George Bodington (1799–1882) was a British general practitioner and

pulmonary The lungs are the primary organs of the respiratory system in humans and most other animals, including some snails and a small number of fish. In mammals and most other vertebrates, two lungs are located near the backbone on either side of th ...

specialist.

Career

Born in

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...

and educated at

Magdalen College, Oxford Magdalen College (, ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by William of Waynflete. Today, it is the fourth wealthiest college, with a financial endowment of £332.1 million as of 2019 and one of the s ...

, he served a

surgical Surgery ''cheirourgikē'' (composed of χείρ, "hand", and ἔργον, "work"), via la, chirurgiae, meaning "hand work". is a medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a person to investigate or treat a pat ...

apprenticeship then studied at

St Bartholomew's Hospital St Bartholomew's Hospital, commonly known as Barts, is a teaching hospital located in the City of London. It was founded in 1123 and is currently run by Barts Health NHS Trust. History Early history Barts was founded in 1123 by Rahere (died ...

. In 1825 he was licensed by the

Society of Apothecaries The Worshipful Society of Apothecaries of London is one of the livery companies of the City of London. It is one of the largest livery companies (with over 1,600 members in 2012) and ranks 58th in their order of precedence. The society is a m ...

, and became a

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

and GP in

Erdington Erdington is a suburb and ward of Birmingham in the West Midlands County, England. Historically part of Warwickshire and located northeast of central Birmingham, bordering Sutton Coldfield. It was also a council constituency, managed by its o ...

(then in

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...

, now

West Midlands West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

). His great professional interest was pulmonary

disease A disease is a particular abnormal condition that negatively affects the structure or function of all or part of an organism, and that is not immediately due to any external injury. Diseases are often known to be medical conditions that a ...

and in 1836 he acquired the asylum and

sanitorium A sanatorium (from Latin '' sānāre'' 'to heal, make healthy'), also sanitarium or sanitorium, are antiquated names for specialised hospitals, for the treatment of specific diseases, related ailments and convalescence. Sanatoriums are often ...

at Driffold House,

Maney Maney is an area of Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham, England. It is situated close to the town centre of Sutton Coldfield and is also near Wylde Green and Walmley. The main thoroughfare is Birmingham Road, which runs through Maney. Facilities Sutt ...

Sutton Coldfield Sutton Coldfield or the Royal Town of Sutton Coldfield, known locally as Sutton ( ), is a town and civil parish in the City of Birmingham, West Midlands, England. The town lies around 8 miles northeast of Birmingham city centre, 9 miles south ...

. In 1840 he published his essay, ''On the Treatment and Cure of

Pulmonary Consumption Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in w ...

'', condemning contemporary treatments and advocating instead dry frosty air, gentle exercise, and a healthy diet. This was attacked by reviewers in the Lancet and he became disenheartened with his work. He later turned to the treatment of insanity. In 1851 the local census recorded eleven "lunatics" and six staff, including the doctor and his family, at Driffold House. At some point the asylum was moved to the White House, Maney, which was demolished in 1935 to provide a site for an

Odeon cinema Odeon, stylised as ODEON, is a cinema brand name operating in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Norway, which along with UCI Cinemas and Nordic Cinema Group is part of the Odeon Cinemas Group subsidiary of AMC Theatres. It uses the famous name ...

(now part of the

Empire Cinemas Empire Cinemas Limited is a multiplex cinema chain in the UK. There are 14 Empire Cinemas across the country, with 131 screens in total. Ownership and management The ultimate beneficial owner of Empire Cinemas Ltd is Irish entrepreneur Thomas ...

group). In 1881 the Doctor was living at Manor Hill where his two daughters ran a girls boarding school. The census of that year shows nine pupils of which five were nieces. He was also a local politician and served on the Sutton Corporation for forty years (having as usual being appointed for life). He was the paternal grandfather of barrister

Oliver Bodington Oliver Eaton Bodington (1859 – 1936), barrister at law of the Inner Temple, Licensee en Droit, University of Paris, Member of the United States Federal Bar and President of the British Chamber of Commerce, was born March 6, 1859, in Kingsfor ...

and the great-grandfather of

Nicholas Bodington During the Second World War, Nicolas Redner Bodington OBE (6 June 1904 – 3 July 1974) served in the F section of the Special Operations Executive. He took part in four missions to France. Life Pre-war Nicolas Bodington was the son of Oli ...

Works

References

* footnote 7 *
Warwickshire Asylums from the Rossbret Institutions website

External links

(2013) {{DEFAULTSORT:Bodington, George 1799 births 1882 deaths 19th-century English medical doctors Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford People from Sutton Coldfield Alumni of the Medical College of St Bartholomew's Hospital People from Birmingham, West Midlands Alumni of the University of Edinburgh

Career

Works

Further reading

References

External links