Sir Marriott Fawckner Nicholls

CBE 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 o ...

FRCS Fellowship of the Royal Colleges of Surgeons (FRCS) is a professional qualification to practise as a senior surgeon in Ireland or the United Kingdom. It is bestowed on an intercollegiate basis by the four Royal Colleges of Surgeons (the Royal C ...

, (12 May 1898 – 25 August 1969) was an English

surgeon In modern medicine, a surgeon is a medical professional who performs surgery. Although there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon usually is also a licensed physician or received the same medical training as ...

who specialised in the

genitourinary tract The genitourinary system, or urogenital system, are the organs of the reproductive system and the urinary system. These are grouped together because of their proximity to each other, their common embryological origin and the use of common pathw ...

. He served in the British Army in both the First and Second World Wars and was dean of the medical school at

St George's Hospital St George's Hospital is a large teaching hospital in Tooting, London. Founded in 1733, it is one of the UK's largest teaching hospitals and one of the largest hospitals in Europe. It is run by the St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundatio ...

for 20 years. At the age of 64 he became professor of surgery at the

University of Khartoum The University of Khartoum (U of K) ( ar, جامعة الخرطوم) is a public university located in Khartoum, Sudan. It is the largest and oldest university in Sudan. UofK was founded as Gordon Memorial College in 1902 and established in 195 ...

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

, where he maintained the position until his death five years later.

Early life and family

Marriott Fawckner Nicholls was born in London on 12 May 1898, the son of Marriott Edwin Nicholls.Nicholls, Sir Marriott Fawckner (1898–1969).
Plarr's Lives of the Fellows Online, Royal College of Surgeons. Retrieved 18 February 2018. He received his basic education at the

City of London School , established = , closed = , type = Public school Boys' independent day school , president = , head_label = Headmaster , head = Alan Bird , chair_label = Chair of Governors , chair = Ian Seaton , founder = John Carpenter , speciali ...

after which he attended

Clare College, Cambridge Clare College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college was founded in 1326 as University Hall, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the University after Peterhouse. It was refounded ...

. His studies were interrupted due to the First World War during which he served in the

Royal Fusiliers The Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in continuous existence for 283 years. It was known as the 7th Regiment of Foot until the Childers Reforms of 1881. The regiment served in many wars ...

. He was demobilised in 1919 with the rank of captain. He finally graduated in 1921. In 1925 he married the pathologist

Norah Schuster Norah Henriette Schuster FRCPath (14 July 1892 – 14 March 1991) was a British pathologist and the first woman to take the pre-clinical medical course at the University of Cambridge. She was the first woman to be appointed as a doctor at the M ...

(1892-1991).Norah Henriette Schuster, 1892–1991.
JISC Archives Hub. Retrieved 11 February 2018. In 1939 he married Mary Edith Harrison (died 1972). Also known as "Nick", he was fond of fishing and cricket and supported his medical school cricket club.

Career

Nicholls undertook his clinical training at

, qualifying in 1923."Obituary: Marriott Fawckner Nicholls"
''

The Lancet ''The Lancet'' is a weekly peer-reviewed general medical journal and one of the oldest of its kind. It is also the world's highest-impact academic journal. It was founded in England in 1823. The journal publishes original research articles, ...

'', Vol. 294, No. 7619 (6 September 1969), p. 549. He became a fellow of the

Royal College of Surgeons of England The Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCS England) is an independent professional body and registered charity that promotes and advances standards of surgical care for patients, and regulates surgery and dentistry in England and Wales. The ...

(FRCS) in 1926, and graduated with a

bachelor of surgery 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 ...

degree in 1928. He received a master's degree in surgery in 1932. He won the Allingham Scholarship in surgery at St George's in 1925 and the Sir Francis Laking Research Scholarship in 1928–29 and in 1929–30. Some of his happiest times were when he became assistant curator of the museum there in 1926. He joined the consultant staff at St George's in 1932 and began a successful career in surgery with a specialism in genito-urinary work. He was visiting surgeon at the Atkinson Morley's Convalescent Hospital in 1936, replacing Bryan Burns. He was dean of the Medical School from 1936 to 1956, whilst still actively at work as a surgeon. One of his major difficulties stemmed from the move of St George's Hospital from

Hyde Park Corner Hyde Park Corner is between Knightsbridge, Belgravia and Mayfair in London, England. It primarily refers to its major road junction at the southeastern corner of Hyde Park, that was designed by Decimus Burton. Six streets converge at the junc ...

Tooting Tooting is a district in South London, forming part of the London Borough of Wandsworth and partly in the London Borough of Merton. It is located south south-west of Charing Cross. History Tooting has been settled since pre- Saxon times ...

, and he was successful in being the first to effectively transfer his department to this new site. He was a consultant to the Belgrave Children's Hospital and the

Royal Chest Hospital The Royal Chest Hospital was a hospital in City Road, London. It operated from 1814 until 1954. History The hospital was founded by Isaac Buxton in 1814 as the Infirmary for Asthma, Consumption and other Pulmonary Diseases. At first it had onl ...

and held the position of general surgeon at the

Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital The Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital (RNOH) is a specialist orthopaedic hospital located in the London Borough of Harrow, United Kingdom, and a part of Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust. It provides the most comprehensive range of ...

. In addition, he was chairman of the Court of Examiners at the Royal College of Surgeons for 2 years. He also stood for the 1952 Royal College of Surgeons Council elections, however, Price Thomas received most votes. Despite this, he served on the council of the

British Association of Urological Surgeons The British Association of Urological Surgeons is a professional association in the United Kingdom for urology professionals. Its official journal is the BJU International ''BJU International'' (or ''BJUI'', formerly known as the ''British Jou ...

and was president of the Section of Urology of the

Royal Society of Medicine The Royal Society of Medicine (RSM) is a medical society in the United Kingdom, headquartered in London. History The Society was established in 1805 as Medical and Chirurgical Society of London, meeting in two rooms in barristers’ chambers ...

in 1960–61. He served 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 Second World War (1940-1946), starting as a lieutenant-colonel running a surgical division in Freetown, Sierra Leone, before becoming a brigadier with the Fourteenth Army, serving with

South East Asia Command South East Asia Command (SEAC) was the body set up to be in overall charge of Allies of World War II, Allied operations in the South-East Asian theatre of World War II, South-East Asian Theatre during the World War II, Second World War. Histo ...

. He was made

Commander of the Most Excellent 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 o ...

in 1946. In 1962, Nicholls became professor of surgery at the

, Sudan, in succession to Julian Taylor. He was knighted in 1969.

Death and legacy

Nicholls died of

coronary thrombosis Coronary thrombosis is defined as the formation of a blood clot inside a blood vessel of the heart. This blood clot may then restrict blood flow within the heart, leading to heart tissue damage, or a myocardial infarction, also known as a heart at ...

Khartoum Khartoum or Khartum ( ; ar, الخرطوم, Al-Khurṭūm, din, Kaartuɔ̈m) is the capital of Sudan. With a population of 5,274,321, its metropolitan area is the largest in Sudan. It is located at the confluence of the White Nile, flowing n ...

, Sudan, on 25 August 1969. He received an obituary in ''The Lancet'' and is recorded in

Plarr's Lives of the Fellows ''Plarr's Lives of the Fellows'' is a biographical register of the fellows of the Royal College of Surgeons of England that contains over 9,000 obituaries.' The first printed volumes of the work were produced by Victor Plarr Victor Gustave Plar ...

. The "Nicholls Ward", at St George's Hospital, London, is named in his honour.

Early life and family

Career

Death and legacy

References

Further reading