George Vivian Poore (23 September 1843 – 23 November 1904) was a British physician and writer.

Life

Poore was born in Andover, Kent the youngest son of Commander John Poore, RN and educated at the

Royal Naval School The Royal Naval School was an English school that was established in Camberwell, London, in 1833 and then formally constituted by the ( 3 & 4 Vict. c. lxxxvi). It was a charitable institution, established as a boarding school for the sons ...

, New Cross, London and

University College, London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

. In 1866 he was awarded the diploma of M.R.C.S.Eng and served as Medical Officer on board the ''

SS Great Eastern SS ''Great Eastern'' was an iron-hull (watercraft), hulled steamship designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, and built by John Scott Russell & Co. at Millwall Iron Works on the River Thames, London, England. Powered by both sidewheels and a screw ...

'' when she laid the first transatlantic telegraph cable later that same year. He returned afterwards to university and graduated MB and BS in 1868 and Doctor of Medicine in 1871. In 1872 he was asked by Queen Victoria to attend the Prince of Wales during a trip to France to recover from typhoid and afterwards to attend her youngest son who suffered from delicate health. Poore was appointed Assistant Physician and then full Physician at

University College Hospital University College Hospital (UCH) is a teaching hospital in the Fitzrovia area of the London Borough of Camden, England. The hospital, which was founded as the North London Hospital in 1834, is closely associated with University College Lo ...

. He was elected a Fellow of the

Royal College of Physicians The Royal College of Physicians of London, commonly referred to simply as the Royal College of Physicians (RCP), is a British professional membership body dedicated to improving the practice of medicine, chiefly through the accreditation of ph ...

in 1877 and delivered their inaugural

Bradshaw Lecture The Bradshaw Lectures are lectureships given at the invitation of the Royal College of Physicians and the Royal College of Surgeons of England The Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCS England) is an independent professional body and reg ...

in 1881 entitled ''Nervous Affections of the Hand''. He was later appointed to the Chair of Forensic Medicine at University College. He was an authority of Sanitation Science and held strong views about the soil's ability to deal with waste. All his own household waste and that of his nearby tenants was successfully composted in his garden, which was watered with bathwater. He wrote a book, "''The Earth in relation to the Preservation and Destruction of Contagia''" which dealt with the relation of medical science to geology in areas such as water supply and sewerage disposal, which had been the subject of his Milroy Lecture to the Royal College of Physicians in 1899. With Sir William Jenner and Edward Sieveking he founded Museum of Hygiene at University College, London in 1877, which was formally incorporated under license of the Board of Trade. It was moved in 1882 from University College to new premises in Margaret Street, Cavendish Square. In 1899 he was invited to give the Harveian Oration to the Royal College of Physicians. He died at Ashford in 1904. He never married but lived for 30 years with his friend Marcus Beck.

Selected publications

''Essays on Rural Hygiene''
(1893)
''The Earth in Relation to the Preservation and Destruction of Contagia''
(1899)

References

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External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Poore, George Vivian 1843 births 1904 deaths People from Ashford, Kent 19th-century English medical doctors Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians Hygienists