Sir Cecil Pembrey Grey Wakeley, 1st Baronet

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CB PRCS

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(5 May 1892 – 5 June 1979) was a 20th-century British surgeon.

Life

He was born the eldest son of 12 children at Meresborough House, a country estate near

Rainham, Kent Rainham ( ) is a town in the unitary authority of Medway, in Kent, South East England. The town forms a conurbation with neighbouring towns Chatham, Rochester, Strood and Gillingham. Historically, Rainham was a separate village until, in 1928, ...

, the son of Percy Wakeley (1860–1954) and his first wife Mary ("May") Sophia Pembrey (1865–1940). He was educated at King's School, Rochester and Borden Grammar School, both in

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

and then from 1907 to 1910 at Dulwich College. In 1910 he went to King's College Hospital, where he received the Jelf Medal for surgery and qualified in 1915. He joined the Royal Navy and spent World War I as a surgeon-lieutenant aboard the hospital ship HMS ''Garth Castle'' at Scapa Flow. In 1922 he was appointed to the staff at King’s College, London and was senior surgeon from the age of 41 until his retirement. In 1926 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 David Waterston, Reginald Gladstone, John Millar Thomson and Joseph Strickland Goodall. 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 was again a surgeon serving the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

at the honorary rank of

rear admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarde ...

. He was made a

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

in 1952. In 1947 he founded the Annals of the Royal College of Surgeons of England which he continued to edit until 1969. He was president of the college from 1949 to 1954 during the period of establishment of the Faculty of Anaesthesia. He was elected President of the Hunterian Society for 1961. Wakeley was active in creationist circles and was a member of the Evolution Protest Movement (now

Creation Science Movement The Creation Science Movement (CSM, founded in 1932 as the Evolution Protest Movement) is a British Creationist organisation which lays claim to the title "the oldest creationist movement in the world". It was a member of the Evangelical Alliance u ...

). He died in London on 5 June 1979.

Family

He married Elizabeth Muriel Nicholson-Smith (1896–1985) on 21 July 1925 in

. They had three sons: * Sir John Cecil Nicholson Wakeley, 2nd Baronet, father of Charles Wakeley (President of the British Society of Skeletal Radiologists) * Richard Michael Wakeley * William Jeremy Wakeley

Selected publications

*''Surgical Pathology'' (1929) ith St. John Dudley Buxton*''The Pineal Organ'' (1940) ith Reginald John Gladstone">Reginald_John_Gladstone.html" ;"title="ith Reginald John Gladstone">ith Reginald John Gladstone*''Modern Treatment Therapeutics'' (1950) *''Sir George Buckston Browne'' (1957) [with Jessie Dobson] *Editor of the "Rose and Carless" Manual of Surgery *Editor of the "British Journal of Surgery"

Life

Family

Selected publications

References

Further reading