SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: An eminent and pioneering surgeon of the Victorian age, who performed operations on European monarchs and could command fees equivalent to £10m in modern-day values, began his medical career as a GP in Croydon. DAVID MORGAN traces the remarkable career of polymath Sir Henry Thompson
Portrait of a polymath: Sir Henry Thompson, as painted by Milais in 1881
Discovering that someone had lived and worked in Croydon during the Victorian age was the last thing I expected to find when I visited Framlingham Castle in Suffolk recently.
In the local studies section was a display case devoted to a leading son of the town, Sir Henry Thompson.
His short biography included: “After a private education he was appointed to a general practitioner in Croydon in 1844.”
His time in Croydon was at the very beginning of his career in medicine, a stepping stone on the path to greatness, as he went on to become one of the country’s leading surgeons.
Thompson was born in Framlingham in 1820. His parents, staunch Baptists, ran a shop in the market town. His father, also Henry, was a tallow chandler – a candlemaker. His mother, Susannah, was a very good artist. Young Henry was privately educated by the non-conformist pastor at the nearby village of Wrentham (my father was the lay pastor of that same chapel in the 1980s).
Young Henry was fascinated by the countryside around Framlingham and was provided with a set of small wooden instruments with which he could dissect the plants. His parents were adamant that Henry should go into business, but a meeting with a local doctor and his assistant, a Dr Primrose and Richard Pechey, ignited a real interest and passion for medicine.
Directory entry: how Thompson and Bottomley appeared in the Croydon business directory in 1851
Thompson came to London to hear lectures at University College given by Samuel Cooper and Robert Liston. From that time on, he made up his mind to become a doctor.
In January 1844, he was apprenticed to George Bottomley, a physician and surgeon, who lived and worked at 65, High Street, Croydon. Later that year, in September, Thompson began his medical studies at University College Hospital. He was an extremely capable student, winning the gold medal for anatomy in 1849 and the gold medal for surgery in 1851. From 1850 he acted as first house surgeon to John Eric Erichsen, a Danish-born doctor who had recently been appointed surgeon at UCH.
One of the medical dressers working under Thompson was Joseph Lister, who would go on to become a world-leading pioneer of antiseptic surgery and preventive healthcare. It was partly due to Thompson’s advice that Lister went to Edinburgh to work with James Syme.
In January 1851, Thompson returned to Croydon to enter into partnership with his old mentor, Bottomley. Their names appear in the 1851 business directory for the town, still operating out of 65 High Street.
Nince months later, Thompson went into practice on his own, moving to 35 Wimpole Street, a property he was to occupy for the rest of his life.
On December 16 that year he got married. His bride was Kate Loder who was a rising star in the music world as a classical pianist. She stopped her concert appearances after they were married, on the wishes of her husband. She did though, carry on composing. Her musical compositions are still being heard by modern-day audiences.
In tune: Kate Loder, Thompson’s musician wife
The Thompsons’ house in Wimpole Street house was to be a musical and cultural hub. In 1871, they hosted the first British performance of Brahms’ Requiem, known as “The London Version”, with two pianos, small choir and soloists. Kate Loder was one of the pianists.
Thompson was a dedicated and hard-working doctor. He spent a large part of his honeymoon writing an essay Urethral Stricture Disease for entry into the Jacksonian Prize awarded by the London College of Surgeons. Thompson won.
Thompson went on to specialise in the removal of gallstones and the treatment of bladder stones. He was one of the leading urologists of his day and lectured widely on preventative treatments.
He went on to hold many prestigious appointments and positions, in Britain and in France.
In 1863, Thompson performed a successful operation on King Leopold I of Belgium, removing kidney stones, and subsequently became the surgeon-extraordinary to the Belgian Royal Family. For the treatment of the king, he received a fee of £3,000 – almost £500,000 in today’s values.
He also treated Emperor Napoleon III of France.
In 1866 he was appointed to the post of Professor of Clinical Surgery at University College Hospital.
Cornfields: Thompson was a skilled painter, who exhibited works at the Royal Academy
It wasn’t just medicine that filled his time and his thinking, though.
