Norman Kerr
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Norman Shanks Kerr (17 May 1834 – 30 May 1899) was a Scottish physician and social reformer who is remembered for his work in the British temperance movement. He originated the Total Abstinence Society and was founder and first president of the Society for the Study and Cure of Inebriety which was founded in 1884.Dictionary of National Biography, Supplement Vol 3, pages 60–61 edited by Sidney Lee (1901) In his writings he insisted on regarding
inebriety Alcohol intoxication, commonly described in higher doses as drunkenness or inebriation, and known in overdose as alcohol poisoning, is the behavior and physical effects caused by recent consumption of alcohol. The technical term ''intoxication ...
as a disease and not a vice: "a disease of the nervous system allied to insanity", an "abnormal condition, in which morbid cravings and impulses to intoxication are apt to be developed in such force as to overpower the moral resistance and control." His influential textbook on "Inebriety or Narcomania" was first published in 1888 and went through three editions. In the first edition he coined the term "narcomania" to refer to the disease of inebriety. Note that while 'inebriate' originally described a person intoxicated with alcohol, it later came to include other intoxicating drugs, especially
narcotic The term narcotic (, from ancient Greek ναρκῶ ''narkō'', "I make numb") originally referred medically to any psychoactive compound with numbing or paralyzing properties. In the United States, it has since become associated with opiates ...
s, such as
opium Opium (also known as poppy tears, or Lachryma papaveris) is the dried latex obtained from the seed Capsule (fruit), capsules of the opium poppy ''Papaver somniferum''. Approximately 12 percent of opium is made up of the analgesic alkaloid mor ...
,
chlorodyne Chlorodyne was one of the best known patent medicines sold in the British Isles. It was invented in the 19th century by a Dr. John Collis Browne, a doctor in the British Indian Army; its original purpose was in the treatment of cholera. Brown ...
,
ether In organic chemistry, ethers are a class of compounds that contain an ether group, a single oxygen atom bonded to two separate carbon atoms, each part of an organyl group (e.g., alkyl or aryl). They have the general formula , where R and R ...
,
chloral Chloral, also known as trichloroacetaldehyde or trichloroethanal, is the organic compound with the formula Cl3CCHO. This aldehyde is a colourless liquid that is soluble in a wide range of solvents. It reacts with water to form chloral hydrate, a o ...
,
chloroform Chloroform, or trichloromethane (often abbreviated as TCM), is an organochloride with the formula and a common solvent. It is a volatile, colorless, sweet-smelling, dense liquid produced on a large scale as a precursor to refrigerants and po ...
or
cocaine Cocaine is a tropane alkaloid and central nervous system stimulant, derived primarily from the leaves of two South American coca plants, ''Erythroxylum coca'' and ''Erythroxylum novogranatense, E. novogranatense'', which are cultivated a ...
. He was elected a Fellow of the
Linnean Society The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature collec ...
in 1873 and was also a member of the
Obstetrical Obstetrics is the field of study concentrated on pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period. As a medical specialty, obstetrics is combined with gynecology under the discipline known as obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN), which is a surgic ...
and
Medical Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...
Societies of London, the
Harveian Society The Harveian Society of London, named after the physician William Harvey, is a medical society and registered charity, founded in 1831. Doctors assemble regularly at the Medical Society of London, Chandos Street, Cavendish Square to converse and di ...
and
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 ...
, being elected to the General Council for the Metropolitan branch.


Early life and education

Norman Shanks Kerr was born at Morrison's Court,
Argyle Street, Glasgow Argyle Street is a major thoroughfare in the city centre of Glasgow, Scotland. With Buchanan Street and Sauchiehall Street, Argyle Street is one of the main shopping streets in the city centre. It is the longest street by distance in the city ...
, Scotland on 17 May 1834, the eldest son of Alexander Kerr (1800-1855) and Helen ( Shanks) Kerr (1813-1848). His father, Alexander, was a merchant and ship owner who lived at Florentine Bank House,
Hillhead Hillhead (, ) is an area of Glasgow, Scotland. Situated north of Kelvingrove Park and to the south of the River Kelvin, Hillhead is at the heart of Glasgow's fashionable West End, with Byres Road forming the western border of the area, the ...
. Norman Kerr studied at the Western Academy and the
High School A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...
, then worked as a journalist on the Glasgow Mail before entering University, graduating from the University of Glasgow in 1861 as Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) and Master of Surgery (C.M.). Even from these student days he was interested in the study of alcoholism; he was a member of the temperance Coffee Tavern Company of Glasgow and organised the first Total Abstinence Society for students in 1857. In 1853 he attended the inaugural meeting of the
United Kingdom Alliance The United Kingdom Alliance (UKA) was a British temperance organisation. It was founded in 1853 in Manchester to work for the prohibition of the trade in alcohol in the United Kingdom. This occurred in a context of support for the type of law p ...
at Manchester and he was the first secretary of the Glasgow Abstainers' Union. In 1858 he was secretary for the non-political "The Independent Union" of students.


