Robert Fortescue Fox (1858–1940) was a British physician, surgeon, and one of the founders of

physical medicine and rehabilitation Physical medicine and rehabilitation (PM&R), also known as physiatry, and outside the United States as physical and rehabilitation medicine (PRM), is a branch of medicine that aims to enhance and restore functional ability and quality of life ...

Biography

R. Fortescue Fox qualified MRCS in 1882 at the

London Hospital The Royal London Hospital is a large teaching hospital in Whitechapel in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is part of Barts Health NHS Trust. It provides district general hospital services for the City of London and London Borough of Tow ...

in 1882 and was house physician to Sir Andrew Clark. However, Fox developed tuberculosis, and went on a voyage to China as a ship's surgeon. Upon his return he went to

Strathpeffer Strathpeffer () is a village and spa town in Ross and Cromarty, Highland, Scotland, with a population of 1,469. Geography It lies in a strath west of Dingwall, with the elevation ranging from above sea level. Sheltered on the west and north, ...

Spa in

Ross-shire Ross-shire (; ), or the County of Ross, was a county in the Scottish Highlands. It bordered Sutherland to the north and Inverness-shire to the south, as well as having a complex border with Cromartyshire, a county consisting of numerous enc ...

, where he recovered his health, practised medicine, and gained knowledge of

balneology Balneotherapy ( "bath") is a method of treating diseases by bathing, a traditional medicine technique usually practiced at spas. Since ancient times, humans have used hot springs, public baths and thermal medicine for therapeutic effects. While ...

. In 1905 he returned to London and in 1913 published ''Principles and Practice of Medical Hydrology'', adding to his reputation as an authority on British and foreign spas. He was a strong advocate of treatment and training of the disabled war veterans, and became the first medical director of the Enham Village Centre, which opened in 1919. He continued as director for a year. Fox was instrumental in the creation of the British Red Cross Clinic for Rheumatism. He was one of the founders of the British Health Resorts Association. He was mainly responsible for the creation of the International Society of Medical Hydrology in 1921 and edited the ''Archives of Medical Hydrology'' for several years from 1922. He was elected FRCP in 1925. R. Fortescue Fox's father was the seventh son of Quaker surgeon Joseph John Fox, who came from an unbroken line of Quaker doctors for five generations. All of the seven sons became doctors. The third son was Richard Hingston Fox, FRCP. Robert Fortescue Fox married Katherine Stewart MacDougall (1860–1937) and was the father of three daughters and three sons. The three daughters were Constance Mary (1886–1965), Hilda Angell (1887–1966), and Charlotte Iris (1890–1926). The three sons were William Fortescue (1892–1897), Andrew Stewart (1893–1915), and Theodore Fortescue (1899–1989). Andrew Stewart Fox was killed in action in WWI.

Selected publications

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References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fox, Robert Fortescue 1858 births 1940 deaths 19th-century British medical doctors 20th-century British medical doctors Medical journal editors Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians