Sir Harold Delf Gillies (17 June 1882 – 10 September 1960) was a New Zealand
otolaryngologist
Otorhinolaryngology ( , abbreviated ORL and also known as otolaryngology, otolaryngology–head and neck surgery (ORL–H&N or OHNS), or ear, nose, and throat (ENT)) is a surgical subspeciality within medicine that deals with the surgical a ...
and father of modern
plastic surgery
Plastic surgery is a surgical specialty involving the restoration, reconstruction or alteration of the human body. It can be divided into two main categories: reconstructive surgery and cosmetic surgery. Reconstructive surgery includes cranio ...
.
Early life
Gillies was born in
Dunedin
Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...
,
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...
, the son of
Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...
in
Otago
Otago (, ; mi, Ōtākou ) is a region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local government reg ...
,
Robert Gillies.
He attended
Wanganui Collegiate School
Whanganui Collegiate School (formerly Wanganui Collegiate School; see here) is a state-integrated, coeducational, day and boarding, secondary school in Whanganui, Manawatū-Whanganui region, New Zealand. The school is affiliated to the Anglican c ...
and studied medicine at
Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge
Gonville and Caius College, often referred to simply as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges and one of t ...
, where despite a stiff elbow sustained sliding down the banisters at home as a child, he was an excellent sportsman. He was a golf
blue
Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when ...
in 1903, 1904 and 1905 and also a rowing blue, competing in the
1904 Boat Race.
Career
World War I
Following the outbreak of
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
he joined 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 ...
. Initially posted to
Wimereux, near Boulogne, he acted as medical minder to a French-American dentist, Valadier, who was not allowed to operate unsupervised but was attempting to develop jaw repair work. Gillies, eager after seeing Valadier experimenting with nascent
skin graft techniques, then decided to leave for Paris, to meet the renowned
oral surgeon Hippolyte Morestin
Hippolyte Morestin (1 September 1869 – 12 February 1919) was a French surgeon, and associate professor of anatomy at the University of Paris. He was one of the founders of cosmetic surgery. He was dubbed "The Father of the Mouths" after his brea ...
. He saw him remove a tumour on a patient's face, and cover it with jaw skin taken from the patient. Gillies became enthusiastic about the work and on his return to England persuaded the army's chief surgeon,
William Arbuthnot-Lane
Sir William Arbuthnot Lane, 1st Baronet, CB, FRCS (4 July 1856 – 16 January 1943) was a British surgeon and physician. He mastered orthopaedic, abdominal, and ear, nose and throat surgery, while designing new surgical instruments towar ...
, that a facial injury ward should be established at the
Cambridge Military Hospital,
Aldershot
Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Alder ...
.
This rapidly proved inadequate and a new hospital devoted to facial repairs was developed at
Sidcup. The Queen's Hospital opened in June 1917 and with its convalescent units provided over 1,000 beds. There Gillies and his colleagues developed many techniques of plastic surgery; more than 11,000 operations were performed on over 5,000 men (mostly soldiers with facial injuries, usually from gunshot wounds). The hospital, later to become
Queen Mary's Hospital, was at
Frognal House (the birthplace and property of
Thomas Townshend, Lord Sydney after whom Sydney, Australia, was named).
For his war services Gillies was knighted in the
1930 Birthday Honours
The King's Birthday Honours 1930 were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by members of the British Empire. The appointments were made to celebrate the official birthday of The King. They ...
.
Sir William Arbuthnot Lane, 1st Baronet
Sir William Arbuthnot Lane, 1st Baronet, CB, FRCS (4 July 1856 – 16 January 1943) was a British surgeon and physician. He mastered orthopaedic, abdominal, and ear, nose and throat surgery, while designing new surgical instruments towa ...
, commented, "Better late than never".
Private practice
Between the wars Gillies developed a substantial private practice with
Rainsford Mowlem, including many famous patients, and travelled extensively, lecturing, teaching and promoting the most advanced techniques worldwide.
In 1930 Gillies invited his cousin,
Archibald McIndoe, to join the practice, and also suggested he apply for a post 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 (die ...
. This was the point at which McIndoe became committed to plastic surgery, in which he too became pre-eminent.
World War II
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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
Gillies acted as a consultant to the Ministry of Health, the RAF and the Admiralty. He organised plastic surgery units in various parts of Britain and inspired colleagues to do the same, including pioneering plastic surgeon Stewart Harrison who founded the plastic surgery unit at
Wexham Park Hospital, Berkshire.
His own work continued at Rooksdown House, part of the
Park Prewett Hospital
Park Prewett Hospital was a psychiatric hospital northwest of Basingstoke, in the county of Hampshire in England, which operated from 1917 until 1997.