Career

After graduation he was resident surgeon at the Lock Hospital, Glasgow, and then employed as a surgeon on the Montreal Ocean Steamship Company for about nine years. In 1863 he gave an account of a tour in America, including Portland, New York, and other large towns, "and referred at some length to the great question of slavery". He is reported to have travelled in Canada and the United States in this time and to have visited Portland in 1864. Dr Crothers notes in the first Norman Kerr lecture, "As a surgeon on shipboard he was known as a temperance doctor, and while not obtrusive or dogmatic in his views, he discouraged the use of spirits as a beverage." He was then in practice in
Markyate Markyate () is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in north-west Hertfordshire, close to the border with Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire. Geography The name of the village has had several former variants, including ''Markyate ...
, Hertfordshire, being appointed Markyate Medical Officer in 1871, until he resigned in 1875. He took part in a local meeting in 1872 by the United Kingdom Alliance supporting Sir Wilfred Lawson's Permissive Prohibitory Bill. He was elected a Fellow of the
Linnean Society The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature collec ...
in 1873 with an interest in botany. In 1872 he wrote supporting the case for Eozoon canadense being recognised as a fossil.


Marylebone

From 1874, he was employed as the Medical Officer of Health for Marylebone (Christ Church District) by the
Board of guardians Boards of guardians were ''ad hoc'' authorities that administered Poor Law in the United Kingdom from 1835 to 1930. England and Wales Boards of guardians were created by the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834, replacing the parish overseers of the po ...
. The Christ Church District included
Lisson Grove Lisson Grove is a street and district in the City of Westminster in the West End of London, West End. The street neighbourhood contains a few important cultural landmarks, including Lisson Gallery, Alfies Antique Market, Red Bus Recording Studio ...
, an area of slum housing with single room tenements. In 1881 the outbreak of
Typhus Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposu ...
prompted Dr Norman Kerr to write a letter to the Vestry of St Marylebone. In a letter to the local paper he wrote "The Sanitary authority, typhus being at once the most contagious and the most preventable of diseases, ought to have suppressed the epidemic more than a month ago, and thus saved several lives. Had I not stepped in, at some detriment to health and private practice (keeping up only with the aid of professional assistance, constant Turkish baths, extra diet, and the non-use of stimulants) and discharged the duty the Vestry neglected, the cases would have numbered hundreds, and the deaths at least twenties." The
Victorian Turkish bath The Victorian Turkish bath is a type of bath in which the bather sweats freely in hot dry air, is then washed, often massaged, and has a cold wash or shower. It can also mean, especially when used in the plural, an establishment where such a bath ...
he visited is probably the one at 5 Bell Street, on the corner with Lisson Grove, established in 1860, the first in London. His other health precaution was a good square meal before going where infectious disease existed. Dr Kerr also believed that "smoke being retained in the mouth has … a kind of disinfecting filter through which the germs have to pass, and some of them are certainly destroyed, or at least deprived of their vitality". "There might be exceptions, he said. If a person could not stand smoking well, then it might depress his heart's action, and so lessen the resisting power to throw off the infectious germs. On broad, general grounds, however, he was decidedly of opinion that tobacco smoking, other things being equal, did give anyone exposed to infection a considerable amount of immunity. Dr. Kerr himself in attending cases of cholera always made a point of smoking." He wrote on the subject of
cholera Cholera () is an infection of the small intestine by some Strain (biology), strains of the Bacteria, bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea last ...
and having had cholera himself. Dr Kerr's health concerns were well founded since infectious diseases were common and in a previous outbreak nineteen years earlier the Relieving Officer and District Medical Officer both caught typhus and died. In this case he was able to joke about it, as reported by the Marylebone Mercury. He went on to be one of the founders in 1892 of the Church Sanitary Association with the aims of ensuring to everyone pure air, pure water, a wholesome dwelling, and surroundings safeguarded from preventable diseases.


