Dr Harold Lestock Thornton
Personal Details
Dr Harold Lestock Thornton FFARCS MRCS LRCP DA
Known As: Harry
07/10/1906 - 19/08/1987
Place of birth: Exeter, Devon, England
Nationality: British
CRN: 715893
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General education |
Sherborne School, Dorset. Medical School at St Mary’s Hospital, London |
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Primary medical qualification(s) |
MRCS England, LRCP London, 1937 |
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Initial Fellowship and type |
FFARCS by Election |
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Year of Fellowship |
1953 |
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Other qualification(s) |
DA (RCP&S), 1938 |
Professional life and career
Postgraduate career
After qualifying Thornton was a resident anaesthetist at St Mary’s Hospital. In 1938 he was appointed Assistant Medical Officer at St Andrew’s Hospital in Bow, east London. He joined the Royal Army Medical Corps as an Anaesthetic Specialist in 1940. As a Major he served in the Middle East and was captured at Tobruk, becoming a prisoner of war in Italy until repatriated. On return to England he worked with Gillies at the maxillofacial unit in Basingstoke; after D-Day he saw further war service in France and Belgium, being mentioned in despatches. After demobilisation in 1946 he was appointed Honorary Anaesthetist at St Mary’s Hospital, where he became a Consultant Anaesthetist after the start of the NHS, followed by Senior Anaesthetist until his retirement in 1972.
Professional interests and activities
He was a member of the British Medical Association and of the Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland. He published several papers, notably (with Stanley Rowbotham) on anaesthesia in a maxillofacial unit with the British Liberation Army (1945), and later on anaesthesia for children, gastroscopy and aortic reconstruction. In 1965 he co-edited with Peter F Knight a textbook “Emergency Anaesthesia”.
Other biographical information
He married Patricia Aung in 1937 and they had one daughter. Although a quiet and private man, he had a good sense of humour and was highly respected by his colleagues. He died in London at the age of 80 years.
Author and Sources
Author
Alistair McKenzie
Sources and Comments For material which does not fit other categories
[1] Obituary HL Thornton MRCS, LRCP, FFARCS, DA (with photograph). BMJ 1987; 295: 1494.
[2] Medical Registers and Directories.
[3] ancestry.co.uk