Alfred George Barrs | |
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| Born | 1853 (1853) Leicester, England |
| Died | February 8, 1934(1934-02-08) (aged 80–81) Leeds |
| Alma mater | University of Edinburgh |
| Scientific career | |
| Institutions |
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| Thesis | On adherent pericardium of rheumatic origin, with cases (1883) |
Alfred George Barrs,M.D.,F.R.C.P.Hon.LL.D (1853 - 28 February 1934) was aphysician andprofessor of medicine. He was among the first medical professionals to identify a link betweentuberculosis andpleural effusions.[1]
Alfred Barrs was born inLeicester in 1853, the son of John Barrs. He was educated at his local grammar school and completed his medical training atGuy's Hospital and theUniversity of Edinburgh.[1] He graduated with a M.B.Ed. in 1875, followed by a M.D. in 1882. In 1884 he became aMember of the Royal College of Physicians (M.R.C.P.) and became a Fellow (F.R.C.P.) in 1897.[2] His doctoral thesisOn adherent pericardium of rheumatic origin, with cases[3] was written in 1883.
Barrs was married to Alice Bywater Nelson, daughter of Henry Nelson, solicitor.[4] She died in 1897.[5] They had no children.[1]
Alfred Barrs moved toLeeds in 1879, having previously worked in junior positions at Guy's Hospital. After becoming M.R.C.P. in 1884, he was appointed assistant physician at Leeds General Infirmary, becoming a full physician in 1892[6] and remaining in this position for twenty years.[2] The areas he worked in includedcardiac disease,[2] publishing a paper in theBritish Medical Journal on the subject in 1892,[7] anddermatology, looking after the dermatological patients as a junior physician. He also submitted four water color drawings to the Dermatological Society of London.[8] In 1890 he published a paper on the tubercular origins of some pleural effusions, one of the first medical professionals to link the two.[9][1] As well as publishing articles in journals such as the BMJ and British Journal of Dermatology,[8] Barrs also edited Braithwaite's Retrospect of Medicine.[1][2]
Barrs taughtPhysiology atLeeds University (he was the university's first Demonstrator of Physiology[6]) before becoming Chair of Medicine from 1899 to 1910, when he became Professor of Clinical Medicine. In 1904, when the university gained itscharter (it had previously been Yorkshire College), he became its first representative to theGeneral Medical Council. He was elected emeritus professor of medicine in 1921 and, on the centenary ofLeeds medical school in 1931, was awarded an honorary L.L.D. in recognition of his services to medicine.[2]
WhenWorld War I broke out in 1914, Alfred Barrs served in the medical division of the 2nd Northern General Hospital atBeckett Park, Leeds, with the rank ofLieutenant Colonel.[1] The hospital was a former teacher training college and was converted into a hospital on the outbreak of war. It treated around 57,000 soldiers during the course of the war.[10]