Abraham Colles / [Thomas Kirkpatrick].

  • Percy Kirkpatrick
Date:
[1931]
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Abraham Colles / [Thomas Kirkpatrick]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    The prospects in Ireland immediately after the Rebellion were not bright, and unless he could obtain a position on the staff of some of the hospitals, his path towards a surgical practice was likely to be long and arduous. It is reported that in the face of these difficulties he actually contemplated seeking the position of a surgeon in the Army. While this step was under consideration his old master, Philip Woodroffe, died on June 4th, 1799, leaving the post of Resident Surgeon at Steevens’ Hospital vacant. Woodroffe had been connected with Steevens’ since 1763; he was also a surgeon to the House of Industry Hospitals, to the Found¬ ling Hospital, to the Blue Coat School, and to the Hospital for Incurables. He had been President of the College of Surgeons in 1788, so that his death was likely to result in some promotion in the surgical world of Dublin. The Resident Surgeoncy at Steevens’ Hospital, although the salary was small, was a particu¬ larly lucrative post, as it enabled the holder to secure many apprentices from whom satisfactory fees were generally forth¬ coming. George Stewart, the Surgeon-General, who was consulting surgeon and a Governor of Steevens’ Hospital, urged Colles to seek the vacant post, and on July 26th, 1799, he was elected Resident Surgeon at a salary of £55 a year, with an addition of £5 a year in lieu of furniture. This appointment of Colies at the age of 26 years gave him a sure start on the road to success. The salary, it is true, was negligible, but he had rooms, he was ensured of a regular supply of apprentices, he had complete charge of one-third of the surgical patients in one of the principal hospitals in Dublin, of which he was also the administrative head. He was quite unrestricted as regards private practice, or private teaching, and, provided he discharged his duties satisfactorily in the hospital, he was his own master. To the discharge of his hospital duties Colles brought an ability above the average, a sound education, a great capacity for work, and a character which won for him respect and confidence from all with whom he came in contact. Almost immediately he was admitted to the Membership of the College of Surgeons, a rank which corresponded with the present Fellowship, and on January 4th, 1802, he was elected President of the College. We are apt to think that long ago a man had to wait till he was old for preferment, and that the promotion of youth to positions of trust and importance is one of the good things of recent growth, but Colles, not yet thirty years of age, was the titular head of the surgical profession in Ireland, and the chief officer of a great hospital. In July, 1802, James Cleghorn, Professor of Anatomy and Chirurgery in Trinity College, owing to ill health, had to resign his appointment. His duties as Professor had been discharged for some time by William Hartigan, who had held the chair of Anatomy and Physiology in the College of Surgeons from
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