Edward Headlam Greenhow
Encyclopedia
Edward Headlam Greenhow was an English
physician
.
Physician, epidemiologist, sanitarian, statistician, clinician and lecturer
. He was arguably the first "Green
", a century before the term was invented.
Greenhow was a consulting physician to the Middlesex Hospital
. His grandfather, father and uncle were all physicians.
Greenhow was born at North Shields
in 1814, and after receiving his medical education at Edinburgh
and Montpelier
, he joined his father in practice in that town.
Here he practiced for eighteen years, and did much useful work in sanitation, becoming a member of the Town Council of Tynemouth
and chairman of the Board of Health.
In 1852 he graduated as M.D. at King's College
, University of Aberdeen
, and in 1853 established himself in London as a consulting physician. For some years he was largely engaged in work connected with public health, being appointed lecturer on this subject at St. Thomas's Hospital (the first appointment of the kind in the country).
Across the road from St. Thomas's Hospital is Guy's Hospital
, which had been run by the legendary Sir Astley Cooper
. Greenhow became acquainted with Thomas Addison
, and saw the patients mentioned in Addison's book before they died. He also met William Withey Gull, who with William Baly ran the Cholera Committee. Dr. Gull later became Queen Victoria's physician.
An elaborate inquiry he personally undertook into the excessive mortality from certain diseases in certain districts in England, for the purpose of his lectures, was published as a parliamentary paper by Mr. Simon, later Sir John Simon, then medical officer of the Board of Health. The facts gathered in this inquiry were made the basis of much of the future work arising out of the Public Health Act, 1858, when Mr. Simon was medical officer to the Privy Council
. Greenhow was engaged to undertake inquiries into diphtheria
(1859) and pulmonary disease among operatives (miners, grinders, flax-dressers, etc.), his report on this latter subject (1860–1861) being of great value and of wide interest.
Professor Burdon Sanderson said of Sir John Simon that "he endured, perhaps with too little patience, the constant pinpricks of official interference". Indeed, after he had been overruled too often, Sir John resigned in 1876 as Chief Medical Officer to the Privy Council—and the post was promptly abolished. Greenhow had lost a valuable ally.
The point of contention was that Simon and Greenhow were persuaded that cleanliness led to health, and that pollution, such as in Liverpool, was the cause of the plagues of typhoid and Asiatic cholera
in Britain. Accordingly, the government used William Henry Duncan to refute the conclusions of Greenhow, with the glib argument that Greenhow was "statistically inaccurate". L.J. Donaldson continued the slander even in his "Duncan Lecture" of 1998.
The simple clarity and transparency of Greenhow's arithmetic, however, allowed of no mistake. The government was busy with the Indian Rebellion
and with the Opium Wars
, and simply did not wish to spend the money on a clean-up.
In 1855, Baly and Gull issued a report that a lady living about six miles from the Britannia Pump in Soho, and her maid, had died of cholera in Hampstead. Nobody else had died of cholera in Hampstead. The lady had sent her maid to fetch the water, and told neighbours that she enjoyed its flavour.
Irresponsible elements in the government ignored the conclusion of the Cholera Committee, and then unexpectedly had a change of plan. They despatched John Snow
to tell the local authority to disconnect the pump.
The Soho epidemic stopped abruptly, and slowly a policy of public works began, by which sewers were fitted to separate the drinking water from the sewage.
Greenhow's various reports as Medical Officer of the Privy Council were instrumental in the emancipation of children, beginning in 1867 with a change to the Workshop Regulation Act. This made it illegal to employ children under the age of eight.
In 1859 he became a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians
, and in 1861 was elected assistant physician to the Middlesex Hospital and lecturer on the subjects of public health and medical jurisprudence in the medical school. In 1871 he became physician and lecturer on medicine ; he did good service to the hospital and its school during his whole connection with them, and on his retirement from the acting staff in 1880 was elected consulting physician to the hospital.
Greenhow was a Fellow of the Royal Society
(1870) and a member of many medical societies, to which he largely contributed.
