Sir Samuel Phillips Bedson, FRS (1 December 1886 – 11 May 1969) was a British

microbiologist A microbiologist (from Ancient Greek, Greek ) is a scientist who studies microscopic life forms and processes. This includes study of the growth, interactions and characteristics of Microorganism, microscopic organisms such as bacteria, algae, f ...

who was professor emeritus of bacteriology at 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 ...

Early life

Bedson was born in Newcastle upon Tyne, the son of Peter Phillip Bedson, a professor of chemistry at the

University of Durham Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by royal charte ...

, and was educated at

Abbotsholme School Abbotsholme School is a co-educational independent boarding and day school. The school is situated on a 140-acre campus on the banks of the River Dove in Derbyshire, England near the county border and the village of Rocester in Staffordshire ...

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

. From there he went to Armstrong College, Newcastle upon Tyne, where he graduated

BSc A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

in 1907. In 1912, he was awarded

MB BS Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery ( la, Medicinae Baccalaureus, Baccalaureus Chirurgiae; abbreviated most commonly MBBS), is the primary medical degree awarded by medical schools in countries that follow the tradition of the United King ...

degrees by the University of Durham. He then studied microbiology at the

Pasteur Institute The Pasteur Institute (french: Institut Pasteur) is a French non-profit private foundation dedicated to the study of biology, micro-organisms, diseases, and vaccines. It is named after Louis Pasteur, who invented pasteurization and vaccines f ...

in Paris.

Career

Bedson started work studying blood platelets at the

Lister Institute The Lister Institute of Preventive Medicine, informally known as the Lister Institute, was established as a research institute (the British Institute of Preventive Medicine) in 1891, with bacteriologist Marc Armand Ruffer as its first director, us ...

, but when World War I started, he enlisted in the

Northumberland Fusiliers The Royal Northumberland Fusiliers was an infantry regiment of the British Army. Raised in 1674 as one of three 'English' units in the Dutch Anglo-Scots Brigade, it accompanied William III to England in the November 1688 Glorious Revolution an ...

, was wounded at

Gallipoli The Gallipoli peninsula (; tr, Gelibolu Yarımadası; grc, Χερσόνησος της Καλλίπολης, ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles ...

and evacuated home. In 1916, he was in France serving as a pathologist for 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 ...

. After the war, he eventually resumed his work on platelets at the Lister Institute. In 1924, he transferred to the study of

foot-and-mouth disease Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) or hoof-and-mouth disease (HMD) is an infectious and sometimes fatal viral disease that affects cloven-hoofed animals, including domestic and wild bovids. The virus causes a high fever lasting two to six days, followe ...

and in 1926 was awarded a Freedom Fellowship to study viruses at

London Hospital The Royal London Hospital is a large teaching hospital in Whitechapel in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is part of Barts Health NHS Trust. It provides district general hospital services for the City of London and Tower Hamlets and spe ...

, which in 1929 included a study of

psittacosis Psittacosis—also known as parrot fever, and ornithosis—is a zoonotic infectious disease in humans caused by a bacterium called ''Chlamydia psittaci'' and contracted from infected parrots, such as macaws, cockatiels, and budgerigars, and from ...

. The causal micro-organisms ''

Chlamydophila psittaci ''Chlamydia psittaci'' is a lethal intracellular parasite, intracellular bacterial species that may cause Endemism, endemic Bird, avian chlamydiosis, epizootic outbreaks in mammals, and respiratory psittacosis in humans. Potential hosts include ...

'' of psittacosis were known, from the 1930s to the 1960s, as '' Bedsonia'' as a result of his research. In 1934, he was appointed to the

Goldsmiths Company The Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths, commonly known as the Goldsmiths' Company and formally titled The Wardens and Commonalty of the Mystery of Goldsmiths of the City of London, is one of the Great Twelve Livery Companies of the City of Londo ...

’s Chair of Bacteriology at the

London Hospital Medical College Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, commonly known as Barts or BL, is a medical school, medical and dental school in London, England. The school is part of Queen Mary University of London, a constituent college of the federal Un ...

, from which he retired in 1952. He was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

in 1935 and was knighted in 1956.

Personal life and family

He married Dorothea Annie, the elder daughter of Henry Hoffert, a senior inspector of schools for the Board of Education. They had three sons. His second son,

Henry Bedson Henry Samuel Bedson, MD, MRCP (29 September 1929 – 6 September 1978), was a British virologist and head of the Department of Medical Microbiology at Birmingham Medical School, where his research focused on smallpox and monkeypox. He was ...

, was the head of the Microbiology Department at the

University of Birmingham Medical School The University of Birmingham Medical School is one of Britain's largest and oldest medical schools with over 400 medical, 70 pharmacy, 140 biomedical science and 130 nursing students graduating each year. It is based at the University of Birmi ...

and committed suicide in 1978 following the last known recorded death from smallpox, which was linked to his laboratory. After his retirement, Bedson ran the virus unit of the British Empire Cancer Campaign in the Bland Sutton Institute of Pathology at the

Middlesex Hospital Middlesex Hospital was a teaching hospital located in the Fitzrovia area of London, England. First opened as the Middlesex Infirmary in 1745 on Windmill Street, it was moved in 1757 to Mortimer Street where it remained until it was finally clos ...

until 1962.

Selected publications

* *

References

External links

* * 1886 births 1969 deaths Scientists from Newcastle upon Tyne People educated at Abbotsholme School Alumni of Armstrong College, Durham Academics of the University of London British virologists Fellows of the Royal Society Knights Bachelor {{academic-stub