Dr Sylvia Danks
Other family name and date of change: Stewart, 1957
01/09/1924 to 05/09/2007
Place of birth: Cheam, Surrey, England
Nationality: British
CRN: 723867
Education and qualifications
|
General education |
Sutton High School (Girls) |
|---|---|
|
Primary medical qualification(s) |
MRCS Eng., LRCP Lond., 1947. |
|
Initial Fellowship and type |
FFARCS by Election |
|
Year of Fellowship |
1953 |
|
Other qualification(s) |
DA (RCP&S), 1950 |
Professional life and career
Postgraduate career
After graduation Dr Sylvia Danks undertook house jobs, first in surgery at the South London Hospital for Women, and then as a physician at the Royal Hampshire County Hospital in Winchester. She remained at Winchester through 1949-50 as resident anaesthetist. Next she trained in anaesthesia as a registrar at St Luke’s Hospital in Guildford 1951-52. The following year she was appointed senior resident anaesthetist at the Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead, soon promoted to Senior Registrar. By 1956 she was appointed as a Consultant Anaesthetist to the Royal Berkshire Hospital and Reading group of Hospitals in Berkshire.
Professional interests and activities
She was a member of the Association of Anaesthetists. Whilst a senior registrar she jointly published an article about anaesthesia and cleft palate repair in 1953. Also according to information provided by her daughter, Sylvia worked alongside the plastic surgeon Archibald McIndoe whilst at East Grinstead, treating some of the “Guinea Pig Club“ patients who were still receiving ongoing post war reconstructive surgery.
Additionally according to her daughter, Sylvia was very proud of her achievements upon becoming one of the early female consultant anaesthetists. However, on getting married at the age of 33, she retired from medicine at the end of 1957.
Other biographical information
Sylvia was raised in Surrey where her father was a general practitioner in Suttton; she had one brother and one sister. While attending Sutton High School for girls during the war years, she was evacuated to Effingham House, Bexhill, East Sussex. In October 1957 she married Hugh Wylie Stewart, an accountant and they had two children Alistair b.1959 and Sandra b.1960. Following the social expectation which applied for many married women of this era, she retired after her marriage and never practised medicine or anaesthesia again.
She enjoyed gardening, tennis, bridge and walking. Pre-deceased by her husband, she passed away in Surrey aged 83 years, survived by her children. She faced the diagnosis and treatment of her final illness of cancer stoically.
Author and sources
Author:
Dr Innes Simon Chadwick
Sources and comments:
Bibliographic and genealogical information accessed on line Ancestry.com.
GMC Medical Register 1955 accessed on line Ancestry.com.
The Medical Directory 1968. Churchill Ltd. London. 124th Issue. Vol 2 p2310.
Medical Directories 1948-59 perused by Dr A.G. McKenzie at the University of Edinburgh Library.
Davies RM, Danks S. Anaesthetic Care in Cleft Lip and Palate Surgery. A Review of 500 Cases. Anaesthesia 1958; 8: 275-283.
GRO Death Certificate 1987. Copy obtained September 2024.
Photograph, personal information and communication by emails kindly provided by her daughter, Sandra Tessler in October 2024