Solomon Richards (surgeon)
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Solomon Richards (c. 1760 – 6 November 1819) was an Irish surgeon who served four terms as president of the
Early life
Solomon Richards was born in York Street, Dublin, about 1760, the second son of Goddard Richards of Grange, County Wexford.[2][3] According to Charles Cameron, Richards received an "excellent classical education".[2]
He married Elizabeth Groome, daughter of the Reverend Edward Groome. They had five children.[3]
Career
Richards was apprenticed to James Boyton, of St Andrew Street, an assistant surgeon to Dr Steevens' Hospital. After the end of his apprenticeship in April 1781, he travelled to London, Edinburgh, and Paris, to study under the foremost teachers of his time. He was examined after returning to Ireland and received his Letters Testimonial in February 1785. He was elected a member of the RCSI in May 1785, and was four times elected president, in 1794, 1803, 1808, and 1818.[2][4] He was a member of the Royal Irish Academy and the Royal Dublin Society.[3]
He first practised medicine in South Great George's Street, but soon moved to York Street, where he lived until his death. He was appointed surgeon to the Meath Hospital in 1790 in succession to Arthur Winton,[2][5] a position he held for the rest of his life.[2] While at the Meath, he took on a number of apprentices who went on to have distinguished careers in medicine. These included Philip Crampton who was apprenticed to Richards for five years from November 1792 at the age of 14 and was later four times president of RCSI, after Richards only the second person to so serve; Richard Dease apprenticed for the same term as Crampton and president of RCSI in 1809; and Thomas Hewson for five years from May 1801 who was president in 1819.[4][6][7]
After the death of Samuel Croker-King in 1817, Richards took over as visiting surgeon and governor to Dr Steevens' Hospital.[8]
Richards was well respected and known as "Sol" by his friends.[5] According to Cameron, he was of a charitable nature and gave his services to the poor without charge. He was known for his puns and bon mots. His lecturing style was praised for its lucidity and his speech for its diction.[2][5]
Incidents
In 1805, according to an account in
Like Sir Philip Crampton in 1810,
- "Of old, more active, when by merit push'd
- Beyond his rivals, to the goal he rush'd.
- But not less worthy of the sweepstakes won
- He holds the distance, as he first begun.
- To Fortune's smiles, that glisten on so few,
- Oft times as much as to desert is due;
- If Lords and Commons, when a shank of mutton
- Stuck in the throttle of some greedy glutton,
- Ne'er saw thy dexterous knife the windpipe slit,
- And his tight gullet render back the bit;
- How long, midst garret-patients had you struggled
- E'er your lost skill to drawing-rooms was smuggled."[2]
Richards was said to be the "fattest surgeon in the United Kingdom", requiring him to enter a carriage sideways.
Wealth
In 1812, Richards won £10,000 in a lottery. In that year, he purchased land in the Roebuck Grove area of the
Death and legacy
Richards was found dead in bed by his wife on the morning of 6 November 1819.[2] He was survived by his eldest son John Goddard Richards, barrister.[3] His position at the Meath Hospital was taken over by W. H. Porter, who carried on research and wrote papers on tracheotomy.[15] His County Wexford home Ardamine House was destroyed by the IRA in 1921 and not rebuilt.[16]
Notes and references
- ^ Dublin Delineated in Twenty-Six Views, etc. Dublin: G. Tyrrell, 1837. p. 49.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Cameron, Sir Charles A. (1886) History of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, and of the Irish Schools of Medicine &c Dublin: Fannin & Co. pp. 322–23.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ a b c d e f Burke, Bernard. (1871). A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain & Ireland. Vol. II (5th ed.). London: Harrison. pp. 1163–64.
- ^ a b RCSI Presidents since its foundation in 1784. Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, 2015. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
- ^ a b c d e O'Brien, Eoin. A Day in Georgian Dublin (PDF). in Essays in Honour of J. D. H. Widdess. E. O'Brien (Ed.) (1978) Dublin: Cityview Press. pp. 157–184. (pp. 161–165).
- ^ Ormsby, Lambert Hepenstal. (1888) Medical History of the Meath Hospital and County Dublin Infirmary &c. Dublin: Fannin & Co. pp. 32 & 187.
- ^ Don't Crampton his Style! Heritage Collections of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. Retrieved 24 June 2018.
- ISBN 978-1-906359-16-4.
- ^ "Diday on Syphilis in Children", The Dublin Quarterly Journal of Medical Science, Volume 28 (Aug. & Nov. 1859), pp. 456–467 (p. 463).
- ^ Cameron, p. 356.
- ^ "Physicians and Surgeons of a By-Gone Generation" by A Man on the Shady Side of Fifty, The Eclectic Magazine, Vol. 58 (1863), p. 79.
- ^ 2nd edition, 1805.
- ^ Origins of the Belfield Campus and UCD’s Period Houses Map and Guide. University College Dublin, Dublin, 2012.
- ^ "Ardamine | Graveyards | North Wexford Historical Society". northwexfordhistoricalsociety.com. Retrieved 3 March 2018.
- British Medical Journal, 4 May 1861, p. 483.
- ^ The Destruction of Country Houses in County Wexford during "The Troubles" (1919–23). National Inventory of Architectural Heritage, October 2010. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
