The Papers of Sir George Buckston Browne (1850-1945)
TitleThe Papers of Sir George Buckston Browne (1850-1945)
ReferenceMS0294
Level of descriptionfonds
Date1871-1944
Admin./ biographical historyBorn on 13 April 1850 at Manchester, Sir George Buckston Browne was the elder son of Henry Browne, M.D. (1819-1901) and Ann. Henry Browne's father and grandfather had practised at Manchester since the latter, George Buckston Browne (1756-1811), son of Theophilus Browne, an apothecary, qualified as a Member of the Company of Surgeons of London in 1779. Sir George Buckston Browne was therefore a fifth-generation medical practitioner in direct descent from Theophilus.
Sir George Buckston Browne was educated at Amersham Hall School, Reading, and at Owens College, Manchester, and matriculated at University College London in 1866. He won medals in anatomy, chemistry and midwifery and a gold medal in practical chemistry, and was for a time a demonstrator in anatomy to Professor G.V.Ellis. He qualified M.R.C.S. in 1874, and was elected house surgeon to Sir John Erichsen before being appointed private assistant to Sir Henry Thompson, a position he held for fourteen years. He married Helen Elizabeth Vaine in 1874.
Browne started his own consultant practice in 1884 and gained considerable expertise in operations of the urinary tract. His patients included R.L.Stevenson and George Meredith, the latter dedicating his novel 'Lord Ormont and his Aminta' (1894) to Browne. He delivered the Harveian Society's lectures in 1901 and retired from practice in 1909.
His retirement was clouded by bereavement. His only son, Lt-Col. George Buckston Browne D.S.O, was killed during the First World War, and in 1924 his only grandson, also called George, died of enteric fever. Mrs Browne died in 1926. His daughter married Sir Hugh Lett and survived her father.
In later years, Browne devoted himself to public benefactions. In 1927 he endowed an annual Buckston Browne dinner at the Royal College of Surgeons of England, at which he usually made an after-dinner speech. In 1928 he endowed an annual dinner for the Harveian Society, where he also donated a biennial Buckston Browne prize awarded to essays based on original work.
He donated £100,000 to the Royal College of Surgeons of England for the establishment of a surgical research farm, and bought Charles Darwin's home at Downe, Kent, presenting it to the British Association for the Advancement of Science as a permanent memorial to Darwin. In 1931, he built the Buckston Browne research farm on thirteen acres of ground adjacent to Darwin's estate and donated it to the College. He was elected F.R.C.S. in 1926 and was created Knight Bachelor in 1932. He also presented a portrait of John Hunter to the College and a portrait of John Wesley to Wesley College, Cambridge. He was elected a freeman of the Society of Apothecaries in 1938.
Throughout his life, Browne had been physically active an especially enjoyed walking. Even in his eighties he would still walk from his home in London to his 'farm' at Downe. He remained in London for most of the Second World War and died on 19 January 1945.
Publications include:
'Twenty-five years' experience of urinary surgery in England'. Harveian Society's lectures, 1901.
'Urinary surgery', in Heath's Dictionary of Surgery.
'Edward Jenner'. Med.Press 1934, 137, 206.
'The rise of the medical profession'. Privately printed.
Obituaries appear in The Times, 22 January 1945; Lancet, 1945, 1, 132; Nature, 1945, 155, 138 with a eulogy by Sir Arthur Keith.
[Sources: Edited from Royal College of Surgeons of England, Lives of the Fellows 1930-1951]
Sir George Buckston Browne was educated at Amersham Hall School, Reading, and at Owens College, Manchester, and matriculated at University College London in 1866. He won medals in anatomy, chemistry and midwifery and a gold medal in practical chemistry, and was for a time a demonstrator in anatomy to Professor G.V.Ellis. He qualified M.R.C.S. in 1874, and was elected house surgeon to Sir John Erichsen before being appointed private assistant to Sir Henry Thompson, a position he held for fourteen years. He married Helen Elizabeth Vaine in 1874.
Browne started his own consultant practice in 1884 and gained considerable expertise in operations of the urinary tract. His patients included R.L.Stevenson and George Meredith, the latter dedicating his novel 'Lord Ormont and his Aminta' (1894) to Browne. He delivered the Harveian Society's lectures in 1901 and retired from practice in 1909.
His retirement was clouded by bereavement. His only son, Lt-Col. George Buckston Browne D.S.O, was killed during the First World War, and in 1924 his only grandson, also called George, died of enteric fever. Mrs Browne died in 1926. His daughter married Sir Hugh Lett and survived her father.
In later years, Browne devoted himself to public benefactions. In 1927 he endowed an annual Buckston Browne dinner at the Royal College of Surgeons of England, at which he usually made an after-dinner speech. In 1928 he endowed an annual dinner for the Harveian Society, where he also donated a biennial Buckston Browne prize awarded to essays based on original work.
He donated £100,000 to the Royal College of Surgeons of England for the establishment of a surgical research farm, and bought Charles Darwin's home at Downe, Kent, presenting it to the British Association for the Advancement of Science as a permanent memorial to Darwin. In 1931, he built the Buckston Browne research farm on thirteen acres of ground adjacent to Darwin's estate and donated it to the College. He was elected F.R.C.S. in 1926 and was created Knight Bachelor in 1932. He also presented a portrait of John Hunter to the College and a portrait of John Wesley to Wesley College, Cambridge. He was elected a freeman of the Society of Apothecaries in 1938.
Throughout his life, Browne had been physically active an especially enjoyed walking. Even in his eighties he would still walk from his home in London to his 'farm' at Downe. He remained in London for most of the Second World War and died on 19 January 1945.
Publications include:
'Twenty-five years' experience of urinary surgery in England'. Harveian Society's lectures, 1901.
'Urinary surgery', in Heath's Dictionary of Surgery.
'Edward Jenner'. Med.Press 1934, 137, 206.
'The rise of the medical profession'. Privately printed.
Obituaries appear in The Times, 22 January 1945; Lancet, 1945, 1, 132; Nature, 1945, 155, 138 with a eulogy by Sir Arthur Keith.
[Sources: Edited from Royal College of Surgeons of England, Lives of the Fellows 1930-1951]
Scope and ContentThis collection consists of George Buckston Browne's personal and professional documents. Personal documents include notebooks, scrapbooks, photographs, correspondence and documents relating to his family. Professional documents include medical publications, articles, documents relating to the British Association for the Advancement of Science and similar documents relating to the Royal College of Surgeons of England.
Extent20 boxes
LanguageEnglish
System of arrangementAs described in the scope and content.
Conditions governing accessThis collection is available to everyone for research. It can be consulted in our Research Room at the Royal College of Surgeons of England, 38-43 Lincoln's Inn Fields, London WC2A 3PE. It is essential to book in advance so we can ensure material is available. Please email archives@rcseng.ac.uk to book a Research Room appointment. Access to some records may be restricted due to Data Protection legislation. We will advise where this is the case.
Conditions governing reproductionCopies of material in the archives can be supplied for private study purposes only, depending on the condition of the documents. Some items within this collection may remain within copyright under the terms of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988; it is the responsibility of users to obtain the copyright holder's permission for reproduction of copyright material for purposes other than research or private study. Permission to publish material, in print or online, must be sought in advance from the Royal College of Surgeons of England and, where appropriate, the copyright holder. Please email archives@rcseng.ac.uk in the first instance.
Persons keyword Sir George Buckston Browne, 1850-1945, Knight, surgeon
