John Lockhart-Mummery FRCS | |
|---|---|
 John Percy Lockhart-Mummery[1] | |
| Born | 14 February 1875 Islip Manor,Northolt, England |
| Died | 24 April 1957 (aged 82) Hove, Sussex, England |
| Nationality | British |
| Education | The Leys School |
| Relatives |
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| Medical career | |
| Profession | Surgeon |
| Institutions | |
| Sub-specialties | Oncology,proctology |
John Percy Lockhart-MummeryFRCS (14 February 1875 – 24 April 1957), was a British surgeon atSt Mark's Hospital, London, who devised a classification ofrectal cancer and describedfamilial polyposis which led to the formation of thepolyposis registry. He was the author of several books, includingDiseases of the Rectum and Colon and their Surgical Treatment (1923),The Origin of Cancer (1934), andAfter Us, or the World as it Might Be (1936). His work oncolorectal surgery earned him the nickname "King Rectum".
Lockhart-Mummery's grandfather, his brother, and his father,John Howard Mummery, were all dental surgeons. While studying at Cambridge he developedsarcoma of his leg, for whichJoseph Lister carried out an amputation. He completed his clinical training in 1899 atSt George's Hospital, London, and in 1904 was appointedHunterian Professor at theRoyal College of Surgeons. He showed thatsigmoidoscopy was safe and effective in looking for diseases of thelarge bowel. During theFirst World War he operated atKing Edward VII's Hospital Sister Agnes, where he treated mainly gunshot wounds affecting the colon, rectum and anus.
Lockhart-Mummery was the first secretary of the British Proctological Society, which in 1939, became a section of theRoyal Society of Medicine (RSM).[2] Some of his theories on cancer andeugenics are controversial, and were thought of as radical at that time, even by his friendLord Horder, president of the Eugenics Society. He was also a friend ofH. G. Wells, with whom he shared some beliefs about the role of science in the problems of the human body.
John Lockhart Mummery (later Lockhart-Mummery), was born in Islip Manor,Northolt, on 14 February 1875 toJohn Howard Mummery, a dental surgeon, and his first wife Mary Lily. His paternal grandfather was a dental surgeon, and his younger brother, Stanley, also became a dental surgeon.[3][4]
He was educated first atEagle House School and thenThe Leys School.[5] Subsequently, he gained admission toGonville and Caius College, Cambridge, passing the first part of theNatural Sciences Tripos in 1897 with second-class honours. During his time at Cambridge he developedsarcoma of his leg, for whichJoseph Lister carried out an amputation.[6] Subsequently, he took up a post as assistant anatomy demonstrator at Cambridge.[3] He completed his clinical training in 1899 atSt George's Hospital, London, where he won the Thompson gold medal and completed resident posts there. In 1900 he gained aFellowship.[3]
Lockhart-Mummery worked at theNorth Eastern Hospital for Children at Hackney and at theKing Edward VII Hospital for Officers.[3] In 1903 he was appointed to the staff ofSt Mark's Hospital, London.[3][7] The following year he wasHunterian Professor at theRoyal College of Surgeons, where he spoke on the physiology and treatment ofsurgical shock and collapse, drawing on his bookAfter-treatment of Operations (1903), which ran into four editions and was translated into a number of languages including Arabic.[3]
In 1904 he revealed improvements insigmoidoscopy,[7] and subsequently showed it was safe and effective in looking for diseases of thelarge bowel.[8] He won theJacksonian Prize for 1909 for his essay on diseases of the colon, which he published in 1910 asDiseases of the Colon and their Surgical Treatment and later combined withDiseases of the Rectum and Anus: A practical handbook (1914) to produceDiseases of the Rectum and Colon and their Surgical Treatment (1923).[3][9] It was published byBaillière, Tindall & Cox and a second edition was produced in 1934.[3][9]
In 1913, uponSwinford Edwards' retirement, Lockhart-Mummery became senior surgeon at St Mark's.[3] The following year and a few days before the start of theFirst World War,Sister Agnes of King Edward VII Hospital for Officers, drew up a list of 21 honorary staff to treat wounded officers at 9Grosvenor Gardens without a fee. Lockhart-Mummery became a significant name on the list, probably carried out more operations at the hospital than any other surgeon there, and treated mainly gunshot wounds affecting the colon,rectum andanus.[10] Among officers he treated was MajorHorace Sewell, who had been injured in May 1915 and required shell casing removing from the thigh.[11] WhenLeonard Tyrwhitt was wounded by aMauser bullet above his left knee, it was Lockhart-Mummery who removed it.[11] OnArmistice Day, he operated twice.[12] His work oncolorectal surgery earned him the nickname "King Rectum".[10]