In 1881–2 he was president of the Clinical Society of London, which he had taken a great share in founding in 1867. He was the author of works on diphtheria, chronic bronchitis, and upon Addison's disease, the latter subject being selected by him for his Croonian lectures, delivered before the Royal College of Physicians
in 1875.
The lectures became the subject of a second book on Addison's disease
, and Greenhow delivered the lecture on Addison's disease at the International Medical Congress of 1881. In this he was well-placed, having had eleven patients of his own—the largest number ever recorded for a single clinician. He had pioneered treatment with iron and effervescing medicine which engineered a "remission", and so prolonged life.
Greenhow married, in 1842, the widow of Mr. W. Barnard, by whom he had one son, the Rev. E. Greenhow, vicar of Earsdon. She died in 1857, and in 1862 he married the second daughter of Mr. Joseph Hume
, M.P., by whom he had two daughters.
As a practical physician and clinical teacher, and as one of the earliest workers in sanitary science, Greenhow's name will be remembered, while the fruits of his industrious and busy life are recorded in the medical literature. It should further be added that he served on more than one Royal Commission, of which Lord Kimberley (Earl of Kimberley
) was chairman ; while he had been the medical officer to the Pensions Commutation Board from its formation in 1870 until the day of his death.
He was returning to his home at Reigate
on the afternoon of the 22nd April 1888., after attending to his duties as medical officer to the Pensions Commutation Board, when, while at Charing Cross Station
, he died suddenly.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
physician
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
.
Physician, epidemiologist, sanitarian, statistician, clinician and lecturer
Lecturer
Lecturer is an academic rank. In the United Kingdom, lecturer is a position at a university or similar institution, often held by academics in their early career stages, who lead research groups and supervise research students, as well as teach...
. He was arguably the first "Green
Green
Green is a color, the perception of which is evoked by light having a spectrum dominated by energy with a wavelength of roughly 520–570 nanometres. In the subtractive color system, it is not a primary color, but is created out of a mixture of yellow and blue, or yellow and cyan; it is considered...
", a century before the term was invented.
Greenhow was a consulting physician to the Middlesex Hospital
Middlesex Hospital
The Middlesex Hospital was a teaching hospital located in the Fitzrovia area of London, United Kingdom. First opened in 1745 on Windmill Street, it was moved in 1757 to Mortimer Street where it remained until it was finally closed in 2005. Its staff and services were transferred to various sites...
. His grandfather, father and uncle were all physicians.
Greenhow was born at North Shields
North Shields
North Shields is a town on the north bank of the River Tyne, in the metropolitan borough of North Tyneside, in North East England...
in 1814, and after receiving his medical education at Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
and Montpelier
University of Montpellier
The University of Montpellier was a French university in Montpellier in the Languedoc-Roussillon région of the south of France. Its present-day successor universities are the University of Montpellier 1, Montpellier 2 University and Paul Valéry University, Montpellier III.-History:The university...
, he joined his father in practice in that town.
Here he practiced for eighteen years, and did much useful work in sanitation, becoming a member of the Town Council of Tynemouth
Tynemouth
Tynemouth is a town and a historic borough in Tyne and Wear, England, at the mouth of the River Tyne, between North Shields and Cullercoats . It is administered as part of the borough of North Tyneside, but until 1974 was an independent county borough in its own right...
and chairman of the Board of Health.
In 1852 he graduated as M.D. at King's College
King's College, Aberdeen
King's College in Old Aberdeen, Scotland is a formerly independent university founded in 1495 and an integral part of the University of Aberdeen...
, University of Aberdeen
University of Aberdeen
The University of Aberdeen, an ancient university founded in 1495, in Aberdeen, Scotland, is a British university. It is the third oldest university in Scotland, and the fifth oldest in the United Kingdom and wider English-speaking world...
, and in 1853 established himself in London as a consulting physician. For some years he was largely engaged in work connected with public health, being appointed lecturer on this subject at St. Thomas's Hospital (the first appointment of the kind in the country).
Across the road from St. Thomas's Hospital is Guy's Hospital
Guy's Hospital
Guy's Hospital is a large NHS hospital in the borough of Southwark in south east London, England. It is administratively a part of Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust. It is a large teaching hospital and is home to the King's College London School of Medicine...
