Dr Joseph Bower Siddall (4 March 1840 – 4 July 1904) was a British medical doctor who worked as a foreign advisor in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

and was influential in the use of hygiene in Japanese Military hospitals, and universal vaccination for

Smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...

Biography

Siddall was born in

Matlock, Derbyshire Matlock is the county town of Derbyshire, England. It is situated in the south-eastern part of the Peak District, with the National Park directly to the west. The town is twinned with the French town of Eaubonne. The former spa resort of Matloc ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

in 1840. he received a Medical degree at Aberdeen University in 1865 and gained entitlement to use Letters MDCM or "Doctorem Medicinae et Chirurgiae Magistrum".(1) In 1868 he went to Japan as Medical Officer to the British Legation where under the direction of Dr William Willis he took control of the hospital at Yokohama, and later Tokyo during the war of 1869-1869. Here he performed pioneering work in hygiene control (2), and taught Japanese surgeons techniques of bandaging and splinting (3). He was a vocal enthusiast for the Smallpox vaccine.(2,3) His work on this led to his being awarded the

Order of the Rising Sun The is a Japanese order, established in 1875 by Emperor Meiji. The Order was the first national decoration awarded by the Japanese government, created on 10 April 1875 by decree of the Council of State. The badge features rays of sunlight ...

, 4th Class in 1909. He was the first foreigner to be given the honour of this award, but was not given permission by the British Foreign Office to receive it until 1909.(2,3,4) The medal is held in the British Museum Coin and Medal Collection. (5) He practised for a time at Ross on Wye, and retired to Devonshire.

Sporting Interests

This information is sourced from his BMJ obituary.(2) He was a founding member of the

Royal North Devon Golf Club Royal North Devon Golf Club, commonly abbreviated as RND, was founded in 1864, and is the oldest golf course in England. The course was designed by Scottish golfer Old Tom Morris. Geography RND is located on Northam Burrows between Northam an ...

. As a cricketer he was a batsman for the Gentlemen of England and among his boasts in old age were that he had played with all the Three Graces and had once smashed the clock at

The Oval The Oval, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Kia Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, located in the borough of Lambeth, in south London. The Oval has been the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club since ...

References

(1) University of Aberdeen
Europe PMC
(2) British Medical Journal Br Med J. 1925 August 8; 2(3371): 275–276
Europe PMC
(3) "Military medicine: from ancient times to the 21st century" by Jack Edward McCallum p173
Read the eBook Records of a Quaker family: the Richardsons of Cleveland by Anne Ogden Boyce online for free (page 33 of 35)
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Japanese honour for Malvern doctor

{{DEFAULTSORT:Siddall, Joseph Bower 1840 births 1925 deaths Recipients of the Order of the Rising Sun, 4th class 20th-century English medical doctors People from Matlock, Derbyshire English cricketers of 1864 to 1889 British expatriates in Japan