Despite operating on the most rich and famous of London of the time, operating on the colon, rectum and anus was not fashionable to discuss.[7] In 1924 he started thePolyposis Registry withCuthbert Dukes, which kept data on people withinherited multiple polyps.[13] In 1925 his systematic study of people and their families demonstrated a genetic explanation for the association between people with multiple bowel polyps andbowel cancer, 20 years after polyposis was first suggested to be a familial condition byWilliam Harrison Cripps ofSt Bartholomew's Hospital.[7] Lockhart-Mummery was a co-founder and key figure in the 1923British Empire Cancer Campaign, in which he remained active for the rest of his life and which slanted more clinically than the rival scientificImperial Cancer Research Fund, who had their own significant figures includingWalter Morley Fletcher andFrederick Gowland Hopkins.[7][14][15]
He believed thatpruritus ani had a local cause and not a general cause as believed by others such asLord Horder.[16] In 1939 he describedrectal prolapse in children.[17] He also practised inHarley Street.[5]
Lockhart-Mummery's understanding of cancer, reflected in his frequent use of metaphors such as "Bolshevist", "communist" and "utopian", in his explanation of the origin of cancer, led to cancer being seen as an infectious disease, something that could be passed from one generation to another, spreading its way through society.[7] InThe Origin of Cancer, he wrote "the cancer cell may be compared with the citizen of a country who suddenly becomes a communist".[6] On two occasions he had disagreements withWilliam Ewart Gye.[7]
Some of his theories on race andeugenics were also controversial.[6][7] Although he did not practice eugenics, Lockhart-Mummery had held the view that families with polyposis would eventually die out and wrote in one review with Dukes, that "one may hope that polyposis families will remain small and finally die out as the result of celibacy or the adoption of eugenic principles".[7] In 1935, he defendedLord Dawson's views on eugenics and argued that "human genetics must inevitably become the most important social and scientific problem in the next few decades, since it must be solved if the human race is to make any serious progress towards something better".[7] In his bookAfter Us, or the World as it Might Be (1936), he imagined a world where "all men, except those approximating the ideal citizen" would be sterilised, and women would conceive children from the remaining stock, in order to produce "perfection".[7] In the book, he accused "sloppy sentiment" as preventing this method and argued that the nation would have to wait for an "autocratic government" to enforce it for the advantage of men.[7] Such theories were thought of as radical at that time, considered so even by his friend Lord Horder, president of the Eugenics Society.[7]
He described what he called the 'morbid state of mind' or 'rectal neuralgia or hysteria', a condition later better known asirritable bowel syndrome.[6] He was a friend ofH. G. Wells, with whom he shared some beliefs about the role of science in the problems of the human body.[18] He dismissedArthur Todd's developments of chemotherapy for bowel cancer.[7]
In 1913 he became the first secretary of the British Proctological Society, which in 1939, became a section of theRoyal Society of Medicine (RSM).[14][19] In 1921, at theBritish Medical Association's annual meeting, he became president of the section of proctology and of the section of children's diseases at the RSM.[14][20] In 1930, Lockhart-Mummery became a member of King Edward VII's Hospital's first council, formed by Sister Agnes.[12] He was active in promoting theLondon International Cancer Conference of 1928, and publishedThe Origin of Cancer in 1934.[3] In all he wrote six books on colorectal surgery and two on other non-medial topics.[20]
Lockhart-Mummery retired in 1935, becoming emeritus surgeon to St Mark's.[3][21] In the same year, theCollected Papers, published to celebrate the 100 year anniversary of St Mark's, included his work.[3]
Lockhart-Mummery enjoyed fishing, played golf and laterbowls. He once won theDog Derby with one of his greyhounds.[3]
From his first marriage to Cynthia in 1915, he had two sons,Hugh Evelyn Lockhart-Mummery, a surgeon who succeeded him at St Mark's Hospital and was laterSerjeant-Surgeon toThe Queen and knighted;[3][22] and Robert Desmond.[23] His second marriage, in 1932, was to Georgette.[3] Following retirement he moved toHove in East Sussex.[3]
Lockhart-Mummery died in Hove on 24 April 1957.[3] He received an obituary in theBritish Medical Journal,[24] and biographical profiles in the RCSE'sPlarr's Lives of the Fellows,[3] and inDiseases of the Colon & Rectum.[20]
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