetigit non ornavit. He was, hiowever, nio meeindividualist in his profession. His was eiminently the social miind. He took a warnij"'~~"' ~ ~ and fighting interest in' medical affairs and many "' pblic movements. Thec.,. ~ *~ grievances of the Irish " ~ Poor Law doctor, the evils of the workhouse system, the prevention of cruelty to animals evoked Ihis enthusiasm. And his profession gave hlim in return all its honours. He was President of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland in 1894-6, and President of the Royal of MedicineiAcademy the most honourable prize of the profession

qlot

Aniatomy

the Sclicol

thle

Royal

in 1903-6.
causa.

College
outside

Irela-nd for

resigning

n Surgeoins years, it, when iis

some

work

expanded,
of

into late

the

hands

the

and a

Professor

thli

Cimnninghiam.
Surgery
in

Daniiel He hold
in

Examiner ship

the

Royal

University of Ireland, and earned the reputation of being exacting

as

In 1895 the honour of knighthood was conferred onI him, and last year, to the gieat sati.sfaction of the whole profession and of 'his fellow-citizens, the Coronation honours

of medicine in IrelandTh'e Royal University gave 'him the degree of M.Ch. honoris

'@LEY
XLE:Y STORKE, i, BART.
S

brillianlt s;xirgical and social work. He was But during all those Surgeon to Swift's Hospital, the famuous fouindation of the great D-3an, hard-working years Sir Thornley Stoker wa's by -no "1for fools and mnad." He means a man of one pursuit. He had always been Inspector of Vivisection for Ireland, and held the office of His' Majes,ty's Inspector interested in art; had lheld the honourable if not very under the Anatomy Acts, in to Iris brothe'r-inonerouis office of Professor of Anatomy in the Royal law and hospital colleague, thle late Sir William Thomson, Hibernian Academy of Art; had been a useful and C.B. energetic governor of the Dublin National Gallery; ancd These multifarious duties did not exhaust Iis activities. had built up what was, for a practising medical man at He took great interest in hospital administration. He least, a uniquie collection of objects of antique art. Old Govern'or of Swift's Hospital, and also of the Richimond. English and Irisli silver, bronzes, Oriental porcelains, On wliatever administrative board he sat his aI -and exquisite old furniture made his house a place of dominiant voice, for he spoke out of full knowledge, and pilgrimage for connoisseurs. His circle of friends correwith manifest and unselfish earnestness. Thle late Sir sponded to hiis tastes; and it is safe to say that few William Thom-son and he artistic or literary persons spent much time in Dublin responsible for tire establishment of the schlool of nursing, at the Richmond; and dutring tllc last twenty years without gravitating to his it to their anid energy that the rebuilding of beautifuLl residenice, Ely House, and enjoying a hospitality the Richmond surgical block in 1899--1900 as large-hearted as it w%as refined. largely due. Had their courage failed them the block would Twvo years aglo, feelina that the strain of work was lhave been far from the beautiful building it is to-day; beginning to tell upoln him, he resigned the surgeoney with less energy the hospital miglht have been crippled to the Richmond Hospital. It cost 'him a bitter pang; by debt. But they nerved the Board of Governors to softened by the fact tllat at the unanimous wish of his
to

knowledge
in

butiStWILAM

STOKER, BAto crown career of him aa baronetcy brought

generous

marking.

Pholor raph by]

ei ner and Son, Deeliliz.

was

succession

was

was

were

was

courage

was

T400 nsm I I 400 MEDICAL JOURNAJ

OBITUARY.

I)UNE 15, T912.

