Richard White Bernard Ellis

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This soci ...

OBE MID (25 August 1902 – 15 September 1966) was a British paediatrician. He was made President of the

British Paediatric Association The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, often referred to as the RCPCH, is the professional body for paediatricians (doctors specialising in child health) in the United Kingdom. It is responsible for the postgraduate training of paed ...

in 1965.

Early life

He was born on 25 August 1902 the son of Bernard Ellis, a prominent

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...

. He studied at Downs and Leighton Park School: then a Quaker school. In 1920 he joined his elder brother at

King's College, Cambridge King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the city ...

. He graduated with an MA in natural sciences in 1923 then went to St Thomas Hospital in London for professional training as a doctor, receiving an MB from the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

in 1926.

Career

He worked at

Great Ormond Street Hospital Great Ormond Street Hospital (informally GOSH or Great Ormond Street, formerly the Hospital for Sick Children) is a children's hospital located in the Bloomsbury area of the London Borough of Camden, and a part of Great Ormond Street Hospital ...

and under

Kenneth Blackfan Kenneth Blackfan (September 9, 1883 – November 29, 1941) was an American pediatrician. He took particular interest in nutrition and hematology. A childhood blood disorder, Diamond–Blackfan anemia, is partly named after him. Early in his care ...

at the Boston Children's Hospital. In 1936, he was appointed Physician for children's diseases at

Guy's Hospital Guy's Hospital is an NHS hospital in the borough of Southwark in central London. It is part of Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust and one of the institutions that comprise the King's Health Partners, an academic health science centre. ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. During this period he campaigned to obtain part of the £200,000 endowment left by Caleb Diplock to "the children of Sussex" and succeeded in gaining 10% of this sum for Guy's. The two children's wards were updated using this money and thereafter were known as Caleb Ward and Diplock Ward. In 1937 he travelled to Spain to aid Basque refugees in the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...

. He was a member of the National Joint Committee for Spanish Relief from 1937-39. During this period he adopted two Spanish children. 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 ...

he initially involved himself in the plight of Polish refugees in

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

and

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

. From 1940 he served in the

Royal Air Force Medical Service The Royal Air Force Medical Services is the branch of the Royal Air Force that provides health care at home and on deployed operations to RAF service personnel. Medical officers are the doctors of the RAF and have specialist expertise in avi ...

, with the rank of Wing Commander (but is not thought to have had any pilot training). He served in North Africa, Italy and Belgium. For his role as Medical Adviser to the Mediterranean Allied Air Force he was awarded the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(OBE) in 1945. He continued to travel after the war, giving educational programmes on child-health in Africa, India and Indonesia. In 1946, he became Professor of Childlife and Health at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

retiring there in 1964. In 1952, 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 ...

. In 1960, he became Chairman of the Remand Homes Committee. From 1958, was diagnosed with cancer and had a

carcinoma Carcinoma is a malignancy that develops from epithelial cells. Specifically, a carcinoma is a cancer that begins in a tissue that lines the inner or outer surfaces of the body, and that arises from cells originating in the endodermal, mesodermal ...

removed. He died at the Glebe House, Hawridge,

Berkhamsted Berkhamsted ( ) is a historic market town in Hertfordshire, England, in the Bulbourne valley, north-west of London. The town is a civil parish with a town council within the borough of Dacorum which is based in the neighbouring large new town ...

on 15 September 1966.

Family

In 1941, he married Dr Audrey Russell, who also worked in the relief effort during the Spanish Civil War. They adopted two Spanish children, rescued from the Spanish Civil War.

Publications

*''Child Health and Development'' (1949) *''Diseases of Infancy and Childhood'' (1951) *''Health in Childhood'' (1961)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ellis, Richard White Bernard 1902 births 1966 deaths British paediatricians Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Alumni of the University of Cambridge British people of the Spanish Civil War Deaths from cancer in England People from Leicester Military personnel from Leicester Royal Air Force officers Royal Air Force personnel of World War II