, which had been run by the legendary Sir Astley Cooper
Astley Cooper
Sir Astley Paston Cooper, 1st Baronet was an English surgeon and anatomist, who made historical contributions to otology, vascular surgery, the anatomy and pathology of the mammary glands and testicles, and the pathology and surgery of hernia.-Life:Cooper was born at Brooke Hall in Brooke, Norfolk...
. Greenhow became acquainted with Thomas Addison
Thomas Addison
Thomas Addison was a renowned 19th-century English physician and scientist. He is traditionally regarded as one of the "great men" of Guy's Hospital in London....
, and saw the patients mentioned in Addison's book before they died. He also met William Withey Gull, who with William Baly ran the Cholera Committee. Dr. Gull later became Queen Victoria's physician.
An elaborate inquiry he personally undertook into the excessive mortality from certain diseases in certain districts in England, for the purpose of his lectures, was published as a parliamentary paper by Mr. Simon, later Sir John Simon, then medical officer of the Board of Health. The facts gathered in this inquiry were made the basis of much of the future work arising out of the Public Health Act, 1858, when Mr. Simon was medical officer to the Privy Council
Privy council
A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a nation, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the monarch's closest advisors to give confidential advice on...
. Greenhow was engaged to undertake inquiries into diphtheria
Diphtheria
Diphtheria is an upper respiratory tract illness caused by Corynebacterium diphtheriae, a facultative anaerobic, Gram-positive bacterium. It is characterized by sore throat, low fever, and an adherent membrane on the tonsils, pharynx, and/or nasal cavity...
(1859) and pulmonary disease among operatives (miners, grinders, flax-dressers, etc.), his report on this latter subject (1860–1861) being of great value and of wide interest.
Professor Burdon Sanderson said of Sir John Simon that "he endured, perhaps with too little patience, the constant pinpricks of official interference". Indeed, after he had been overruled too often, Sir John resigned in 1876 as Chief Medical Officer to the Privy Council—and the post was promptly abolished. Greenhow had lost a valuable ally.
The point of contention was that Simon and Greenhow were persuaded that cleanliness led to health, and that pollution, such as in Liverpool, was the cause of the plagues of typhoid and Asiatic cholera
Cholera
Cholera is an infection of the small intestine that is caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. The main symptoms are profuse watery diarrhea and vomiting. Transmission occurs primarily by drinking or eating water or food that has been contaminated by the diarrhea of an infected person or the feces...
in Britain. Accordingly, the government used William Henry Duncan to refute the conclusions of Greenhow, with the glib argument that Greenhow was "statistically inaccurate". L.J. Donaldson continued the slander even in his "Duncan Lecture" of 1998.
The simple clarity and transparency of Greenhow's arithmetic, however, allowed of no mistake. The government was busy with the Indian Rebellion
Indian Rebellion of 1857
The Indian Rebellion of 1857 began as a mutiny of sepoys of the British East India Company's army on 10 May 1857, in the town of Meerut, and soon escalated into other mutinies and civilian rebellions largely in the upper Gangetic plain and central India, with the major hostilities confined to...
and with the Opium Wars
Opium Wars
The Opium Wars, also known as the Anglo-Chinese Wars, divided into the First Opium War from 1839 to 1842 and the Second Opium War from 1856 to 1860, were the climax of disputes over trade and diplomatic relations between China under the Qing Dynasty and the British Empire...
, and simply did not wish to spend the money on a clean-up.
In 1855, Baly and Gull issued a report that a lady living about six miles from the Britannia Pump in Soho, and her maid, had died of cholera in Hampstead. Nobody else had died of cholera in Hampstead. The lady had sent her maid to fetch the water, and told neighbours that she enjoyed its flavour.
Irresponsible elements in the government ignored the conclusion of the Cholera Committee, and then unexpectedly had a change of plan. They despatched John Snow
John Snow (physician)
John Snow was an English physician and a leader in the adoption of anaesthesia and medical hygiene. He is considered to be one of the fathers of epidemiology, because of his work in tracing the source of a cholera outbreak in Soho, England, in 1854.-Early life and education:Snow was born 15 March...
to tell the local authority to disconnect the pump.