Temperance Movement

He promoted the temperance movement as a speaker and through his writings. After moving to London he joined the Church of England Temperance Society, speaking at their annual conference, and supported the
British Women's Temperance Association The White Ribbon Association (WRA), previously known as the British Women's Temperance Association (BWTA), is an organization that seeks to educate the public about alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs, as well as gambling. Founding of British Wom ...
. He was a supporter of the Society for Promoting Legislation for the Control and Cure of Habitual Drunkards, which had been founded in 1876, and in 1877 read a paper on the treatment of habitual drunkards in the Psychological Section of a general meeting of the British Medical Association at Manchester. The Society drafted a bill to provide for one year detention of voluntary and criminal drunkards, with magistrates having the power to commit frequent offenders. This was withdrawn because of opposition to control by the prison inspectorate of the reformatories. The Habitual Drunkards' Act was passed in 1879 including protecting the drunkards' rights and his ability to pay for treatment. A habitual drunkard was defined as someone who "cannot be certified as a lunatic, but who due to habitual intemperate drinking is dangerous to him or herself or incapable of managing their affairs". They could apply to two magistrates to voluntarily sign away their freedom and be sent to a Licensed Retreat for up to one year, but had to pay the charges themselves. The requirement to pay charges and the lack of compulsory detention for non-criminals was disappointing for the Society. When the British Medical Association created the Inebriates Legislation Committee to promote further legislation he was made the chairman. The committee drafted the Habitual Drunkards Act Amendment Bill (1888). He was the Honorary Consulting Physician at the Dalrymple House for Inebriates, Rickmansworth, which had been founded in 1884 under the Inebriates Acts of 1879–99 for the clinical study and treatment of inebriety. He promoted the use of Coffee Taverns and Coffee Music Halls as a temperance alternative and was a director of the Coffee Taverns Company and the Coffee Music Halls Company. In 1884 he chaired the informal meeting to celebrate
Edward Payson Weston Edward Payson Weston (March 15, 1839 – May 12, 1929) was a Pedestrianism, pedestrian, who was largely responsible for the rise in popularity of the sport in the 1860s and 1870s. Biography Edward Payson Weston was born on March 15, 1839, in Pro ...
's temperance walk of 5000 miles in 100 days, excluding Sundays, at the Royal Victoria Coffee Hall,
Lambeth Lambeth () is a district in South London, England, which today also gives its name to the (much larger) London Borough of Lambeth. Lambeth itself was an ancient parish in the county of Surrey. It is situated 1 mile (1.6 km) south of Charin ...
. He presided at the Colonial and International Congress on Inebriety held at Westminster Town Hall (1887). He was also corresponding secretary of the American Association for the cure of Inebriates, and corresponding member of the Medical Legislation Society, New York.


Alcohol in Medicine

Alcohol was then widely used in medicine. "Dr. Norman Kerr, a well-known physician of England, says, that during a ten years' residence in America, he found people unwilling to pay him as much for his services as they were willing to pay one who prescribed alcoholics. Even those who were abstainers from liquors as beverages distrusted him for not using these things as medicines." He opposed the medical use of alcohol writing


Testimonial

In 1879 he presided at the medical temperance breakfast to the president, officers and members of the British Medical Association at Cork, and carried the dinner ticket exclusive of wine at the British Medical Association meeting at Cambridge (1880). A testimonial was held for him in 1880 by members of the temperance movement at the Medical Society of London, which included a carriage, portraits, and an illuminated address.


Wines : scriptural and ecclesiastical

"Wines : scriptural and ecclesiastical" (dedicated to the Archbishop of Canterbury), in which he described the use of unfermented wine for communion, was published following a meeting held in the Chapter House of St Paul's Cathedral in November 1881 by the Church Homiletical Society. A report of one of his lectures on the subject at the Walmer Castle Coffee Tavern recorded that


Society for the Study and Cure of Inebriety

In 1884, in response to the inadequacy of the Habitual Drunkards Act of 1879, he founded the Society for the Study and Cure of Inebriety and was the first president. He went on to edit and later supervise the Proceedings of the Society until his death. What was notable at the time was his insistence that inebriety was a disease.


