Extract
It is an enormous honor to be asked to give this lecture, particularly when
looking at the roll call of my predecessors. Like most of them, I became
fascinated by the life and work of Sir Robert Jones (1857 to 1933). He was the
nephew of the famous doctor Hugh Owen Thomas. After qualifying as a doctor in
1878, Jones moved to the forefront of hyperspecialism in surgery, as he only
did orthopaedics from 1905 onward. He had a multifaceted career. Because he
had been appalled at the high rate of industrial injury, he developed a
casualty service for workers at the Manchester Ship Canal and saved many
lives. He was the founder of the Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Hospital,
Director General of Military Orthopaedics at that time, and a founder of the
British Orthopaedic Association, hence this eponymous lecture. He was
obviously extremely forward-thinking and was a pioneer of day surgery. In a
publication in 1908, Robert Jones discussed his eight rules for tendon
transplantation and concluded, "All my hospital transplantations are
treated as outpatients and return to their homes on the day of operation and
no difficulties of any kind arose there
from."1 In his
synopsis of Robert Jones' life, Mercer Rang said, "Most of all he is
remembered because he was liked and popularity provides opportunities denied
other men."1
What a wonderful tribute to a great man.