George Crichton Wells FRCP (13 July 1914 – 16 January 1999) was a

dermatologist Dermatology is the branch of medicine dealing with the skin.''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary.'' Random House, Inc. 2001. Page 537. . It is a speciality with both medical and surgical aspects. A dermatologist is a specialist medical ...

St Thomas' Hospital St Thomas' Hospital is a large NHS teaching hospital in Central London, England. It is one of the institutions that compose the King's Health Partners, an academic health science centre. Administratively part of the Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foun ...

and St John’s Hospital for Diseases of the Skin (now closed). He was the son of

Sir Richard Wells, 1st Baronet Sir Sydney Richard Wells, 1st Baronet, DL (3 August 1879 – 16 November 1957) was a British baronet, the first of the Wells baronets of Felmersham, and a Conservative Party politician. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bedford from 1922 ...

, the brother of

Sir Charles Wells, 2nd Baronet Sir Charles Maltby Wells, 2nd Baronet (1908–1996) was a British baronet, the second of the Wells baronets of Felmersham. Biography Born on 24 July 1908, the eldest son of Sir Richard Wells, 1st Baronet (1879–1957), the Conservative Member of ...

, and he gave his name to Wells' syndrome.

Career

Following a scholarship to

Pembroke College, Cambridge Pembroke College (officially "The Master, Fellows and Scholars of the College or Hall of Valence-Mary") is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college is the third-oldest college of the university and has over 700 ...

he went to St Thomas' Hospital to continue his clinical studies and qualified in 1939. He prematurely attempted and failed his

Membership of the Royal College of Physicians Member may refer to: * Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon * Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set * In object-oriented programming, a member of a class ** Field (computer science), entries in ...

(MRCP). After a spell at the

Royal Army Medical Corps The Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) is a specialist corps in the British Army which provides medical services to all Army personnel and their families, in war and in peace. The RAMC, the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, the Royal Army Dental Corps a ...

depot at

Church Crookham Church Crookham is a large suburban village and civil parish, contiguous with the town of Fleet, in northeast Hampshire, England. It is west-southwest of London. Formerly a separate village, it figures as a southern suburb of Fleet. History ...

as a

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

he found himself in unfulfilling, general duties. Volunteering to be a paratrooper he quickly found himself active in war theatres in Tunisia, Sicily, Greece and France during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. His medical experience was broadened by the range of injuries he had to treat. At the end of the war he returned to St Thomas' Hospital where he achieved his MRCP in 1946 and was appointed registrar to Owen de Wesselow’s medical unit. This post provided an insight into academic medicine but Wells did not enjoy it. At this time dermatology was becoming a prestigious speciality and Wells gained a post working in Chicago University medical school with Stephen Rothman who was developing a dermatology department. Wells decide to stay one extra year as he felt inspired by the stimulating environment. Rothman offered him a permanent post but Wells returned home after the second year. Rothman knew W. N. Goldsmith in charge of dermatology at

University College Hospital University College Hospital (UCH) is a teaching hospital in the Fitzrovia area of the London Borough of Camden, England. The hospital, which was founded as the North London Hospital in 1834, is closely associated with University College London ...

having worked and become friends with him in Wroclaw and with his recommendation Wells was interviewed and appointed senior registrar to Goldsmith. However Wells found the post unfulfilling and returned to Chicago with his new wife. He worked again with Goldman as an assistant professor researching connective tissue

ground substance Ground substance is an amorphous gel-like substance in the extracellular space that contains all components of the extracellular matrix (ECM) except for fibrous materials such as collagen and elastin. Ground substance is active in the development, m ...

, work that was to form a chapter in Rothman's book ''Physiology and Biochemistry of the Skin'' (Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1954). That year Wells and his wife returned to England. The Institute of Dermatology was developing at St John's Hospital and Wells was appointed as a senior lecturer in 1954. He quickly set up his laboratory in Lisle Street. In 1959 Wells gained his Fellowship of the Royal College of Physicians and in the same year was appointed Director of the Institute of Dermatology at St John's Hospital and he then accepted a consultancy at St Thomas' Hospital, sharing his time between the two. This arrangement seemed to suit Wells; he was a shy man able to find comfort working in the relative calmness of his laboratory. In 1961 he gave the Parkes Weber lecture at the College of Physicians, "Skin disorders Associated with Malabsorption", based on work he had done at St Thomas' Hospital with gastroenterologists and later published in the ''British Medical Journal''. Wells wrote, together with Geoffrey Dowling, the skin section in many editions of '' Conybeare's Textbook of Medicine''. George Wells' name is associated with the rare condition

eosinophilic cellulitis Eosinophilic cellulitis, also known as Wells' syndrome (not to be confused with Weil's disease), is a skin disease that presents with painful, red, raised, and warm patches of skin. The rash comes on suddenly, lasts for a few weeks, and often re ...

(Wells' syndrome) after he first described it: a patchy inflammatory condition of the skin characterised by what he called "flame figures" from the shapes of the inflamed patches on the skin.

Personal life

George Wells was the fifth of nine children of

, and Mary Dorothy Maltby. He was educated at

Bedford School :''Bedford School is not to be confused with Bedford Girls' School, Bedford High School, Bedford Modern School, Old Bedford School in Bedford, Texas or Bedford Academy in Bedford, Nova Scotia.'' Bedford School is a public school (English indep ...

and gained a scholarship to Cambridge. At university he excelled at rugby, swimming, diving and rowing. In the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

the family was nicknamed "The Fighting Wellses of Felmersham". All seven brothers served in the armed forces, as did their younger sister Sarah, who was a leading Wren. Their elder sister, Sydney, was married to a

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

officer. Three of the brothers were killed in action. (subscription required) Wells married Margaret Bruce in 1951. They had no children. The couple lived in

Hereford Square Hereford Square is a garden square in South Kensington, London SW (postcode area), SW7. It lies to the west of Gloucester Road, London, Gloucester Road, which forms the east side of the square. Wetherby Place is the western continuation, running ...

in South Kensington, London, and on his retirement they moved to

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

. Wells was musical and enjoyed playing the Spanish guitar. Margaret predeceased her husband by six weeks.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wells, George Crichton 1914 births 1999 deaths British Parachute Regiment officers People from Bedford Military personnel from Bedford British Army personnel of World War II Royal Army Medical Corps officers 20th-century English medical doctors English dermatologists Alumni of Pembroke College, Cambridge People educated at Bedford School Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians Younger sons of baronets