History
Park Prewett was an enclosure dating back to the time of Edward I. Following a repo ...
, Basingstoke. During this period, and after the war, he trained many doctors from
Commonwealth
A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...
nations in plastic surgery.
Pioneering sex reassignment surgery
Instead of retiring at the end of the Second World War Gillies had to keep working as he had insufficient savings.
In 1946, he and a colleague carried out one of the first
sex reassignment surgeries from female to male on
Michael Dillon
Laurence Michael Dillon (born Laura Maud Dillon; 1 May 1915 – 15 May 1962) was a physician and the first trans man to undergo phalloplasty.
Early life and transition
Dillon was the second child of Robert Arthur Dillon (1865–1925), heir t ...
.
In 1951 he and colleagues carried out one of the first modern sex reassignment surgeries, from male to female, on
Roberta Cowell,
using a flap technique, which became the standard for 40 years.
Gillies made a visit to New Zealand in 1956 after an absence of 51 years.
Death
Gillies suffered a slight
cerebral thrombosis
A thrombus (plural thrombi), colloquially called a blood clot, is the final product of the blood coagulation step in hemostasis. There are two components to a thrombus: aggregated platelets and red blood cells that form a plug, and a mesh of cr ...
at the age of 78 while undertaking a major operation on the damaged leg of an 18-year-old girl on 3 August 1960.
[Meikle. Page 196.]
Gillies died on 10 September 1960 at
The London Clinic
The London Clinic is a private healthcare organisation and registered charity based on the corner of Devonshire Place and Marylebone Road in central London. According to HealthInvestor, it is one of England's largest private hospitals.
Histor ...
, at 20 Devonshire Place, Marylebone.
Despite earning an estimated £30,000 per year between the First and Second World Wars he left an estate of only £21,161.
Personal life
Gillies married Kathleen Margaret Jackson on 9 November 1911, in London. They had four children. His eldest son, John Gillies, flew
Spitfires
The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 to the Rolls-Royce Gri ...
with
No. 92 Squadron RAF in World War II. John was shot down over France on 23 May 1940, and became a POW for the duration of the war. Harold's youngest son
Michael Thomas Gillies followed his father into medicine. Actor
Daniel Gillies is his descendant.
Gillies was an amateur golfer. He played in the
Amateur Championship
The Amateur Championship (sometimes referred to as the British Amateur or British Amateur Championship outside the UK) is a golf tournament which has been held annually in the United Kingdom since 1885 except during the two World Wars, and in 1 ...
every year from 1906 to 1931 and represented England in their
annual match against Scotland in 1908, 1925, 1926 and 1927. He won the 1913 St. George's Grand Challenge Cup and was runner-up in the 1914
Golf Illustrated Gold Vase
The Golf Illustrated Gold Vase was a prestigious amateur golf tournament in England. It was a 36-hole scratch stroke play
Stroke play, also known as medal play, is a scoring system in the sport of golf in which the total number of strokes is co ...
, behind
Harold Hilton
Harold Horsfall Hilton (12 January 1869 – 5 May 1942) was an English amateur golfer of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He won The Open Championship twice, The Amateur Championship four times, and the U.S. Amateur Championship once.
B ...
.
He won the
President's Putter in 1925. His older brother
Charles
Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was " ...
won the 1899
Australian Amateur
The Australian Amateur is the national amateur golf championship of Australia. It has been played annually since 1894, except for the war years, and is organised by Golf Australia. Having traditionally been a match play event, from 2021 it has ...
.
For many years his home was at 71 Frognal,
Hampstead
Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the London Borough o ...
, London. A
blue plaque
A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom and elsewhere to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving as a historical marker. The term ...
on the front of that house now commemorates his life and work. In Cambridge, in 2015, Gonville and Caius College built twelve houses and named the road Harold Gillies Close (CB5 8ZD) in his honour.
Selected publications
* Gillies HD
''Plastic Surgery of the Face.''Henry Frowde. 1920, 1983.
* Gillies HD,
Millard DR. ''The Principles and Art of Plastic Surgery.'' Butterworth. 1958.
Reviews
*
References
Bibliography
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Gillies, Harold
1882 births
1960 deaths
Fellows of the Royal College of Surgeons
New Zealand otolaryngologists
Alumni of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge
British plastic surgeons
People from Dunedin in health professions
Cambridge University Boat Club rowers
New Zealand male golfers
Amateur golfers
Surgeons specializing in transgender medicine
Hill-McIndoe-Gillies family
20th-century surgeons
20th-century British medical doctors
20th-century New Zealand medical doctors
Archibald McIndoe
New Zealand plastic surgeons
Royal Army Medical Corps officers
British Army personnel of World War I
Commanders Second Class of the Order of the Dannebrog
New Zealand military personnel of World War I