Perhaps getting some artistic skill from his mother, Thompson had always drawn, sketched and painted. In his youth he tried to emulate his maternal grandfather’s artistic efforts.
Samuel Medley’s background helps to explain much about Thompson’s life. Medley was the son of a Baptist minister, hence Thompson’s nonconformist upbringing. Medley was a prolific portrait painter and was also closely associated with the founding of University College Hospital.
Thompson discovered as he got older that his artistic skills improved. His 1865 medical themed painting, The Chrysalis, was submitted to the Royal Academy of Arts spring exhibition. In all, Thompson would have 13 paintings exhibited by the Royal Academy.
Thompson was knighted in 1867 and in 1899 was created a baronet – a form of hereditary knighthood.
Thompson was much in demand as a surgeon. One grateful patient paid him a fee of £70,000 – worth millions today – and he spent some of that considerable wealth acquiring a vast collection of Nanking porcelain. Most of it was auctioned off in 1880 by Christie’s, as he decided he did not have the space to display it properly. Today, a lot of Thompson’s china collection is in the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore.
Pellegrini: this Thompson work is in the National Portrait Gallery’s collection
Thompson also wrote novels under the pseudonym “Pen Oliver”. His 1885 book Charlie Kingston’s Aunt was based on his experiences as a medical student. He also wrote books under his own name, one of which outlined his advice about what to eat and drink if you wanted a longer and more healthy life.
Although it was against the law of the day, Thompson was a great advocate for cremation.
This was based on the importance he gave to hygiene. In 1879, he built a crematorium at Woking, although it did not come into use until six years later.
There seemed to be no end to Thompson’s interests and energy. He became very interested in food. In France, he was introduced to gourmet dining, which impressed him hugely. From a medical point of view, he also became very aware of the importance of moderation in diet.
It didn’t stop him from introducing gourmet nights at Wimpole Street.
Eight men would be invited for dinner at eight o’clock. There would be an eight-course meal and the guests were referred to as “The Octaves”.
Thompson hosted some of the most prominent people in Victorian society. On his guest list were Charles Dickens, William Thackery, Rider Haggard, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Sir John Tenniel, the illustrator and cartoonist, as well as Edward VII and Prince George, later George V.
Astronomy was another of Thompson’s interests. He built an observatory at his other house in East Molesey and equipped it with the finest instruments of the day, which he later presented to the Greenwich Observatory – a gift that was rewarded with the baronetcy.
Victorian giant: Thompson threw dinner parties attended by Edward VII, Dickens and Conan Doyle
Thompson died in 1904, aged 84.
Thompson and Kate Loder had one son and two daughters. Herbert, a barrister, inherited the baronetcy, and was famous in his own right as an Egyptologist – there is a professorship established in his name at Cambridge University. One of Sir Henry’s grandchildren, Alec de Candole, became known as a World War I poet.
How many of Sir Henry’s Croydon patients from his early days would read about his later achievements in the newspapers? “Look at that Sir Henry. Hasn’t he done well for himself? Such a nice man. He wasn’t much more than a boy when he treated me. I often think of him when I am eating. That advice in his book about really chewing your food properly and not drinking lots of liquid with your dinner has done me the world of good.”
David Morgan, pictured right, is a former Croydon headteacher, now the volunteer education officer at Croydon Minster, who offers tours or illustrated talks on the history around the Minster for local community groups
If you would like a group tour of Croydon Minster or want to book a school visit, then ring the Minster Office on 020 688 8104 or go to the website on www.croydonminster.org and use the contact page
Some previous articles by David Morgan:
- Norwood to Hollywood: Oscar-winner who dressed the stars
- Artist Henry Wallis and affair that caused a Victorian scandal
- The church fire that consumed a thousand years of history
- If you have a news story about life in or around Croydon, or want to publicise your residents’ association or business, or if you have a local event to promote, please email us with full details at inside.croydon@btinternet.com
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Brilliant! David Morgan’s articles alone are worth my annual sub to IC. Keep up the great work. BTW, it looks as if George Bottomley’s medical practice is now Sainsbury’s.
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