Robert Brudenell Carter

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Caricature by "Stuff", Vanity Fair, 9 April 1892

Robert Brudenell Carter, FRCS (2 October 1828 – 23 October 1918) was a British physician and ophthalmic surgeon.[1][2][3]

Early life[edit]

Born in Little Wittenham, near Didcot, Berkshire, Carter was the son of a major in the Royal Marines and his mother died in giving birth to him.[3][4][1] His father took no interest in him, and the newborn child came into the care of a family friend, Robert Brudenell, 6th Earl of Cardigan.[3] As the baby was not expected to live, Brudenell ensured he was baptised, giving him his own Christian names.[3][1] Carter was subsequently raised and eventually adopted by another family acquaintance.[3]

Medical career[edit]

Following a private education, Carter was apprenticed to a general practitioner, and entered the medical school of the London Hospital aged 19.[2] He qualified as a Member of the Royal College of Surgeons in 1851 and as a Licentiate of the Society of Apothecaries in 1852.[2][1] He opened a medical practice in Leytonstone in the suburbs of London and in 1853 published On the Pathology and Treatment of Hysteria.[3][5] Soon after he moved to Putney in south London, and published his second book, On the Influence of Education and Training in Preventing Diseases of the Nervous System in 1855.[6]

Before his second book had been published he had left for the Crimea, where he served as a staff surgeon in the British Army.[1][2] Returning to England following the end of the conflict, he settled in Nottingham, where he helped to establish the Nottingham Eye Hospital in 1859.[1][7] From this date Carter devoted his medical career entirely to ophthalmology.[2] In 1862 he moved to Stroud, Gloucestershire, and was instrumental in the establishment of the Gloucester Eye Hospital in 1866.[1][8] In 1864 he became a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons, and in 1868 moved to London and joined the staff of the Royal South London Ophthalmic Hospital in Southwark.[1] He also began writing leading articles for The Times newspaper and The Lancet medical journal.[1] From 1870 to 1883 he was ophthalmic surgeon at St George's Hospital and lecturer at the hospital's medical school.[2] In 1875, he published A Practical Treatise on Diseases of the Eye , based on the lectures he gave to the students of St George's Hospital.[1][9]

From 1887 to 1900 Carter was a member of the General Medical Council and also served as president of the Royal Medical Society.[1] He was bitterly opposed to homeopathy, which he roundly condemned in his final book, Doctors and Their Work, Or, Medicine, Quackery, and Disease, published in 1903.[10][1]

Politics[edit]

Carter was briefly involved in local politics. In January 1889 the first elections to the London County Council were held, and he was nominated to contest the Islington West division.[11] There were six candidates for the two seats to be filled, and Carter secured second place and election with 883 votes, 29 more than the third-placed candidate.[12] Carter aligned himself with the Moderate Party on the council, which was allied to the parliamentary Conservative Party.[13] When the next county council elections were held three years later, he failed to hold his seat, finishing last of four candidates.[14]

Carter was a Knight of Grace of the Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem, and was promoted to a Knight of Justice (KStJ) in the same order on 8 May 1902.[15]

Carter died at his home near Clapham Common in 1918, aged 90, and was buried in West Norwood Cemetery.[3][1]

Works[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m James, R R (July 1941). "Robert Brudenell Carter". British Journal of Ophthalmology. 25 (7): 330–339. doi:10.1136/bjo.25.7.330. PMC 1143301. PMID 18169773.
  2. ^ a b c d e f A Kane, E T Carlson (September 1982). "A different drummer: Robert B. Carter and Nineteenth Century hysteria". Journal of Urban Health. 58 (6): 519–534. PMC 1805312. PMID 6756522.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g "Death Of Mr. R. B. Carter. 50 Years' Work For "The Times.", A Great Eye Surgeon". The Times. 26 October 1918. p. 8.
  4. ^ "CARTER, Robert Brudenell". Who Was Who. Oxford University Press.
  5. ^ Carter, Robert Brudenell (1853). On the pathology and treatment of hysteria. London: John Churchill.
  6. ^ Carter, Robert Brudenell (1855). On the influence of education and training in preventing diseases of the nervous system. London: John Churchill.
  7. ^ "Nottingham Eye Hospital". University of Nottingham. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
  8. ^ N M Herbert, ed. (1988). "Gloucester: Hospitals". A History of the County of Gloucester Volume 4: The City of Gloucester. pp. 269–275. Retrieved 11 March 2012.
  9. ^ Carter, Robert Brudenell (1875). A practical treatise on diseases of the eye. Philadelphia: Henry C Lea.
  10. ^ Carter, Robert Brudenell (1903). Doctors and Their Work, Or, Medicine, Quackery, and Disease. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
  11. ^ "London County Council. List of the Nominations". The Daily News. 10 January 1889. p. 2.
  12. ^ "The County Councils. The Polling in London". The Standard. 18 January 1889. p. 5.
  13. ^ Jackson, Eric (1965). Achievement. A Short History of the London County Council. Longmans. p. 257.
  14. ^ "The County Council Election". The Daily News. 7 March 1892.
  15. ^ "No. 27432". The London Gazette. 9 May 1902. p. 3087.
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