GB 0120 MSS.8543-8545 - Storrs, Robert (1801-1847)

Identity area

Reference code

GB 0120 MSS.8543-8545

Title

Storrs, Robert (1801-1847)

Date(s)

  • 1823-1896 (Creation)

Level of description

Extent and medium

3 Volumes

Context area

Name of creator

Biographical history

Robert Storrs was born on 23 June 1801, only child of John Storrs, a baker and provision dealer of Doncaster, and his wife Elizabeth (née Robertshaw). Robert was apprenticed for several years to a local surgeon, John Moore and an apothecary, Benjamin Popplewell, before leaving in August 1822 to spend two years walking the wards of Guy's Hospital, London. Whilst there he presented four papers to the Guy's Hospital Physical Society. In London he met his future wife, Martha Townsend, whom he eventually married in March 1827. They had thirteen children, of whom twelve survived their father.

Storrs returned to Doncaster in June 1824 to set up as a sole practitioner in the town. In July 1830 he was appointed honorary surgeon to Doncaster Dispensary. He was heavily involved in treating victims of cholera in 1832. In 1835 he was elected a municipal councillor on a Reform ticket, and in 1837 was one of the founder members of the Doncaster Lyceum. The extent to which his practice had prospered can be gauged from the census return for his household in 1841, when it comprised in addition to family members, a governess, two surgeon apprentices, and one male and four female servants. Storrs later took a close interest in puerperal or childbed fever as a result of the notorious outbreak which struck Doncaster in 1841, and he subsequently published the results of his investigations in the Provincial Medical Journal. He died of typhus on 14 September 1847.

Archival history

The notebooks were inherited by the donor by direct descent from the creator.

GB 0120 MSS.8543-8545 1823-1896 Collection (fonds) 3 Volumes Storrs , Robert , 1801-1847 , surgeon-apothecary of Doncaster

Storrs , Reginald , grandson of Robert Storrs

Pounsard , P O

Robert Storrs was born on 23 June 1801, only child of John Storrs, a baker and provision dealer of Doncaster, and his wife Elizabeth (née Robertshaw). Robert was apprenticed for several years to a local surgeon, John Moore and an apothecary, Benjamin Popplewell, before leaving in August 1822 to spend two years walking the wards of Guy's Hospital, London. Whilst there he presented four papers to the Guy's Hospital Physical Society. In London he met his future wife, Martha Townsend, whom he eventually married in March 1827. They had thirteen children, of whom twelve survived their father.

Storrs returned to Doncaster in June 1824 to set up as a sole practitioner in the town. In July 1830 he was appointed honorary surgeon to Doncaster Dispensary. He was heavily involved in treating victims of cholera in 1832. In 1835 he was elected a municipal councillor on a Reform ticket, and in 1837 was one of the founder members of the Doncaster Lyceum. The extent to which his practice had prospered can be gauged from the census return for his household in 1841, when it comprised in addition to family members, a governess, two surgeon apprentices, and one male and four female servants. Storrs later took a close interest in puerperal or childbed fever as a result of the notorious outbreak which struck Doncaster in 1841, and he subsequently published the results of his investigations in the Provincial Medical Journal. He died of typhus on 14 September 1847.

The notebooks were inherited by the donor by direct descent from the creator.

Given by Dr John H S Tooth, Storrs's great, great grandson, September 2007

Notes by Robert Storrs, 1823-1896, recording interesting cases and medical events from his practice, together with transcripts of two papers read at the Sheffield Medical Society. With additional notes on drugs by an unidentified contributor, possibly one of Storrs's apprentices, and later notes by Storrs's grandson, Reginald Storrs, a student at St Bartholomew's Hospital, London.

By volume

Open

Photocopies/photographs/microfilm are supplied for private research only at the Archivist's discretion. Please note that material may be unsuitable for copying on conservation grounds, and that photographs cannot be photocopied in any circumstances. Readers are restricted to 100 photocopies in twelve months. Researchers who wish to publish material must seek copyright permission from the copyright owner.

English

The notebooks were extensively used and their contents extracted by John Tooth for his book Humane and heroic: the life and love of a 19th century country doctor (2007).

Copied from the Wellcome Library catalogue by Sarah Drewery.
In compliance with ISAD (G): General International Standard Archival Description - 2nd Edition (1999); UNESCO Thesaurus, December 2001; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.
Jan 2009 People People by occupation Personnel Specialties, medical Family practice Medical profession Medical personnel Physicians Occupations Health occupations Medicine Specialties, surgical Orthopedics Diseases Influenza Pharmaceutical preparations Drugs, non-prescription Signs and symptoms Pathological conditions, signs and symptoms Body temperature changes Obstetrics Pathology Clinical pathology Health Health policy Epidemiology Medical sciences Surgery St Bartholomew's Hospital Storrs , Robert , 1801-1847 , surgeon-apothecary of Doncaster Cholera Students Medical students Fever Infectious diseases Higher science education Medical education Clinical medicine

Immediate source of acquisition or transfer

Given by Dr John H S Tooth, Storrs's great, great grandson, September 2007

Content and structure area

Scope and content

Notes by Robert Storrs, 1823-1896, recording interesting cases and medical events from his practice, together with transcripts of two papers read at the Sheffield Medical Society. With additional notes on drugs by an unidentified contributor, possibly one of Storrs's apprentices, and later notes by Storrs's grandson, Reginald Storrs, a student at St Bartholomew's Hospital, London.

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling

Accruals

System of arrangement

By volume

Conditions of access and use area

Conditions governing access

Open

Conditions governing reproduction

Photocopies/photographs/microfilm are supplied for private research only at the Archivist's discretion. Please note that material may be unsuitable for copying on conservation grounds, and that photographs cannot be photocopied in any circumstances. Readers are restricted to 100 photocopies in twelve months. Researchers who wish to publish material must seek copyright permission from the copyright owner.

Language of material

  • English

Script of material

  • Latin

Language and script notes

English

Physical characteristics and technical requirements

Finding aids

Allied materials area

Existence and location of originals

Existence and location of copies

Related units of description

Related descriptions

Publication note

Notes area

Note

Alternative identifier(s)

Access points

Place access points

Name access points

Genre access points

Description control area

Description identifier

Institution identifier

Wellcome Library

Rules and/or conventions used

In compliance with ISAD (G): General International Standard Archival Description - 2nd Edition (1999); UNESCO Thesaurus, December 2001; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

Status

Level of detail

Dates of creation revision deletion

Language(s)

  • English

Script(s)

    Sources

    Accession area