The Inebriates Act

A Parliamentary Inquiry was held in 1889–1890 into the treatment of inebriates. By 1892 many temperance societies, such as the Church of England Temperance Society, supported compulsory legislation for habitual drunkards. In 1893 a deputation from the British Medical Association, the Society for the Study of Inebriety, the Homes for Inebriates Association, the
British Women's Temperance Association The White Ribbon Association (WRA), previously known as the British Women's Temperance Association (BWTA), is an organization that seeks to educate the public about alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs, as well as gambling. Founding of British Wom ...
, and other bodies met with the Home Secretary, Mr Asquith, to discuss the compulsory detention of inebriates. The Home Secretary recognised that the 1879 Act only covered the well-to-do and that the only option for others was punishment. "The conclusions and recommendations of that committee have been for some considerable time under my attention, and it is my hope that in the next session of Parliament we shall introduce a Bill which will seek to give effect to the more important of them." He was interviewed in 1896 by the Daily Mail on his views on the proposed legislation: The Inebriates Act of 1898, which empowered local authorities to set up State Certified Reformatories to treat habitual drunkards, was the culmination of his work.


Morphinomania

Inebriate originally described a person intoxicated with alcohol, but it later came to include other intoxicating drugs.


Medical Jurisprudence

He was vice-president of the International Congress of
Medical jurisprudence Medical jurisprudence or legal medicine is the branch of science and medicine involving the study and application of scientific and medical knowledge to legal problems, such as inquests, and in the field of law. As modern medicine is a legal ...
. His paper "What Shall We Do With Alcoholic Inebriates Apparently Insane?" was read at the Medico-Legal Congress, New York (1895). In 1889 he wrote in a letter concerning the medical evidence in the Maybrick case that "justice will not be satisfied till Mrs Maybrick receives a free pardon". He was also a speaker at the After-Care Association, set up in 1879 to facilitate the readmission of convalescents from lunatic asylums into social life.


Vegetarianism

Kerr was an advocate of vegetarianism, at one time entertaining 100 persons from the Marylebone Vestry to a vegetarian meal in the Walmer Castle Coffee Tavern, Marylebone Road, and on another occasion members of the medical profession. He provided a "Penny Supper" consisting of a vegetable stew for about 250 poor people living about Lisson Grove at the Perseverance Temperance Hall, to show "inexpensive and wholesome" food. Kerr promoted vegetarianism in his practice and had been a vegetarian since being a medical student.


Support for Women

He supported the admission of women practitioners to 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 ...
in 1878 when a motion was proposed to exclude them following the election of Mrs Garrett Anderson and Mrs Dr Hoggan. It was not until 1892 that women were admitted to the British Medical Association.


Support for Early Closing

He supported in 1881 the Early Closing Movement "limiting the hours of labour in shops to 12 daily", writing that "I have a very strong conviction, on medical grounds, that the present hours during which shop assistants have to work are excessive and prejudicial to health."


Kindness to Animals

In 1895 he was part of a deputation from the Church of England Society for Promoting Kindness to Animals to the Education Office requesting schools to teach "the nature and particular requirements" of animals that children were most familiar with. Representing the Church Sanitary Association as vice-chairman he was part of a deputation asking the County Council to adopt a system of properly supervised public abattoirs "for the good in every way, as well for the cause of kindness to animals as for that of sanitation".


