Volume 9b - History of Anaesthesia Society

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First President of the Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland Dr E T Mathews (Binningham) Henry Feat5erstone was born in Erdhgton on 5 April 1894; Erdinqton became part of Bimingham in 1912. His father was gensral practitioner. His mcther was the eldest daughter of a .succ~ssful lxlsinessman from Brmklyn, USA. She opened the Erdinqton Lamdry in 1998, u!lmadngly providing a generation of medical students with material for jokes about anaesthetists washing the surgeons' dirty linen. As a child he spent long sumner holidays in Brittany with a French family and learnt the language. He visited this family throughout his life and descrid their friendship as 'one of the joys of my life'. Henry was educated a t King Fdward's Sci1001, Birmingham, Trirlity College, Cambridge and the Binningham Weal School. He qualified during the Great War 1914-18. Service in the (;reat W 1914-18 Featherstone joined the Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) and saw some of the terrible aspcts of the 1914-18 war. He was inedical officer to the 7th Battalion King's Royal Rifle Corps who lost 500 of their origirlal strength of 530. He later spent Christmas 1917 in the advanced 3r~ssing station at Passchendaele, a place where in 21 days his unit lost half its effective strength. Later he was gassed. Iie always drscriSed this incident as 'slight' but he was unable to see for a time. Mtsr 3 w2eks in hospital in France, he was evacuated to England. His brother, who m9 in the Royal Artillery, was killed. Henry spoke and wr&e of these events, and he subequently revisited the scen-s of his experience and maintained friendships with other survivors. Featherstone returned to Birmingham after the war and took up resident medical psts at the General Hospital. The-;e included that of Resident Medical Mficer, which was then the accept4 route to the post of Consultant mysician. Such a post had been his father's ambition ht, encouraged by Uf W J McCardie who was the first full-time provincial anaesthetist,' Xenry took up anaesthetics and was appointed Qsistant Anaesthetist in 1919 and Honorary Anaesthetist in 1926. Henry Featherstone had great admiration for McCardie, whose professional status at one time 'as such that he \ias consulted before the surgeon vms selected, and received fees equal to those of the surgeon. Featherstone's contributions to the literature included some 27 items in journals and chanters in 4 h&,. They covered a wide range of subjects. An early @per described a combined nnsk and airtmy and the Feafqerstone gag for oral surgery is still used. It has javs lined with soEt 97-
metal. His pper on the pu1,mnary c~nplications of anaesthesia was well received and this topic was also the subject of his MD thesis. He also had a special interest in explosive vapours, both in anaesthesia and in industry, and in this context he worked closely with the Chief of the Birmingham Fire Brigade. He was intr,ducd iqV> the Section of Anaesthetics of the Royal Society of Medicine (KSM) by IlcCardie, who had been its President in 1907. Featherstone himself becme President in 1930. He was also Vice President of t'le British Medical Association subgroup on anaesthesia, and played a leading role in the local medical societies of Birmingham. He was at one time President of Bmnhgham Medical Institute and also editor of the Birmingham Medical Review. Featherstone m& several visits to leading centres in Canada and the United States, sometimes with fellow members of the Royal Society of Medicine. He discuss4 with them and othar colleagues his concern abut the lowly status of anaesthesia, and he believed anaesthetists needed an independ-n-t organisation. Others agreed, but it was Featherstone who took action. Philip Helliwell has sunnnrised what Featherstone did: 'Featherstone of Birmingham must be given credit for firstly conceiving and then providing impetus and organising ability, which led to the fomtion of the Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Irel~ld'.~ He was elected its first President 1932-1935, and then held the office of Honorary Secretary 1936-1939. His description of these events was the first paper in the first number of the journal 'Anaesthesia . Service in the Secad Warld War Featherstone was in the Territorial Army reserve. He was already in uniform and away at camp as the administrative officer of the 14th General Hospital when war was declared. This unit was sent to France on 1 April 1940 with orders to set up a 1,000-bed tented hospital at Etai?le-; across the estuary from Le Touquet. Le Touquet still had its colony of English residents; they included Mr and Mrs P G Wcdehouse who gave the unit much assistance. meir gifts included a radio which becam the unit's only source of infomtian when the blitzkrieg began. The hospital mde ready to evacuate imnediately. Ihe convoy was dive-barnbed on t9e way to Boulogne and Henry and his colleagues had to take to the ditches, but the unit held toqether. They boarded the 'meen of the Channel', a London-Southend ferry, which was one of the annada which came to the rescrue. She took them safely to Dover, but she was sunk a few days later. The deEence of the jetty at Boulogne lasted a further 48 hours. Back in England he had a variety of postings. When the Americans arrived, he vlas attac:~c+d to the United States Army as chief anaesthetist to a 1,000 bedded hospital. With his American background he enjoyed this pz~~tinfl, except that the final meal of L! day was at 5.30 p. He was US& to dining much lster and hunger woke him early each mming. His early rising impressed the American team. In preparation for the D-Day
Page 1: ANAESTHESIA SOClETY *-
Page 4 and 5: Dr T B -ton (Oxford) George Washing
Page 6 and 7: He thereEore advocated very gentle
Page 8 and 9: George Washington Crile (1864-1943)
Page 10 and 11: Fhnento8, February \$, and 18,18~19
Page 14 and 15: landings, he was posted to teach ai
Page 16 and 17: h e of the main problems in the ear
Page 18 and 19: Drs C Weisser & G Sprotte (Wurzburg
Page 20 and 21: Kirschner's clinical observations r
Page 22 and 23: ack to old Fakirs and yogis used au
Page 24 and 25: plblished m y articles on this appr
Page 26 and 27: Drs M Goerig, K Ayisi, J Schulte am
Page 28 and 29: Cne of the most pramin~nt and raprt
Page 30 and 31: A .€?W years later, a zmwrable in
Page 32 and 33: In &ern anaesthesia, the knzodiazep
Page 34 and 35: Dr M Kus (LYacori) An un-.rlanted s
Page 36 and 37: Dr R W Patterson (Los hgeles) Reprt
Page 38 and 39: camation of mental illness and crim
Page 40 and 41: plblic atmut the activities of tj~e
Page 42 and 43: Gmrg Hirschel Cacq rlirschel wa? ho
Page 44 and 45: Drs L Va~quez, J Carcellar, J Frent
Page 46 and 47: An appreciation fraa Dr Jean M HDrt
Page 48 and 49: Dr C K Adm Dr A K Adam3 CBE Dr C N
Page 50 and 51: Dr P J Stow Dr B ?I Q Weaver Mr B R

Volume 9b - History of Anaesthesia Society

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