Patterson David Gordon Pugh (19 December 1920 – 15 July 1993), also known as Pat Pugh, was a British orthopaedic surgeon in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

and a prolific collector of Staffordshire portrait figures and naval ceramics.

Early life and training

Patterson David Gordon Pugh was born on 19 December 1920 in

Carshalton Carshalton ( ) is a town, with a historic village centre, in south London, England, within the London Borough of Sutton. It is situated around southwest of Charing Cross and around east by north of Sutton town centre, in the valley of the Rive ...

, the son of William Thomas Gordon Pugh, a renowned paediatrician and Medical Superintendent of Queen Mary's Hospital for Children in

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

. He was educated at

Lancing College Lancing College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Private schools in the United Kingdom, private boarding school, boarding and day school) for pupils aged 13–18 in southern England, UK. The school is located in West S ...

and

Jesus College, Cambridge Jesus College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Jesus College was established in 1496 on the site of the twelfth-century Benedictine nunnery of St Radegund's Priory, Cambridge, St ...

Career

Pugh pursued a successful career in the

eventually rising to the rank of surgeon rear-admiral. In 1975 he was appointed an Honorary Surgeon to the Queen.

Ceramics collector

Pugh was a prolific collector of Staffordshire portrait figures and naval ceramics amassing a collection of over 5,000 pieces. in 1970 he loaned the collection to the

Potteries Museum & Art Gallery The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery is in Bethesda Street, Hanley, one of the six towns of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire. Admission is free. One of the four local authority museums in the city, the other three being Gladstone Pottery Museum, ...

Stoke-on-Trent Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England. It has an estimated population of 259,965 as of 2022, making it the largest settlement in Staffordshire ...

. This arrangement continued until 1980 when Pugh emigrated to South Africa and he offered to sell the collection to the museum. With the aid of grants, donations and an appeal fund the collection was purchased, and became known as The Pugh Collection of Victorian Staffordshire Figures. His book "Staffordshire Portrait Figures and Allied Subjects of the Victorian Era" became the standard work on the subject.

Personal life

Pugh was the father of endurance swimmer and ocean advocate

Lewis Pugh Lewis William Gordon Pugh, OIG, (born 5 December 1969) is a British-South African endurance swimmer and ocean advocate. Dubbed the "Sir Edmund Hillary of swimming", he is the first person to complete a long-distance swim in every ocean of the ...

. Pugh was a descendant of Baptist missionary William Carey. His cousin, Carey Heydenrych, participated in the "Great Escape" from the German POW camp Stalag Luft III during the Second World War. P. D. Gordon Pugh died on 15 July 1993, at the age of 72.

Writing

*P.D. Gordon Pugh. ''Nelson and his surgeons'' E. & S. Livingstone, Edinburgh, 1968 *P.D. Gordon Pugh. ''Naval Ceramics''. The Ceramic Book Co., Newport, England, 1971. *P.D. Gordon Pugh. ''The History of the Royal Naval Hospital, Plymouth. I. The life and times of Captain Richard Creyke.'' J R Nav Med Serv. 1972 Summer;58(2):78-94. *P.D. Gordon Pugh. ''The History of the Royal Naval Hospital, Plymouth. II. 'A walk around the Hospital.' J R Nav Med Serv. 1972'' Winter; 58(3):207-26.

References

External links

* http://www.hlf.org.uk/NHMFWeb/Database/datapage2.html?projectid=890 * http://www.stoke.gov.uk/ccm/museums/museum/2006/collections/ceramics/information-sheets/staffordshire-portrait-figures.en;jsessionid=aG3vosIDuVL8 1920 births 1993 deaths People educated at Lancing College Alumni of Jesus College, Cambridge Royal Navy rear admirals Officers of the Order of the British Empire Fellows of the Royal College of Surgeons of England English surgeons Royal Navy Medical Service officers British emigrants to South Africa {{UK-navy-bio-stub