William Allen Sturge (1850 – 27 March 1919) was an English physician and

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landsca ...

born in

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, city, Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Glouces ...

. His first wife was Emily Bovell, one of the "

Edinburgh Seven The Edinburgh Seven were the first group of matriculated undergraduate female students at any British university. They began studying medicine at the University of Edinburgh in 1869 and, although the Court of Session ruled that they should neve ...

". He also worked as a personal physician for

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previ ...

, and was awarded with

Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order (french: Ordre royal de Victoria) is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the British monarch, Canadian monarch, Australian monarch, o ...

Career

Sturge was born in Bristol into a Quaker family. His father, William was a land surveyor and his mother was Charlotte Allen. Five of his sisters campaigned for women's higher education including Elizabeth and Emily Sturge.

Career in medicine

After receiving his medical degree in 1873 from

University College In a number of countries, a university college is a college institution that provides tertiary education but does not have full or independent university status. A university college is often part of a larger university. The precise usage varies ...

in London, Sturge became resident medical officer and later registrar at the

National Hospital for Paralysis and Epilepsy The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery (informally the National Hospital or Queen Square) is a neurological hospital in Queen Square, London. It is part of the University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. It was the f ...

. In 1876 he went to Paris to study

neurology Neurology (from el, νεῦρον (neûron), "string, nerve" and the suffix -logia, "study of") is the branch of medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of conditions and disease involving the brain, the spinal ...

with

Jean-Martin Charcot Jean-Martin Charcot (; 29 November 1825 – 16 August 1893) was a French neurologist and professor of anatomical pathology. He worked on hypnosis and hysteria, in particular with his hysteria patient Louise Augustine Gleizes. Charcot is know ...

(1825–1893), and

pathology Pathology is the study of the causes and effects of disease or injury. The word ''pathology'' also refers to the study of disease in general, incorporating a wide range of biology research fields and medical practices. However, when used in ...

with

Jean Alfred Fournier Jean Alfred Fournier () (21 May 1832 – 25 December 1914) was a French dermatologist who specialized in the study of venereal disease. Biography As a young man he served as an interne at the Hôpital du Midi as an understudy to Philippe Rico ...

(1832–1915). He met his wife in Paris. She was the physician Emily Bovell., They returned to London together, marrying on 27 September at St Saviour's Church in Paddington. Thereafter they set up a practice together in Wimpole Street, his wife renewed her relationship with Queen's College, lecturing on

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 chemic ...

and

hygiene Hygiene is a series of practices performed to preserve health. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), "Hygiene refers to conditions and practices that help to maintain health and prevent the spread of diseases." Personal hygiene refer ...

, and running ambulance classes for ladies. Sturge was a strong supporter of his wife's career, and the cause of women's medical education in general. He was the pathologist at the

Royal Free Hospital The Royal Free Hospital (also known simply as the Royal Free) is a major teaching hospital in the Hampstead area of the London Borough of Camden. The hospital is part of the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust, which also runs services at Bar ...

. In 1879 he described a disorder in a six-year-old child which would later be called the

Sturge–Weber syndrome Sturge–Weber syndrome, sometimes referred to as encephalotrigeminal angiomatosis, is a rare congenital neurological and skin disorder. It is one of the phakomatoses and is often associated with port-wine stains of the face, glaucoma, seizures, ...

. It is co-named with another English physician, Frederick Parkes Weber (1863-1962). This disease is a congenital disorder which affects the brain, eyes and skin. The disease is characterized by a port-wine nevi on the scalp along the distribution of the

trigeminal nerve In neuroanatomy, the trigeminal nerve ( lit. ''triplet'' nerve), also known as the fifth cranial nerve, cranial nerve V, or simply CN V, is a cranial nerve responsible for sensation in the face and motor functions such as biting and che ...

, combined with

glaucoma Glaucoma is a group of eye diseases that result in damage to the optic nerve (or retina) and cause vision loss. The most common type is open-angle (wide angle, chronic simple) glaucoma, in which the drainage angle for aqueous humor, fluid withi ...

and intracranial vascular abnormalities. From 1880–1907, Sturge practiced medicine in

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative ...

, and was personal physician to

and her family members when they came to the

French Riviera The French Riviera (known in French as the ; oc, Còsta d'Azur ; literal translation " Azure Coast") is the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France. There is no official boundary, but it is usually considered to extend from ...

. The Queen awarded Sturge with an MVO (Member of the Victorian Order), which is a decoration reserved for people who have rendered personal service to the Royal Family. Sturge's wife died of a lung condition in 1885 and was buried in Nice. Sturge created a laboratory at Queen’s College

Harley Street Harley Street is a street in Marylebone, Central London, which has, since the 19th century housed a large number of private specialists in medicine and surgery. It was named after Edward Harley, 2nd Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer.

which he named the Bovell-Sturge laboratory.

Career in archaeology

In 1907 Sturge retired from medicine, and dedicated his time to archaeology. His interest was in collecting Greek and Etruscan pottery, along with

Paleolithic The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic (), also called the Old Stone Age (from Greek: παλαιός '' palaios'', "old" and λίθος ''lithos'', "stone"), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone too ...

and

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several pa ...

relics. His personal museum in

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include ...

numbered thousands of flint implements; presently this collection can be found in the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

. His collection of Greek

amphorae An amphora (; grc, ἀμφορεύς, ''amphoreús''; English plural: amphorae or amphoras) is a type of container with a pointed bottom and characteristic shape and size which fit tightly (and therefore safely) against each other in storag ...

is housed in the Toronto Museum. In 1908 he was co-founder and president of the 'East Anglian Society of Prehistorians', which in 1911 was named the 'Prehistoric Society of East Anglia.' The first honorary secretary was William George Clarke. Other founding members were W.A. Dutt and H.H. Halls. Within twenty years this society developed into a national organisation.; see also: He died in

Icklingham Icklingham is a village and civil parish in the West Suffolk district of Suffolk in eastern England. It is located about north-west of Bury St Edmunds, south-east of Mildenhall and south-west of Thetford in Norfolk. The village is on the A1 ...

, Suffolk on 27 March 1919.

References

''William Allen Sturge''
at

Who Named It ''Whonamedit?'' is an online English-language dictionary of medical eponyms and the people associated with their identification. Though it is a dictionary, many eponyms and persons are presented in extensive articles with comprehensive bibliograp ...

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sturge, William Allen 1850 births 1919 deaths British neurologists Medical doctors from Bristol British expatriates in France