Surgeon, apothecary and accoucheur

[Matt62]

One of my direct ancestors, Thomas Fawell (1784 - 1827), was a surgeon, apothecary and accoucheur with practices, at various times, in Leeds and London.

He sometimes wrote in medical periodicals; for instance "The Medical and Physical Journal, Volume 22" of 1809, where he wrote the following:


https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=AA8UAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA48&dq=thomas+fawell+surgeon&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiqpri7isjSAhWCKMAKHZ0jBDoQ6AEIGjAA#v=onepage&q&f=false

"...To the Editors of the Medical and Physical Journal,

Gentlemen,

Having mentioned to some of my medical friends a case of Superfetation, which occurred to me in my practice a few weeks ago, I was requested to state it to you for insertion in your periodical publication, which I leave to your judgement, if you should deem it worthy of notice.

On the 13th of April last, I was called to Mrs. Lacer, of Hunslett, near this place, in labour, who had previously spoken to me to attend her; on my entering into the room, I proceeded to examine her per vaginam, when I found the os uteri completely dilated, and the membranes unbroken; the labour went on regularly, and in the course of half an hour, one living child was expelled. After having separated the child, I laid my hand (as usual) upon the abdomen, and found the uterus not contracted; after a few minutes, a pain came on, when I examined her again, and found the membranes pressing forwards, and in the course of half an hour, she was delivered of a foetus; I should suppose from its size, about 4 or 5 months.

Apparently it had been dead a few days; it had no putrid appearence, but rather inclining to a darkish hue. The woman recovered remarkably well, and is in perfect health.

I should be happy if any of your readers would favour me with a few observations upon the above case.

I am, &c.
        Thomas Fawell, Surgeon

Leeds, May 30, 1809

Could anyone tell me what kind, or rather level, of qualifications, if any, one needed to have to work as a surgeon, apothecary and accoucheur (male midwife) in this period at the start of the nineteenth century?

I mean, what would Thomas's education have involved? 

[horselydown86]

There is an entry for Thomas Fawell dated 25 June 1803 in the collection UK, Register of Duties Paid for Apprentices' Indentures, 1710-1811 on Ancestry.

He was apprenticed to Thos Teale, Surgeon &c of Leeds in the County of York.

The &c = etc and probably means Teale had other hats, such as apothecary.

Note that the date is when the duty was paid.  It will be close to but not necessarily exactly when the apprentice was bound to the master.

Surgeons feature fairly regularly in accident reports in the newspapers, so you may find out more about Teale in the British Newspaper Archive or in the newspapers on FindMyPast.

[Marmalady]

I have several generations of apothecaries & surgeons in my tree (coincidentally, also in Leeds)

An apothecary dealt with minor ailments and made up his own medicines, pills, potions etc.

The earliest one in my tree in the early 1700's learnt his trade by being apprenticed to an apothecary.
Later, training became more formalised with the Apothecaries Society conducting examinations and granting Licenses.

A Surgeon was usually more medically knowledgeable and dealt with more complicated illnesses & injuries.

Gradually the two branches of medicine  diverged into the pharmacists and doctors/surgeons of today

[KGarrad]

A doctor needed a University Education, and a Doctorate of Medecine qualification.
Which is why they use the title "Doctor".

A surgeon is granted a Diploma by the Royal College of Surgeons, and they used to be apprenticed to a surgeon.
Hence they use the title "Mr".

When the College of Surgeons received its royal charter (1800), the Royal College of Physicians insisted that candidates must have a medical degree first. Therefore, an aspiring surgeon had to study medicine first and received the title Doctor. Thereafter, having obtained the diploma of Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons he would revert to the title "Mr" as a snub to the RCP.

[Matt62]

This is fast fascinating information, thank you guys.

KGarrad, from your post it seems that Thomas Fawell may have had to pursue a degree in medicine first before qualifying as a surgeon? Is there any source I could look up from the early 1800s which might confirm this?

Marmalady, that's really interesting to know you hail from a long line of apothecaries/surgeons in Leeds. It would appear that the two fields intersected considerably in the early days.

Horselydown: that's a fantastic find, I will do some searching for more info on Thomas Teale!

[Matt62]

In the biographical entry of his brother-in-law Samuel Smith in Plarr's Lives of the Fellows (a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons), Thomas Fawell is described simply as a "general practitioner":

http://livesonline.rcseng.ac.uk/biogs/E000538b.htm

Smith, Samuel (1790 - 1867)
MRCS, Jan 3rd, 1812; FRCS, Dec 11th, 1843, one of the original 300 Fellows.

Born
1790
Leeds, Yorkshire, UK
Died
19 November 1867
Leeds, Yorkshire, UK
Occupation
General surgeon

Born in Briggate, Leeds, the son of George Smith, banker; was apprenticed to his brother-in-law, Fawell, a general practitioner in Leeds. He then studied in London, where he was for a time a house pupil of Sir Charles Bell, and in Edinburgh. He began practice in Leeds, and in 1819 was appointed Surgeon to the General Infirmary on the vacancy occasioned by the death of Stansfeld. He held office for forty-five years, and proved a successful operator, especially as a lithotomist, a scrupulously generous colleague, uniformly kind to his patients.

Although this entry in the "General Infirmary at Leeds: The second hundred years, 1869-1965", describes him again as an apothecary and Surgeon:


https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=ilprAAAAMAAJ&q=thos+teale+surgeon+thos+fawell&dq=thos+teale+surgeon+thos+fawell&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjY_Ibe0fTUAhXkDMAKHaRuAN0Q6AEIQDAH

Mr. Smith was born in Briggate, Leeds, son of George Smith, a banker.93 He was apprenticed to his brother-in-law, Mr. Fawell ( PFavell), apothecary and surgeon in Leeds

(I'm not sure what the ("PFavell") means in the entry above, is that simply an alternative rendering of his name?)

Samuel Smith's father George, the banker, is also my ancestor - of course, being the father of Thomas Fawell's wife Hannah.

[horselydown86]

KGarrad, from your post it seems that Thomas Fawell may have had to pursue a degree in medicine first before qualifying as a surgeon? Is there any source I could look up from the early 1800s which might confirm this?

I'm not disputing KG's information, nor suggesting that you shouldn't check for an academic record; but the details of a nineteenth century M.R.C.S. in my family don't support the view that he had a degree in medicine before becoming a surgeon.

He was baptized in May 1825.  A newspaper of October 1848 reports that he was admitted a member of the Royal College of Surgeons, and continues to say "he was complimented by the court on the readiness and correctness of the answers he gave to the questions put to him".  No mention is made of an academic qualification.

It also gives the surname of the surgeon to whom he had been pupil - one of the Bullmore brothers of Falmouth.  Which of the two isn't clear, but both had practices in western Cornwall - a long way from academic institutions.

One of the brothers was Frederick Charles Bullmore (born 1808).  His obituary in the BMJ says that he became a Licentiate of the Apothecaries Society in 1830 and an M.R.C.S. in 1831.  That is, at 23 years of age - the same as my relative.

Put all that together and it's highly suggestive that well into the C19th the R.C.S. was giving membership status to men educated in the older system of apprenticeship to practicing surgeon/apothecaries.

[KGarrad]

What I was alluding to was that if he styled himself as "Doctor", then he would have needed a University Education.

If he styled himself "Mr.", then he wouldn't necessarily have a degree.
Of course he may still have been to University, but I don't think it was mandatory?