Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: Royal Navy

  • Samuel Pepys: Stones and groans

    I polished up that handle so carefullyThat now I am the ruler of the Queen’s Navy– HMS Pinafore, Gilbert and Sullivan Introduction Samuel Pepys (1633–1703) did not polish doorknobs to rise in the world. He was well-connected and soon after graduation from Cambridge University entered the employment of his powerful cousin, Edward Montagu. This cousin…

  • Dr. AJ Cronin: Still persona non grata?

    Howard FischerUppsala, Sweden “I have written all I feel about the medical profession, its injustices, its hide-bound unscientific stubbornness . . . The horrors and inequities detailed in the story I have personally witnessed. This is not an attack against individuals but against a system.”1—AJ Cronin Archibald Joseph Cronin (1896–1981) was born in Scotland to…

  • Macdonald Critchley

    JMS PearceEast Yorks, England Macdonald Critchley was a neurologist of elegance and sophistication.1 He was pre-eminently a clinical investigator of disorders of higher mental functions, especially those relating to language. He was the author of many beautifully written scientific papers, books, and delightful personal reminiscences.2 Born in Bristol in February 1900, his childhood ability was…

  • Blood relics and contemporary memory

    Robbie PorterWorcester, England In the National Maritime Museum at Greenwich there is an exhibit, carefully preserved in an environmentally conditioned case, which is amongst its most popular and venerated visitor attractions. It is the dress uniform of a rear-admiral in the Royal Navy, and is of the highest provenance. For this is the uniform Lord…

  • Sydney Hospital

    Julie GianakonPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania, United States In May of 1797, growing discontent among sailors of the Royal Navy erupted into the infamous Mutiny of the Nore. William Redfern was nineteen years old and the surgeon’s mate on board the HMS Standard.  Sympathetic to the sailors’ demands for better pay and living conditions, he had urged the…