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Balefire Publishing
The Elephant Man and Other Reminiscences
The Elephant Man and Other Reminiscences
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The Elephant Man and Other Reminiscences is a book devoted to the personal memoirs of Sir Frederick Treves, 1st Baronet (15 February 1853 – 7 December 1923), a prominent British surgeon of the Victorian and Edwardian eras, now known for his friendship with Joseph Merrick, "the Elephant Man".
Frederick Treves was born 15 February 1853 in Dorchester, Dorset, the son of William Treves, an upholsterer, and his wife Jane. As a small boy, he attended the school run by the Dorset dialect poet, William Barnes. He became a surgeon, specialising in abdominal surgery, at the London Hospital in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Treves performed the first appendectomy in England, on 29 June 1888.
He married Ann Elizabeth Mason in 1877.
In 1884, Treves first saw Joseph Merrick, known as the Elephant Man, being exhibited by showman Tom Norman in a shop across the road from the London Hospital. Around 1886 Treves brought Merrick to the London Hospital where Merrick lived until his death in April 1890. Treves' reminiscences mistakenly names Joseph Merrick as John Merrick, an error widely recirculated by biographers of Merrick.
During the Second Boer War (1899–1902), Treves volunteered to work at a field hospital in South Africa treating the wounded. He later published an account of his experiences in The Tale of a Field Hospital, based on articles written at the time for the British Medical Journal.
In May 1901, Treves was appointed Serjeant Surgeon to King Edward VII. The coronation of the new king was scheduled for 26 June, but on 24 June, Edward was diagnosed with appendicitis. Treves, with the support of the leading surgical authority, Lord Lister, performed a then-radical operation of draining the infected appendix through a small incision. This was at a time when appendicitis was generally not treated operatively and carried a high mortality rate. The King had opposed surgery for this reason but Treves insisted, stating that if he was not permitted to operate, there would instead be a funeral. The next day, Edward was sitting up in bed, smoking a cigar.
Treves was honoured with a baronetcy (which Edward had arranged before the operation) and appendix surgery entered the medical mainstream in the UK. He was granted the use of Thatched House Lodge in Richmond Park and was subsequently able to take early retirement.
Treves was also the author of many books, including The Elephant Man and Other Reminiscences (1923), Surgically Applied Anatomy (1883), The Highways and Byways of Dorset (the county in which he was born), A Student's Handbook of Surgical Operations (1892), Uganda for a Holiday, The Land That is Desolate, and The Cradle of the Deep (1908). This last volume is an account of his travels in the West Indies, interspersed with portions of their histories; describing (among other things) the death of Blackbeard the pirate, an eruption of Mount Pelée (which destroyed the city of St. Pierre, Martinique), and a powerful earthquake at Kingston, Jamaica, shortly before he landed there. From 1902 to 1910 he was Serjeant Surgeon to the Royal Household. He was also chairman of the Executive Committee from 1905 to 1912 of the British Red Cross, and was the first president of the Society of Dorset Men. From 1905-8, he was Rector of the University of Aberdeen.
Around 1920 Sir Frederick went to live in Switzerland where he died in Lausanne on 7 December 1923 at the age of 70. He died from peritonitis.
Joseph Carey Merrick (5 August 1862 – 11 April 1890), sometimes incorrectly referred to as John Merrick, was an English man with severe deformities who was exhibited as a human curiosity named the Elephant Man. He became well known in London society after he went to live at the London Hospital. Merrick was born in Leicester and began to develop abnormally during the first few years of his life. His skin appeared thick and lumpy, he developed an enlargement of his lips, and a bony lump grew on his forehead.
Frederick Treves was born 15 February 1853 in Dorchester, Dorset, the son of William Treves, an upholsterer, and his wife Jane. As a small boy, he attended the school run by the Dorset dialect poet, William Barnes. He became a surgeon, specialising in abdominal surgery, at the London Hospital in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Treves performed the first appendectomy in England, on 29 June 1888.
He married Ann Elizabeth Mason in 1877.
In 1884, Treves first saw Joseph Merrick, known as the Elephant Man, being exhibited by showman Tom Norman in a shop across the road from the London Hospital. Around 1886 Treves brought Merrick to the London Hospital where Merrick lived until his death in April 1890. Treves' reminiscences mistakenly names Joseph Merrick as John Merrick, an error widely recirculated by biographers of Merrick.
During the Second Boer War (1899–1902), Treves volunteered to work at a field hospital in South Africa treating the wounded. He later published an account of his experiences in The Tale of a Field Hospital, based on articles written at the time for the British Medical Journal.
In May 1901, Treves was appointed Serjeant Surgeon to King Edward VII. The coronation of the new king was scheduled for 26 June, but on 24 June, Edward was diagnosed with appendicitis. Treves, with the support of the leading surgical authority, Lord Lister, performed a then-radical operation of draining the infected appendix through a small incision. This was at a time when appendicitis was generally not treated operatively and carried a high mortality rate. The King had opposed surgery for this reason but Treves insisted, stating that if he was not permitted to operate, there would instead be a funeral. The next day, Edward was sitting up in bed, smoking a cigar.
Treves was honoured with a baronetcy (which Edward had arranged before the operation) and appendix surgery entered the medical mainstream in the UK. He was granted the use of Thatched House Lodge in Richmond Park and was subsequently able to take early retirement.
Treves was also the author of many books, including The Elephant Man and Other Reminiscences (1923), Surgically Applied Anatomy (1883), The Highways and Byways of Dorset (the county in which he was born), A Student's Handbook of Surgical Operations (1892), Uganda for a Holiday, The Land That is Desolate, and The Cradle of the Deep (1908). This last volume is an account of his travels in the West Indies, interspersed with portions of their histories; describing (among other things) the death of Blackbeard the pirate, an eruption of Mount Pelée (which destroyed the city of St. Pierre, Martinique), and a powerful earthquake at Kingston, Jamaica, shortly before he landed there. From 1902 to 1910 he was Serjeant Surgeon to the Royal Household. He was also chairman of the Executive Committee from 1905 to 1912 of the British Red Cross, and was the first president of the Society of Dorset Men. From 1905-8, he was Rector of the University of Aberdeen.
Around 1920 Sir Frederick went to live in Switzerland where he died in Lausanne on 7 December 1923 at the age of 70. He died from peritonitis.
Joseph Carey Merrick (5 August 1862 – 11 April 1890), sometimes incorrectly referred to as John Merrick, was an English man with severe deformities who was exhibited as a human curiosity named the Elephant Man. He became well known in London society after he went to live at the London Hospital. Merrick was born in Leicester and began to develop abnormally during the first few years of his life. His skin appeared thick and lumpy, he developed an enlargement of his lips, and a bony lump grew on his forehead.
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