Brigadier General Sir William Heaton Horrocks (25 August 1859 – 26 January 1941) was an officer of the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

remembered chiefly for confirming Sir David Bruce's theory that

Malta fever Brucellosis is a highly contagious zoonosis caused by ingestion of unpasteurized milk or undercooked meat from infected animals, or close contact with their secretions. It is also known as undulant fever, Malta fever, and Mediterranean fever. The ...

was spread through goat's milk. He also contributed to the making safe of water, developing a simple method of testing and purifying water in the field. Because of his work, he became the first Director of Hygiene at the

War Office The War Office was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence (MoD). This article contains text from ...

in 1919.

Early life and career

William Heaton Horrocks was the son of William Holden Horrocks of

Bolton Bolton (, locally ) is a large town in Greater Manchester in North West England, formerly a part of Lancashire. A former mill town, Bolton has been a production centre for textiles since Flemish weavers settled in the area in the 14th ...

. Horrocks studied for his M.B. at

Owen's College The Victoria University of Manchester, usually referred to as simply the University of Manchester, was a university in Manchester, England. It was founded in 1851 as Owens College. In 1880, the college joined the federal Victoria University. Afte ...

and passed his first M.B. examination in 1881. He received a Third Class Honours pass in Anatomy, and a Second Class in

Physiology Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemical ...

and

Histology Histology, also known as microscopic anatomy or microanatomy, is the branch of biology which studies the microscopic anatomy of biological tissues. Histology is the microscopic counterpart to gross anatomy, which looks at larger structures vi ...

. Previously a Surgeon on

probation Probation in criminal law is a period of supervision over an offender, ordered by the court often in lieu of incarceration. In some jurisdictions, the term ''probation'' applies only to community sentences (alternatives to incarceration), such ...

, Horrocks was promoted to Surgeon (the equivalent of Captain) on 5 February 1887. While serving in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, Horrocks married Minna Moore (died 1921), the daughter of the Reverend J.C. Moore of Connor,

County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, ) is one of six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and has a population o ...

on 27 September 1894 at Christ Church, Mussoorie. Together they had one son and one daughter. His son

Brian Brian (sometimes spelled Bryan in English) is a male given name of Irish and Breton origin, as well as a surname of Occitan origin. It is common in the English-speaking world. It is possible that the name is derived from an Old Celtic word me ...

also joined the

, and became a leading corps commander during 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 opposi ...

. Horrocks was promoted from Captain to Major on 5 February 1899.

Malta fever

In 1904 Horrocks was appointed as a member of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

's Mediterranean Fever Commission, to investigate the highly contagious disease

which was prevalent in the British colony of

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

. Identified by Sir David Bruce in 1887, Malta fever was characterised by a low

mortality rate Mortality rate, or death rate, is a measure of the number of deaths (in general, or due to a specific cause) in a particular population, scaled to the size of that population, per unit of time. Mortality rate is typically expressed in units of d ...

but was of indefinite duration. It was accompanied by profuse

perspiration Perspiration, also known as sweating, is the production of fluids secreted by the sweat glands in the skin of mammals. Two types of sweat glands can be found in humans: eccrine glands and apocrine glands. The eccrine sweat glands are distr ...

, pain and occasional swelling of the joints. In 1905 Sir

Themistocles Zammit Sir Themistocles "Temi" Zammit (or Żammit; 30 September 1864 – 2 November 1935) was a Maltese archaeologist and historian, professor of chemistry, medical doctor, researcher and writer. He served as Rector (1920–26) of the Royal Univer ...

infected a goat with the

bacteria Bacteria (; singular: bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one Cell (biology), biological cell. They constitute a large domain (biology), domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometr ...

''Micrococcus Melitanensis'' which then caught Malta fever. Horrocks was the first person to find the bacteria in goat's milk, thus identifying the method of transmission. In attempting to settle the matter of who was responsible for the discovery, Bruce (who had served as chairman of the Commission, wrote to ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

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: Horrocks afterwards served as sanitary officer at the British colony of Gibraltar, where he noted that the incidence of Malta fever practically disappeared with the removal of Maltese goats from that place.

Later career

Horrocks was promoted to

Lieutenant-Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colo ...

on 19 May 1911, then in July was promoted Brevet

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...

dated 20 May, in recognition of his services. In 1915, Horrocks was honoured by becoming an Honorary Surgeon to

King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Qu ...

, commencing 6 November 1914, holding the appointment until 26 December 1917. Horrocks also developed the "Horrocks Box", following his research into contamination of water. This device used sand filtration and

chlorine Chlorine is a chemical element with the symbol Cl and atomic number 17. The second-lightest of the halogens, it appears between fluorine and bromine in the periodic table and its properties are mostly intermediate between them. Chlorine i ...

sterilisation plants to provide a portable means of decontaminating water supplies. It proved of particular use during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, when it kept the Allied forces largely free of water-borne disease. In addition to this he also developed means of removing poisons from water and assisted in the design of the first gas mask. For his services in the war, Horrocks was honoured with appointments to a number of

orders Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of d ...

. On 24 January 1917 he was appointed a

Companion of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved bathing (as a symbol of purification) as on ...

. On 3 June 1918 (in the

King's Birthday Honours The Birthday Honours, in some Commonwealth realms, mark the reigning British monarch's official birthday by granting various individuals appointment into national or dynastic orders or the award of decorations and medals. The honours are prese ...

) Horrocks was appointed a

Knight Commander of the Order of Saint Michael and Saint George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III. It is named in honour ...

. He became the first Director of Hygiene at the

on 1 June 1919 in recognition of his expertise in military hygiene, this last period of active duty came to an end on 1 November 1919, and he relinquished his temporary rank of Brigadier-General. Horrocks died on 26 January 1941 at the age of eighty-one, at

Hersham Hersham is a village in Surrey, within the M25. Its housing is relatively low-rise and diverse and it has four technology/trading estates. The only contiguous settlement is Walton-on-Thames, its post town. Hersham is served by Hersham and Wal ...

in Surrey. His funeral took place at St. Peter's Church, Hersham on 31 January with his son and daughter, among others, present.

Notes

References

* * * * *

Published works

* * (Report II by Major W. H. Horrocks
pdf at militaryhealth.bmj.com
h2>

Selected articles

* * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Horrocks, William 1859 births 1941 deaths Hygienists Royal Army Medical Corps officers Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Companions of the Order of the Bath People from Bolton British Army personnel of World War I Water filters People from Hersham British Army generals British Army brigadiers 19th-century British Army personnel Military personnel from Manchester