Athelstan Jasper Blaxland (14 September 1880 – 7 December 1963) was an English physician, beginning his career as a general practitioner in

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...

and later becoming a consultant general surgeon at the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital. He was elected as a

Fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...

of the

Royal College of Surgeons The Royal College of Surgeons is an ancient college (a form of corporation) established in England to regulate the activity of surgeons. Derivative organisations survive in many present and former members of the Commonwealth. These organisations ...

. During the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, he served with 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 ...

on active service in France.

Life

Blaxland was born in 1880, the only son of William Athelstan Blaxland, solicitor to

London County Council The London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today ...

, and was educated at

Westminster School Westminster School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Westminster, London, England, in the precincts of Westminster Abbey. It descends from a charity school founded by Westminster Benedictines before the Norman Conquest, as do ...

and

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 ...

. After graduating, his house appointments were at UCH, the

Great Ormond Street Hospital Great Ormond Street Hospital (informally GOSH, formerly the Hospital for Sick Children) is a children's hospital located in the Bloomsbury area of the London Borough of Camden, and a part of Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS F ...

, and the Royal National Hospital, and then for more than a year at the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital. In 1907 he joined an uncle who was in

general practice General practice is personal, family, and community-orientated comprehensive primary care that includes diagnosis, continues over time and is anticipatory as well as responsive. Definitions A general practitioner (GP) is a doctor who is a consu ...

."A. J. Blaxland M.S., F.R.C.S."
''British Medical Journal'' (Royal College of Surgeons of England, 1964), 1, 123 Original Norfolk and Norwich Hospital - geograph

In 1909, Blaxland became an assistant surgeon at the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital, but he went on working as a general practitioner. In 1911, he moved into 29, Surrey Street, Norwich, a large Georgian property, from where his general practice was run. Then came the outbreak of the

in August 1914, and in March 1915 Blaxland was commissioned into the

as a temporary Captain, serving mostly in France as a clearing station surgeon, treating battle casualties. After his return to Norfolk at the end of the European war, Blaxland gave up general practice, building up a practice as a consulting surgeon. In 1925, he was appointed as a full surgeon to the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital, where in 1927 Geoffrey Gillam became his house surgeon. In 1930/1931 he was elected as President of the Norfolk branch of the

British Medical Association The British Medical Association (BMA) is a registered trade union and professional body for physician, doctors in the United Kingdom. It does not regulate or certify doctors, a responsibility which lies with the General Medical Council. The BMA ...

, and he also became a Vice-President of the Medical Defence Union. He retired in 1946, when his portrait was painted by Faith K. Sage for the Hospital. This is now at the

Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital The Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital (NNUH) is a large National Health Service (NHS) academic teaching hospital in the Norwich Research Park on the western outskirts of Norwich, England. The university hospital replaced the former Norf ...

Private life

In 1912, Blaxland married Marion Andrews, at

Henstead Henstead is a village in the civil parish of Henstead with Hulver Street, in the East Suffolk (district), East Suffolk district, in the county of Suffolk, England. It has a church called Church of St Mary which is a Grade I listed buildings in E ...

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

, and they had four sons, Mark, John, Gregory, and Stephen, of whom Mark died at the age of two. In 1928 the Blaxlands took up residence at St Catherine's Close, All Saints Green, Norwich.A new chapter in the history of St Catherine's Close on All Saints Green, Norwich
from ''EDP Norfolk'' magazine, June 2005, bawdeswell.net, accessed 4 October 2021 One son followed his father into the medical profession. Jasper Blaxland played

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

and

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

and also enjoyed shooting. He died in 1963 in a nursing home in Norwich, and his funeral was in

Norwich Cathedral Norwich Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, is a Church of England cathedral in the city of Norwich, Norfolk, England. The cathedral is the seat of the bishop of Norwich and the mother church of the dioc ...

. An obituary called him "unorthodox... altogether a whimsical but lovable character."

Degrees

* MB & BS (

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

), 1904 * MRCS, 11 February 1904 *

FRCS Fellowship of the Royal Colleges of Surgeons (FRCS) is a professional certification, professional qualification to practise as a senior surgeon in Republic of Ireland, Ireland or the United Kingdom. It is bestowed on an wikt:intercollegiate, ...

, 10 December 1908 *MS, 1908

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blaxland, Jasper 1880 births 1963 deaths 20th-century English medical doctors 20th-century English surgeons Alumni of the UCL Medical School British Army personnel of World War I British general practitioners Fellows of the Royal College of Surgeons of England Medical doctors from London Military personnel from Norwich People educated at Westminster School, London Royal Army Medical Corps officers