The Soho epidemic stopped abruptly, and slowly a policy of public works began, by which sewers were fitted to separate the drinking water from the sewage.
Greenhow's various reports as Medical Officer of the Privy Council were instrumental in the emancipation of children, beginning in 1867 with a change to the Workshop Regulation Act. This made it illegal to employ children under the age of eight.
In 1859 he became a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians
Royal College of Physicians
The Royal College of Physicians of London was founded in 1518 as the College of Physicians by royal charter of King Henry VIII in 1518 - the first medical institution in England to receive a royal charter...
, and in 1861 was elected assistant physician to the Middlesex Hospital and lecturer on the subjects of public health and medical jurisprudence in the medical school. In 1871 he became physician and lecturer on medicine ; he did good service to the hospital and its school during his whole connection with them, and on his retirement from the acting staff in 1880 was elected consulting physician to the hospital.
Greenhow was a Fellow of the Royal Society
Royal Society
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
(1870) and a member of many medical societies, to which he largely contributed.
In 1881–2 he was president of the Clinical Society of London, which he had taken a great share in founding in 1867. He was the author of works on diphtheria, chronic bronchitis, and upon Addison's disease, the latter subject being selected by him for his Croonian lectures, delivered before the Royal College of Physicians
Royal College of Physicians
The Royal College of Physicians of London was founded in 1518 as the College of Physicians by royal charter of King Henry VIII in 1518 - the first medical institution in England to receive a royal charter...
in 1875.
The lectures became the subject of a second book on Addison's disease
Addison's disease
Addison’s disease is a rare, chronic endocrine disorder in which the adrenal glands do not produce sufficient steroid hormones...
, and Greenhow delivered the lecture on Addison's disease at the International Medical Congress of 1881. In this he was well-placed, having had eleven patients of his own—the largest number ever recorded for a single clinician. He had pioneered treatment with iron and effervescing medicine which engineered a "remission", and so prolonged life.
Greenhow married, in 1842, the widow of Mr. W. Barnard, by whom he had one son, the Rev. E. Greenhow, vicar of Earsdon. She died in 1857, and in 1862 he married the second daughter of Mr. Joseph Hume
Joseph Hume
Joseph Hume FRS was a Scottish doctor and Radical MP, born in Montrose, Angus.-Medical career:He studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh and moved to India in 1797...
, M.P., by whom he had two daughters.
As a practical physician and clinical teacher, and as one of the earliest workers in sanitary science, Greenhow's name will be remembered, while the fruits of his industrious and busy life are recorded in the medical literature. It should further be added that he served on more than one Royal Commission, of which Lord Kimberley (Earl of Kimberley
Earl of Kimberley
Earl of Kimberley, of Kimberley in the County of Norfolk, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1866 for the prominent Liberal politician John Wodehouse, 3rd Baron Wodehouse...
) was chairman ; while he had been the medical officer to the Pensions Commutation Board from its formation in 1870 until the day of his death.
He was returning to his home at Reigate
Reigate
Reigate is a historic market town in Surrey, England, at the foot of the North Downs, and in the London commuter belt. It is one of the main constituents of the Borough of Reigate and Banstead...
on the afternoon of the 22nd April 1888., after attending to his duties as medical officer to the Pensions Commutation Board, when, while at Charing Cross Station
Charing Cross station
Charing Cross station may refer to:In London, England:*Charing Cross railway station*Charing Cross tube station **Embankment tube station was previously named Charing CrossIn Glasgow, Scotland:...
, he died suddenly.
Service at the Middlesex
Excerpt from the Record of the Services of the Honorary Staff at the Middlesex Hospital:- Assistant Physician, 6 June 1861
- Extra Physician, 25 August 1870
- Physician, 31 August 1871
- Consulting Physician from 26 February 1880 until his death on 22 November 1888
- Lecturer on Forensic Medicine, 2 March 1861
- Lecturer on Public Health, 11 July 1862
- Dean of the Medical School, 18 June 1868
- Lecturer on Medicine, 1871-28 October 1876
- Treasurer of the Medical School, 1870-6 April 1878