Colonel Percy Samuel Lelean (21 July 1871 – 6 November 1956) was a Canadian-born surgeon who specialised in issues of Public Health. He served with distinction in the
First World War.
Life
He was born in
Canada on 21 July 1871 the son of William Cox Lelean. He studied medicine at Hart House in Canada then sent to UK to
St Mary's Hospital, London
St Mary's Hospital is an NHS hospital in Paddington, in the City of Westminster, London, founded in 1845. Since the UK's first academic health science centre was created in 2008, it has been operated by Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, wh ...
.
In the
First Boer War, he volunteered for the Army Medical Services and saw action throughout
South Africa, winning the
Queen's Medal four times. Staying in
Africa he served on the Anglo-French Boundary Commission in 1903, considering international boundaries from the
River Niger to
Lake Chad
Lake Chad (french: Lac Tchad) is a historically large, shallow, endorheic lake in Central Africa, which has varied in size over the centuries. According to the ''Global Resource Information Database'' of the United Nations Environment Programme, ...
. He then served as an army surgeon in
India until 1912.
He served as a Major in 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 ...
during the
First World War. He was four times
Mentioned in Dispatches
To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face ...
. During the war he was also employed as a specialist at the Anti Gas Department in Millbank. He retired from the army at the rank of Colonel in 1922.
In 1926 he took the Usher Chair in Public Health at the
University of Edinburgh. In 1930 he was elected a Fellow of the
Royal Society of Edinburgh
The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established i ...
. His proposers were
Ralph Allan Sampson,
James Hartley Ashworth,
Sir Edward Albert Sharpey-Schafer and
Sir William Wright Smith. In 1944 he retired fully and was succeeded by Prof
Francis Albert Eley Crew.
[British Medical Journal: 1 April 1944]
He died in
London on 6 November 1956.
Publications
*''Sanitation in War'' (1917)
*''The Prevalence of
Pellagra amongst Turkish Prisoners of War'' (1919)
Family
In 1902 he married Mary Ellen Gillam of
Stourbridge. They had two daughters.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lelean, Percy Samuel
1871 births
1956 deaths
Canadian surgeons
Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George
Companions of the Order of the Bath
Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh
Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada
Canadian non-fiction writers
Canadian emigrants to the United Kingdom