ROBERT NIGHTINGALE HARTLEY, M.B., B.S.LOND. IT is a peculiarly difficult and delicate task to attempt to convey in a brief sketch a just and true impression of the striking personality of the late Robert N. Hartley,- and of the sad, strenuous, memorable .life that has just closed; but it is a life that ouglit to have its rec.ord lhere, .for be. was regarded with great sympathy and. with .deep respect and affection by a large circle of friends, patients, and :students, and the world is better because he lived. He was born at York -in 1854, and was son of the Rev. John Hartley, afterwards Principal of the Handswortlh Wes. leyan College at Birmingham. Various mem*bers of this family have ,rendered eminent public service in Churchl and State, amongst them thc .eldest son, the late Jolin Anderson Hartley, ViceChancellor of the Adelaide University, and .Inspector - General of Schools in South Australia, whose name is still a household word in that province. Robert N. Hartley was educated at Woodhouse.. Grove School, near Leeds, and at the Leeds School of Medicine, being also pupil to Dr. Thomas Mr. ROBERT H. WOODs, Dobson, who lived to be ex-President of the Royal the patriarch of medicine ROBERT NIGHTINGALE HARTLEY. [Jaihes Baconz an2d 2Son8, Leeds. photogi a Ah .y in Leeds. .Hartley also College of Surgeons, a former colle,aeue of Sir stud1iaed for a-. tis .4. Thornley Stoker, has sent us the following appreciation King's College under Lister, and at Moorfields Ophthalmic Hospital under Bowman. About 1875-6 he was Resident of hisfriend: It is difficult in the gloom of the shadow of death to de- House-Surgeon in the Leeds Infirmary-a post which at scribe in adequate terms the qualities and character of the that time could be held before qualification. It. was. at man whose loss we mourn to-day. Sir Thornley Stoker's this time that the catastrophe happened which overmany-sided personality cannot be summed up in a few words, shadowed his whole after-life.. : One night, when returning And except to those who knew him intimately any account to the infirmary from a visit to a medical friend, he was of it might well seem exaggerated. His wide sympathy decoyed into a dark street, assaulted, and robbed of watch with almost every phase of human activity was such as is and purse. He believed he was struck with a stick. He was brought unconscious to the infirmary, when hiis empty only to be found among the most richly endowed of men. He was a born surgeon. His early training as an pockets, the condition of his clothing, and a rent througl anatomist equipped him for surgical work of the highest his hat quite bore out the above statement. He was ill order; and when to this was added a delicate muscalar for several days with symptoms of concussion, and after pense, accuracy of observation, a habit of logical and recovery was advised to give up study for a long time. reasDned thought, and the conrage born of strong con- He neglected this advice, and proceeded to take his degree. viction and a high sense of duty, it is no wonder that we After thi's time he began to suffer from epileptic attacks. At first the attacks were slight and at long intervals, and as the had in him one of the first surgeons of our time. He was an earnest student of literature and a keen condition was traumatic it was hoped that he would -grow critic of style. His professional writings were forceful out of them. He used to point to a painful area on the foreand terse, while his private letters show a mastery -of head and say that the mischief was there, and *ould even elegant English. He was an acknowledged authority on talk of being trephined, but this was never raaried out.
....

colleagues the Board of Governors appointed him to be the first Consulting Surgeon to the hospital. He continued to attend the meetings of the Board of Governors assiduously, and his love for the hospital was as warm and active as ever. But his friends were pained to see that his own anticipations were but too well justified by the manifest failurie of his health. The pain of declining out of active life was mitigated by the devoted attention of a group of friends whose love was the best testimony to his worth. To him were given in abundance " honour, love, obedience, troops of friends." Recently he began to suffer from cardiac weakness, as a sequel to arterio-sclerosis, and the end came graduallv, painlessly, and peacefully, as sleep to a child, on the first day of this month. No estimate of his character would be complete which did not emphasize two outstanding points-namely, his almost too sensitive devotion to his poar hospital patients and his unusual quickness in appreciating and generosity ,in encouragi:mg merit in voun-a men. Over ani over agaia. in every year of his hospital work, had he been in the wards, not once, but twice and three times a day, making sure that aJl was well with Al patients whose only revard to him could be a prayer. Not ten days in the year, apart from;c his month's vacation, failed to find him at work in the hospital. His readi........t ,. ness not merely to recognize, but to force out and bring to public notice, whatever was good or original in his younger colleagues, was the work of a man conscious of his own strength, but conscious also that each age must lean not merely on that which precedes, ............... but on that which fol..... lows it, if it is itself to bring forth its best fruit. He retained to the end a sensitiveness to all high ideals which the rough friction of the world too often dulls in men of common -mould. His family motto, Quid verurn atque decens (",whatever is true and honourable "), fitly sums up Sir Thornley Stoker's life.
.,1

questions of art, and had an unerring judgement -of the artistic values of form, colour, and material. His hospitality wa unstinted. I i his house his guests found themselves in an atmosphere of geniality, cordiality, and ease of no common order. This delightful effect was enhanced in no small degree by the presence and influence of the remarkable woman he had married, whose cbarm, attainments, and strength of intellect made her as conspicuous among women as he was among men. But however one may speak of his professional eminence, his literary, artistic, and social proclivities, yet when all is said, one has scarcely touched the man himself-intensely human, entirely lovable, genial, sympathetic, and great hearted.

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