Hicks, John Herbert (1915-1992)
TitleHicks, John Herbert (1915-1992)
ReferenceMS0186
Level of descriptionfonds
Datec. 1949-1992
Admin./ biographical historyJohn Hicks MRCS (1940); FRCS (1942); MB ChB (1938); MCh (Orth) 1950, was born in Bristol on 1 February 1915, the son of William Herbert Hicks, a printer’s manager, and his wife Norah Gertrude, née Lane. He studied medicine at Birmingham University, obtained his Fellowship in 1942 and served as a ship’s surgeon in the Merchant Navy between 1942 and 1946.
During his time as surgical registrar and resident surgical officer at Birmingham General Hospital he worked with H. H. Sampson, B. T. Rose, R. Scott Mason and J. B. Leather, and obtained the MCh (Orth) from Liverpool in 1950. He was appointed surgeon to the Birmingham Accident Hospital in 1951, where he proved to be an innovative exponent of accident surgery.
Hicks’ outstanding contribution was in the rigid fixation of fractures – he achieved fixation by using a specially strong plate that owed its success to being, in effect, two plates in one with screws passing through its lugs at right angles to each other. He also worked on the on the composition of metallic implants and the dangers of corrosion; the management of infected fractures; the treatment of non-union; and elucidated the structure and function of the foot – explaining how inversion of the foot while it was under load could, by torque conversion, cause lateral rotation injuries at the ankle. Failing health prevented him from completing his long and detailed study of fractures of the tibia.
He was a teacher, a botanist of distinction (he joined an expedition to Bhutan and had two plants named after him) and the author of provocative articles in medical journals. He married Dr Sheila C. S. Meux in 1955 and they had two sons and a daughter. Hicks died on 4 January 1992.
[Source: Lives of the Fellows of the Royal College of Surgeons of England 1991-1996, by John Blandy and Christina Craig; and Obituary notice, British Medical Journal, 304, 18 April 1992]
During his time as surgical registrar and resident surgical officer at Birmingham General Hospital he worked with H. H. Sampson, B. T. Rose, R. Scott Mason and J. B. Leather, and obtained the MCh (Orth) from Liverpool in 1950. He was appointed surgeon to the Birmingham Accident Hospital in 1951, where he proved to be an innovative exponent of accident surgery.
Hicks’ outstanding contribution was in the rigid fixation of fractures – he achieved fixation by using a specially strong plate that owed its success to being, in effect, two plates in one with screws passing through its lugs at right angles to each other. He also worked on the on the composition of metallic implants and the dangers of corrosion; the management of infected fractures; the treatment of non-union; and elucidated the structure and function of the foot – explaining how inversion of the foot while it was under load could, by torque conversion, cause lateral rotation injuries at the ankle. Failing health prevented him from completing his long and detailed study of fractures of the tibia.
He was a teacher, a botanist of distinction (he joined an expedition to Bhutan and had two plants named after him) and the author of provocative articles in medical journals. He married Dr Sheila C. S. Meux in 1955 and they had two sons and a daughter. Hicks died on 4 January 1992.
[Source: Lives of the Fellows of the Royal College of Surgeons of England 1991-1996, by John Blandy and Christina Craig; and Obituary notice, British Medical Journal, 304, 18 April 1992]
Scope and ContentThe majority of the papers cover John Hicks' extensive research and published/unpublished writings on fractures of the wrist (colles), tibia, forearm (ulna and radius), ankle and hip and their fixation undertaken during his time as an orthopaedic surgeon at the Birmingham Accident Hospital and continued until his death (1951-1992). His papers on fractures concern rigid internal fixation using metallic implants and the problems occurring thereof due to metal corrosion and the inefficiency of the plates’ design. Documented is his difficulties in attempting to try and devise a new improved plate which was later put into production.
Also contained is an unpublished manuscript of a proposed book called “A Clinician’s Observations on Bone Behaviour” which covers in detail the range of possible bone reactions (and resulting treatment) when subject to a fracture.
His research extended into the anatomy and function of the foot and ankle. Included are hand made wooden articulated models that demonstrated the movement of the foot and ankle. There are also the clinical slides and synopses of his lectures from his teaching days at the Birmingham Accident Hospital.
Hicks’ own and some of his fellow Birmingham Accident Hospital orthopaedic surgeons’ patient’s medical notes were used as the basis for his research and a small number form part of the collection.
Also contained is an unpublished manuscript of a proposed book called “A Clinician’s Observations on Bone Behaviour” which covers in detail the range of possible bone reactions (and resulting treatment) when subject to a fracture.
His research extended into the anatomy and function of the foot and ankle. Included are hand made wooden articulated models that demonstrated the movement of the foot and ankle. There are also the clinical slides and synopses of his lectures from his teaching days at the Birmingham Accident Hospital.
Hicks’ own and some of his fellow Birmingham Accident Hospital orthopaedic surgeons’ patient’s medical notes were used as the basis for his research and a small number form part of the collection.
Extent56 Boxes
LanguageEnglish
System of arrangementMost of the collection is in the form of A4 folders which must have been arranged by Hicks himself. Therefore this order has been respected although there may be many items in some of the folders which would seem better suited placed elsewhere.
Overall, it has only been possible to distinguish the original order in some parts of the collection. A significant proportion of the files were numbered which reflected Hicks' own filing system and these form one sequence. Another obvious series was the research and drafts for Hicks’ unpublished work “A Clinician’s Observations on Bone Behaviour.” The remaining files have been arranged in terms of subject which reflect the major areas of interest of Hicks (eg the tibia, fractures, fracture fixation, the foot, and non union, etc).
Conditions governing accessThis collection is currently closed for cataloguing. To request access, please email archives@rcseng.ac.uk.
Conditions governing reproductionNo photocopying permitted
NotesThe collection did contain a large number of x-rays but due to their corroded condition and the impossibility of conserving them they were destroyed.
The collection contained many models of feet, and models demonstrating fracture fixation. These have been transferred to the Hunterian Museum and can be found by searching Surgicat.
The collection contained many models of feet, and models demonstrating fracture fixation. These have been transferred to the Hunterian Museum and can be found by searching Surgicat.
Closed until2064
