In memoriam Ernest Hart, M.R.C.S., D.C.L. for over thirty years editor of the British Medical Journal and for twenty-five years Chairman of the Parliamentary Bills Committee of the British Medical Association / [Ernest Hart].

  • Hart, Ernest, 1835-1898
Date:
1898
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Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: In memoriam Ernest Hart, M.R.C.S., D.C.L. for over thirty years editor of the British Medical Journal and for twenty-five years Chairman of the Parliamentary Bills Committee of the British Medical Association / [Ernest Hart]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    jjn Jffiemoriam EENEST HAET, D.O.Xj. [From, the British Medical Journal.] THE COUNCIL OF THE BRITISH MEDICAL ASSOCIATION ON MR. HART’S WORK AND DEATH. At the meeting of the Council of the British Medical Asso¬ ciation on January 19th, Dr. Saundby, the President of Coun¬ cil, referred to the death of Mr. Ernest Hart id the following terms i1 “Since we last met the Association has sustained a great loss in the death of Mr. Ernest Hart. Eor more than thirty years he has not only been the able and accomplished Editor of the British Medical Journal, but he has been the origi¬ nator of nearly every development by which our Association has expanded itself and become more useful to the medical profession in its broader and more scientific as well as in its corporate relations. To illustrate what I mean I have only to name the Scientific Grants Committee, the Parliamentary Bills Committee, and this library which we see around us, and to remind you that they all owed their initiation and their guidance through many years to his untiring personal supervision, his ability, and energy. He has died no longer young, having lived a life full of purpose, having accom¬ plished many things. He has lived to see this Association reach a pitch of prosperity which he probably never antici¬ pated. How greatly this success has been directly due to the popularity attained by the Journal under his editorship none of us will be disposed to question. A man’s life is soon spent, but institutions last long enough to use up many generations. We shall all pass away, yet when the last of us has gone we hope this Association will still be evergreen and flourishing. In it Mr. Hart possesses a monument of the noblest kind, and in this Council room he will be always re¬ membered as one of those who did most to make the Associa¬ tion what it is to-day. I beg to move the following resolu¬ tion : “The Council desires to convey to Mrs. Ernest Hart its expression of deep sympathy with her in the loss she has sustained, and to place on record its recognition of the memorable services rendered by Mr. Ernest Hart to this Association during his tenure of the office of Editor of the British Medical J ournal for more than thirty years.” This resolution was passed unanimously. A SKETCH OF HIS LIFE.2 Ernest Hart was born in London, of Jewish parents, in June, 1835. His father was in good practice as a dentist in the West of London, and his elder brother, who died in 1882, followed the same profession. Hart himself was educated at the City of London School, then rapidly rising in reputation and efficiency under the vigorous headmastership of the Rev. Canon Mortimer, who regarded him as one of his most promising pupils, and had a warm regard for him. He would have gone to one of the universities (Cambridge pro¬ bably) with a scholarship, had it been possible then for a Jew to take his degree. After the termination of a career of unusual distinction, he left the City school, as Captain, and soon afterwards entered at Mr. Lane’s Grosvenor Place School of Me¬ dicine, and it was here (writes Mr. Timothy Holmes) that I made his acquaintance. He was then a most promising student, full of energy and intelligence, and it was during his student career that Hart’s first public service was rendered. The degraded condition of the juniors in the Naval Medical Service was attracting public attention, and was the cause of an unpopularity of that service which was very detrimental to the efficiency of the navy itself. A society of medical students was formed, chiefly through Ernest Hart’s exertions, at St. George’s and the other hospitals, and of this society he was Secre¬ tary and I was Chairman. It proved most successful. We were warmly backed up by Colonel Boldero and other members of Parliament. We collected funds, held public meetings—at which, amongst many others, our then Senior Physician, Dr. J. A. Wilson, one of the most effective of plat¬ form orators, spoke; we organised and presented petitions; and ultimately were able to give notice of Parliamentary action with so strong a backing that the Government of the day recognised the justice of our claims and conceded all that was asked. The Students’ Society ended in complete success and with a handsome sum in hand, which was dis¬ tributed to medical charities. Hart did not serve as House- Surgeon at St. George’s, but at St. Mary’s in 1856. He be¬ came afterwards Surgical Registrar at St. George’s—proba¬ bly with some idea of connecting himself with the School; but the duties were not congenial to him, and he attached himself thenceforth to St. Mary’s, where he became Ophthal¬ mic Surgeon (1861-1868), and afterwards Aural Surgeon 1865-1868), and Dean of the Medical School from 1863-1869, when his connection with the St. Mary’s School ceased. He entered at first into consulting and operative surgical practice, both in ophthalmic and in general surgery, with much zeal and with very fair promise of success. He had 2 By Mr. Timothy Holmes. British medical Journal, January 15th