Publications

* ''Medical aspect of the temperance question, especially upon the action of alcoholic liquors in health.'' London, Church of England Temperance Society
875 __NOTOC__ Year 875 ( DCCCLXXV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * August 12 – Emperor Louis II dies in Brescia, after having named his cousin Carloman, son of King Louis th ...
* ''The Action of Alcoholic Liquors in Health.'' London,
876 __NOTOC__ Year 876 ( DCCCLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * At the invitation of Benevento, the newly-restored Byzantine fleet appears in the waters off Otranto. On th ...
* ''Intemperance and its remedy.'' London, National Temperance Publication Depot
877 __NOTOC__ Year 877 ( DCCCLXXVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Summer – King Charles II ("the Bald") sets out for Italy, accompanied by his wife Richilde and a number ...
* ''Mortality from Intemperance.'' London, National Temperance Publication Depot
879 __NOTOC__ Year 879 ( DCCCLXXIX) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * April 10 – King Louis the Stammerer dies at Compiègne, after a reign of 18 months. He is succeeded by hi ...
* ''Female intemperance.'' London, National Temperance Publication Depot
880 __NOTOC__ Year 880 ( DCCCLXXX) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Battle of Cephalonia: A Byzantine fleet, under Admiral Nasar, is sent by Emperor Basil I to the Ionian Isl ...
* ''The heredity of alcohol'' : Read at the International Congress for the study of alcoholism, held at Brussels, August 1880. London : National Temperance Publication Depot
880 __NOTOC__ Year 880 ( DCCCLXXX) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Battle of Cephalonia: A Byzantine fleet, under Admiral Nasar, is sent by Emperor Basil I to the Ionian Isl ...
* ''Stimulants in Workhouses.'' London, National Temperance Publication Depot
882 __NOTOC__ Year 882 ( DCCCLXXXII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * January 20 – King Louis the Younger dies in Frankfurt. He leaves his territory to his younger brother, Emperor ...
* ''Cholera : its prevention and cure, with special reference to alcohol.'' London, National Temperance Publication Depot
884 __NOTOC__ Year 884 ( DCCCLXXXIV) was a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * March 1 – Diego Rodríguez Porcelos, count of Castile, founds and repopulates (''repoblación'') Burgos a ...
* ''Inaugural address. Society for the Study and Cure of Inebriety.'' London, H. K. Lewis
884 __NOTOC__ Year 884 ( DCCCLXXXIV) was a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * March 1 – Diego Rodríguez Porcelos, count of Castile, founds and repopulates (''repoblación'') Burgos a ...
* ''Wines : scriptural and ecclesiastical.'' London, National Temperance Publication Depot dition 1 1882, edition 2 1887* ''The Truth about Alcohol.'' London, H. K. Lewis
885 Year 885 ( DCCCLXXXV) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Summer – Emperor Charles the Fat summons a meeting of officials at Lobith (modern Netherlands), and accuses Hugh, an ...
* ''Hydrophobia And Its Prevention.'' The British Medical Journal, vol. 2, no. 1344, 1886, pp. 628–629
886 __NOTOC__ Year 886 (Roman numerals, DCCCLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * March – A wide-ranging conspiracy against Emperor Basil I, led by John Kourkouas (9t ...
* ''Inebriety; its Etiology, Pathology, Treatment and Jurisprudence.'' London, H. K. Lewis 888, 1889* ''Does inebriety conduce to longevity?'' London, H. K. Lewis
889 __NOTOC__ Year 889 ( DCCCLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Guy III, duke of Spoleto, defeats the Lombard king Berengar I at the Trebbia River, and is acclaimed as king ...
* ''How to deal with inebriates'', in: Report of the III. International Congresses against the Abuse of Spiritual Beverages in Christiania 3–5. Sept. 1890. (Bericht des III. Internationalen Congresses gegen den Missbrauch Geistiger Getränke in Christiania 3–5. Sept. 1890. Hrsg. vom Organisationscomite. Published: Christiania, Mallinske Boktrykkeri, 1891.) * ''Inebriety and Criminal Responsibility.''
891 Year 891 ( DCCCXCI) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * February 21 – Guy III, duke of Spoleto, is crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Stephen V. His son Lambert is proclaimed ...
* ''Inebriety or Narcomania : Its Etiology, Pathology, Treatment, and Jurisprudence.'' London, H. K. Lewis
894 __NOTOC__ Year 894 ( DCCCXCIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Byzantine–Bulgarian War: Stylianos Zaoutzes, leading minister and '' basileopator'', convinces Emperor ...
* ''Alcoholism and Drug Habits.'' in Twentieth Century Practice; An International Encyclopedia of Modern Medical Science. Vol III. New York, William Wood & Co
895 __NOTOC__ Year 895 ( DCCCXCV) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * The Magyars are expelled from western Siberia, and settle in the Carpathian Basin, under the leadership of Árpád ( ...


