William Ilbert Hancock F.R.C.S. (10 April 1873 – 26 January 1910) was an English ophthalmologist who worked as an assistant surgeon at the Royal London Ophthalmic Hospital. He was also a sportsman who represented England in tennis.

Early life

William Ilbert Hancock was born in

Wiveliscombe Wiveliscombe (, ) is a small town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated west of Taunton in the Somerset West and Taunton district. The town has a population of 2,893. The Square, fronted by several listed structures, held the former ...

, Somerset as one of ten boys and three girls to William Hancock and Mary Sweet Escott. Along with his brothers, he was a strong football and

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...

player during his youth. He was educated at

Dulwich College Dulwich College is a 2–19 Independent school (United Kingdom), independent, Day school, day and boarding school for Single-sex education, boys in Dulwich, London, England. As a Public school (United Kingdom), public school, it began as the Col ...

, and joined

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. ...

as a student in 1891. While at Guy's, Hancock took an active part in the establishment's sporting clubs, playing as part of the tennis team throughout his time there, and captaining the team in 1892. He also captained the

rugby football Rugby football is the collective name for the team sports of rugby union and rugby league. Canadian football and, to a lesser extent, American football were once considered forms of rugby football, but are seldom now referred to as such. The ...

team in 1893 and 1894, and was one of the hospital's prominent

ers.

Medical career

In 1896 he qualified as a surgeon, gaining the dual qualifications M.R.C.S and L.R.C.P. He became a

fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons 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 ...

two years later in 1898. He specialised in ophthalmic work, and worked at for a time at the

Royal Westminster Ophthalmic Hospital Moorfields Eye Hospital is a specialist NHS eye hospital in Finsbury in the London Borough of Islington in London, England run by Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. Together with the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, which is adjacen ...

. At the time of his death, he was Assistant Surgeon for the Royal London Ophthalmic Hospital, Moorfields and Ophthalmic Surgeon for the East London Hospital for Children, and Bolingbroke Hospital. He had earlier served as Senior Assistant Surgeon and Pathologist for the Central London Ophthalmic Hospital. His obituary in the '' British Medical Journal'' describes Hancock as genial and loyal, and predicted that "had he lived, would doubtless have taken a very prominent place in the profession."

Sporting career

Hancock played one first-class cricket match for

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

in 1892. He also represented his county at tennis, and in his ''British Medical Journal'' obituary it is claimed that he would have gained international honours in rugby had it not been for a knee injury. His brother Philip Froude Hancock made ten international appearances in international rugby for England and Britain, and another, Frank Hancock captained Wales in the same sport. Of the ten brothers, seven, including William, played rugby union for Somerset. His nephew, Frank Hancock's son

Ralph Ralph (pronounced ; or ,) is a male given name of English, Scottish and Irish origin, derived from the Old English ''Rædwulf'' and Radulf, cognate with the Old Norse ''Raðulfr'' (''rað'' "counsel" and ''ulfr'' "wolf"). The most common forms ...

, played cricket for Somerset in nine matches between 1907 and 1914.

Personal life and death

Hancock married Margaret Hay Sweet Escott in 1899 and the couple had four children. He suffered from abdominal pain for 18 months, which in December 1909 became worse and he was forced to rest in bed for four weeks. Initially the symptoms appeared to have faded, but the acute pain returned, and Hancock required an operation for

appendicitis Appendicitis is inflammation of the appendix. Symptoms commonly include right lower abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and decreased appetite. However, approximately 40% of people do not have these typical symptoms. Severe complications of a ru ...

. The operation was successful, and Hancock was making a good recovery until four days later. He died of

pulmonary embolism Pulmonary embolism (PE) is a blockage of an artery in the lungs by a substance that has moved from elsewhere in the body through the bloodstream ( embolism). Symptoms of a PE may include shortness of breath, chest pain particularly upon breathin ...

and

thrombosis Thrombosis (from Ancient Greek "clotting") is the formation of a blood clot inside a blood vessel, obstructing the flow of blood through the circulatory system. When a blood vessel (a vein or an artery) is injured, the body uses platelets (t ...

the following day.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hancock, William 1873 births 1910 deaths British ophthalmologists Deaths from pulmonary embolism Deaths from thrombosis English cricketers English rugby union players English male tennis players English surgeons Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians People educated at Dulwich College Somerset cricketers British male tennis players Rugby union players from Wiveliscombe Tennis people from Somerset