Joseph Ellis Stone, Baron Stone (born Silverstone; 27 May 1903 – 17 June 1986) was a British
general practitioner
A general practitioner (GP) is a doctor who is a Consultant (medicine), consultant in general practice.
GPs have distinct expertise and experience in providing whole person medical care, whilst managing the complexity, uncertainty and risk ass ...
, most notably to
Harold Wilson
James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx (11 March 1916 – 23 May 1995) was a British statesman and Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, from 1964 to 1970 and again from 197 ...
.
Career
Stone was born in
Llanelli
; ) is a market town and community (Wales), community in Carmarthenshire and the Preserved counties of Wales, preserved county of Dyfed, Wales. It is on the estuary of the River Loughor and is the largest town in the Principal areas of Wales, ...
in
Wales
Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...
, and after qualifying as a doctor at
Cardiff University
Cardiff University () is a public research university in Cardiff, Wales. It was established in 1883 as the University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire and became a founding college of the University of Wales in 1893. It was renamed Unive ...
and
Westminster Hospital Medical School
The Westminster Hospital Medical School was one of the constituent medical schools of Imperial College School of Medicine. It was formally founded in 1834 by George Guthrie, an ex-military surgeon – although students had been taken on at Wes ...
worked as a GP in and around
Hendon
Hendon is an urban area in the London Borough of Barnet, northwest London northwest of Charing Cross. Hendon was an ancient Manorialism, manor and parish in the county of Middlesex and a former borough, the Municipal Borough of Hendon; it has ...
. He took on a number of patients from
Hampstead Garden Suburb
Hampstead Garden Suburb is a suburb of London, north of Hampstead, west of Highgate and east of Golders Green. It is known for its intellectual, liberal, artistic, musical and literary associations. It is an example of early twentieth-century ...
, at the time an area popular with left-wing politicians, one of whom was Harold Wilson, who went on to become
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister Advice (constitutional law), advises the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, sovereign on the exercise of much of the Royal prerogative ...
.
During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, as a captain in the
Royal Army Medical Corps
The Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) was a specialist corps in the British Army which provided medical services to all Army personnel and their families, in war and in peace.
On 15 November 2024, the corps was amalgamated with the Royal Army De ...
, Stone was in the
British Army
The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...
force that liberated
Belsen
Bergen-Belsen (), or Belsen, was a Nazi concentration camp in what is today Lower Saxony in northern Germany, southwest of the town of Bergen near Celle. Originally established as a prisoner of war camp, in 1943, parts of it became a concentr ...
concentration camp
A concentration camp is a prison or other facility used for the internment of political prisoners or politically targeted demographics, such as members of national or ethnic minority groups, on the grounds of national security, or for exploitati ...
. He became heavily involved as a doctor in the initial army reaction to the situation they found in Belsen, and to the rehabilitation of the prisoners there. He was possibly the first British Jewish doctor to enter Belsen after its liberation. His brother-in-law, Sidney Bernstein, was then commissioned by the
British Government
His Majesty's Government, abbreviated to HM Government or otherwise UK Government, is the central government, central executive authority of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
to make a documentary about the liberation of Belsen and the concentration camps, which may have been influenced by the letters Stone sent home to his wife, Beryl.
As a peacetime GP, his patients included
Lord Longford
Francis Aungier Pakenham, 7th Earl of Longford (5 December 1905 – 3 August 2001), known to his family as Frank Longford and styled Lord Pakenham from 1945 to 1961, was a British politician and social reformer. A member of the Labour Party, ...
and Wilson, and when Wilson became prime minister, Stone became his personal physician. During this period in his career he counted a large number of Wilson's
Cabinet
Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to:
Furniture
* Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers
* Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets
* Filin ...
as his patients. Stone travelled widely with the prime minister, and became a close confidant of his. He remained a family GP in Hendon until a few years before his death, and during his time as Wilson's doctor. Stone also had a General Practice (GP) in Cricklewood Lane, London, for many years serving the local community.
He was
knighted
A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity.
The concept of a knighthood ...
in 1970, and later was created a
life peer
In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...
in the
1976 Prime Minister's Resignation Honours
The 1976 Prime Minister's Resignation Honours were announced on 27 May 1976 to mark the resignation of the Prime Minister, Harold Wilson. The list of resignation honours became known satirically as the "Lavender List".
Controversy
The list cau ...
, taking the title Baron Stone, of Hendon in
Greater London
Greater London is an administrative area in England, coterminous with the London region, containing most of the continuous urban area of London. It contains 33 local government districts: the 32 London boroughs, which form a Ceremonial count ...
, on 24 June 1976.
Death and legacy
He died in London, having continued to practise medicine until a few years before his death. He and his wife Beryl had two children, Richard and Adrienne. His brother was Arnold Silverstone, later Lord Ashdown. In his memory, the Lord Stone Trust was founded. This was later merged with the Lord Ashdown Charitable Settlement to form the Stone Ashdown Trust.
In 2002, Wilson's former press secretary Joe Haines alleged that Stone had plotted to murder Marcia Falkender in 1975, purportedly to prevent her from revealing that Wilson had an extramarital affair with her; Falkender rejected Haines's allegations as "outrageous". Labour Party politician
Bernard Donoughue
Bernard Donoughue, Baron Donoughue (born 8 September 1934) is a British Labour Party politician, academic, businessman and author.Marcia Falkender sues BBC for libel ''BBC News''; retrieved 7 September 2016.