Personal life

By 1871 he was living at
Markyate Markyate () is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in north-west Hertfordshire, close to the border with Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire. Geography The name of the village has had several former variants, including ''Markyate ...
Street, Bedfordshire (now Hertfordshire), and married Eleanor Georgina Gibson (born 1850,
Ballinderry Ballinderry may refer to: Northern Ireland * Ballinderry, Mid Ulster, a parish on the border between Counties Londonderry and Tyrone ** Ballinderry Shamrocks, Gaelic Athletic Association club * Ballinderry, Kilcronaghan civil parish, a townland in ...
, Ireland) at St Peter's, South Kensington; they had a son and four daughters. From 1874 he lived in Grove Road, (now Lisson Grove) St.John's Wood, London and was employed as the Medical Officer of Health for Marylebone. After the death of his wife in 1892 he was married for a second time in 1894 at
Booterstown Booterstown () is a coastal suburb of the city of Dublin in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is also a townland and Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish in the modern county of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown. It is situated about south of Dublin ...
to Edith Jane Henderson (1851 - 1922), who was vice president of the
Women's Total Abstinence Union Women's Total Abstinence Union (WTAU) was a British women's organization active during the temperance movement in the United Kingdom. Its headquarters were at 4 Ludgate Hill, London. In addition to a president, there were 41 vice-presidents. The ge ...
from 1898 until 1917. From 1896 he lived at Hamilton Terrace, London NW8. He did not retire from his post until the January before his death and "had been ailing for a year past, suffering from
Bright's disease Bright's disease is a historical classification of kidney diseases that are described in modern medicine as acute or chronic nephritis. It was characterized by swelling and the presence of albumin in the urine. It was frequently accompanied ...
and from frequent attacks of bronchitis". Dr Crothers reported that he had developed
diabetes Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a group of common endocrine diseases characterized by sustained high blood sugar levels. Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or the cells of th ...
. He died of influenza at Wellington Square,
Hastings Hastings ( ) is a seaside town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to th ...
, England on 30 May 1899 and is buried in the
Paddington old cemetery Paddington Old Cemetery is a civic cemetery that opened in 1855. It is located in Willesden Lane, Kilburn, in the London Borough of Brent. It is also known as Paddington Cemetery or Willesden Lane Cemetery. It is Grade II listed, Entry Number:10 ...
. The funeral at St Marks Church was taken by Canon Duckworth on Saturday 3 June and attended by his family, including his brother
Alexander Kerr Alexander John Henry Kerr (2 December 1892 – 4 December 1964) was an English Engineering officer (ship), marine engineer and wholesale newsagent. He is best known for his service in the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914–1916, for ...
and nephews George Murray and Dr Andrew Murray. His son, Arthur (1872-1933), was ordained an Anglican Priest while his daughters were teachers and never married. His second wife, Edith, died in 1922; she is buried at
Bognor Regis Bognor Regis (), also known as Bognor, is a town and seaside resort in West Sussex on the south coast of England, south-west of London, west of Brighton, south-east of Chichester and east of Portsmouth. Other nearby towns include Littleham ...
Old Cemetery.


Notes


Legacy

*A mosaic memorial by Salviati of Venice of the Good Samaritan was erected to him in 1901 at St Mark's Church, Hamilton Terrace, London NW8. *The Norman Kerr Memorial Lectures were started in 1905 to commemorate his life and work and continued every second year until 1943. *The Society for the Study and Cure of Inebriety continues today as The Society for the Study of Addiction. *Some of his books are still available today as classic reprints.


References


External links

*
Inebriety; Or, Narcomania; Its Etiology, Pathology, Treatment, and Jurisprudence (1894)Society for the Study and Cure of Inebriety : inaugural address delivered in the Medical Society of London's rooms, 25 April 1884Wines of the Bible (1885)Wines: Scriptural and Ecclesiastical (1887)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kerr, Norman Shanks 1834 births 1899 deaths 19th-century Scottish medical doctors Alcohol and health Alumni of the University of Glasgow Deaths from influenza in the United Kingdom Fellows of the Linnean Society of London People educated at Hyndland Secondary School Medical doctors from Glasgow People from St John's Wood Scottish temperance activists Scottish vegetarianism activists British social reformers Burials at Paddington Old Cemetery