Henry Locke Paddon (9 August 1881 – 1939) was a British doctor and medical missionary in Canada.

Life

Paddon was the son of Henry Wadham Locke Paddon (1839–1933) and his wife Catherine Van Sommer; his father was son of the Rev. (Thomas) Henry Paddon and his wife Anne Locke, a daughter of Wadham Locke. He was born in

Thornton Heath Thornton Heath is a district of South London, England, within the London Borough of Croydon. It is around north of the town of Croydon, and south of Charing Cross. Prior to the creation of Greater London in 1965, Thornton Heath was in the Coun ...

on 9 August 1881. There were four children in the family: their mother died four days after his birth, of what was known as milk fever (a

postpartum infection Postpartum infections, also known as childbed fever and puerperal fever, are any bacterial infections of the female reproductive tract following childbirth or miscarriage. Signs and symptoms usually include a fever greater than , chills, lower ...

). For a period after her death they were brought up by their paternal grandparents, the Paddons. In 1883, however, their father suffered a breakdown that saw him permanently confined to an asylum. They were then fostered by their maternal grandparents, the Van Sommers, in Wimbledon Park: first the two eldest girls moved there in 1883, and then Harry and his other sister joined them in 1888, having stayed with the Paddons in

Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. It is also a non-metropolitan district, local government district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, bor ...

lodgings (Henry Paddon died in 1887). Paddon was educated at Woodbridge Grammar School, and

Repton School Repton School is a 13–18 co-educational, private, boarding and day school in the public school tradition, in Repton, Derbyshire, England. Sir John Port of Etwall, on his death in 1557, left funds to create a grammar school which was th ...

under William Mordaunt Furneaux. He entered

University College, Oxford University College, formally The Master and Fellows of the College of the Great Hall of the University commonly called University College in the University of Oxford and colloquially referred to as "Univ", is a Colleges of the University of Oxf ...

in 1900; his grandfather James Van Sommer died in 1901. A troubled student, he graduated in 1906. Through the Fishermen's Mission (RNMDSF), he encountered again

Wilfred Grenfell Sir Wilfred Thomason Grenfell (28 February 1865 – 9 October 1940) was a British medical missionary to Newfoundland, who wrote books on his work and other topics. Early life and education He was born at Parkgate, Cheshire, England, on 28 F ...

, who had visited Repton. He studied at

St Thomas's Hospital St Thomas' Hospital is a large NHS teaching hospital in Central London, England. Administratively part of the Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, together with Guy's Hospital, Evelina London Children's Hospital, Royal Brompton Hospit ...

, qualifying in early 1911, and taking a position at the Guest Hospital in the Midlands. In 1912 Paddon moved to the hospital at Indian Harbour, Newfoundland and Labrador founded by Grenfell, for the RNMDSF. He also took on duties at

Lake Melville Lake Melville is an estuary of Hamilton Inlet (itself an extension of Groswater Bay) on the Labrador coast of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Comprising and stretching inland to Happy Valley-Goose Bay, it forms part of the ...

. He married Mina Gilchrist, a nurse from

New Brunswick New Brunswick is a Provinces and Territories of Canada, province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the northeast, the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, and the U.S. state of Maine to ...

, in 1913. In 1915 he moved to the hospital at North West River. In 1924 the hospital burned down: Paddon saw it rebuilt in a matter of months. He addressed

malnutrition Malnutrition occurs when an organism gets too few or too many nutrients, resulting in health problems. Specifically, it is a deficiency, excess, or imbalance of energy, protein and other nutrients which adversely affects the body's tissues a ...

in the local population. In 1927, Paddon wrote the

Ode to Labrador "Ode to Labrador" is the regional anthem of Labrador Labrador () is a geographic and cultural region within the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is the primarily continental portion of the province and constitutes 71% of the ...

, which would eventually be adopted as regional anthem. Paddon had a better relationship with Nain, Newfoundland and Labrador's Moravian mission than Grenfell, and was in 1930 able to bring a medical cruise in the ''Maraval'' there. His preoccupations included

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

and education. He died in 1939 of a bacterial infection.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Paddon, Henry 1881 births 1939 deaths 20th-century English medical doctors