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Samuel Croker-King (28 June 1728 – 12 January 1817) was an Irish surgeon who was associated with Doctor Steevens' Hospital in Dublin for sixty years. He was the first president of the
Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) is a not-for-profit medical professional and educational institution, which is also known as RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences. It was established in 1784 as the national body ...
(RCSI), from 1784 to 1785. He is thought to have saved the life of the child who became the
Duke of Wellington Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they ar ...
. He invented his own
trepanning Trepanning, also known as trepanation, trephination, trephining or making a burr hole (the verb ''trepan'' derives from Old French from -4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, ...
device.


Early life

Samuel Croker-King was born in the city of Dublin on 28 June 1728. His family hailed from
Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...
shire in England, and had been in the area for so long that a local
distich In poetry, a couplet ( ) or distich ( ) is a pair of successive Line (poetry), lines that rhyme and have the same Metre (poetry), metre. A couplet may be formal (closed) or run-on (open). In a formal (closed) couplet, each of the two lines is en ...
reads that: :"The Crokers, Crewys, and Coletons, :When the Conqueror came were at home." The first of the Croker family to travel to Ireland was Sir John Croker, who was cup-bearer to
William III William III or William the Third may refer to: Kings * William III of Sicily () * William III of England and Ireland or William III of Orange or William II of Scotland (1650–1702) * William III of the Netherlands and Luxembourg (1817–1890) N ...
, a position which probably explains why the Crokers' crest is a goblet with two
fleurs-de-lis The ''fleur-de-lis'', also spelled ''fleur-de-lys'' (plural ''fleurs-de-lis'' or ''fleurs-de-lys''), is a common heraldic charge in the ( stylized) shape of a lily (in French, and mean and respectively). Most notably, the ''fleur-de-lis ...
. Jane King gave her property to Croker on condition that he added her name to his own which was done by
letters patent Letters patent (plurale tantum, plural form for singular and plural) are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch, President (government title), president or other head of state, generally granti ...
in around 1761. Cameron, Sir Charles A. (1886
''History of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, and of the Irish Schools of Medicine &c''
Dublin: Fannin & Co. pp. 305–308.
Croker-King married the noted beauty Miss Obre, and they resided for many years in the then fashionable
Jervis Street Jervis Street () is a street on the northside of Dublin, Ireland laid out in the 17th century and named for Sir Humphrey Jervis. It runs from Parnell Street in the north to Ormond Quay Lower in the south. It is crossed by Mary Street, Ab ...
.


Career

Croker-King served his apprenticeship under surgeon-general Nichols. His first professional appointment was as surgeon to Steevens' Hospital in 1758, an establishment of which he later became a visiting surgeon and governor. As such, he was intimately acquainted with the procedures and rules of the hospital and The Gilbert Collection of the Dublin City Library contains the manuscript of his 1785 history of the hospital and description of its operations. This was published in book form by P. Dixon Hardy & Sons of Dublin in 1854, after Croker-King's death. In 1816 he gave evidence about the duties of the apothecary at the hospital, noting that in addition to preparing the medicines and dressings required by the hospital's physicians and surgeons, the apothecary was responsible for seeing that medicines were taken, had to be constantly at the hospital, and "especially" was required to sleep at the hospital every night. In addition to Steevens' Hospital, Croker-King was surgeon to the
Rotunda Hospital The Rotunda Hospital (; legally the Hospital for the Relief of Poor Lying-in Women, Dublin) is a maternity hospital on Parnell Street in Dublin, Ireland, now managed by RCSI Hospitals. The Rotunda entertainment buildings in Parnell Square are no ...
, to the Revenue Department, and to the Hospital for Venereal Diseases in North King Street. Croker-King was one of 49 physicians and chirurgeons who declared their public support for the construction of a Publick Bath in Dublin in May 1771 and named
Achmet Borumborad Achmet Borumborad (Floruit, fl. 1769–1786), Achmet Borumbadad (or sometimes simply Dr. Achmet or Mr. Achmet) was the assumed name of an eccentric medical con-artist, or Quackery, quack, operating in late 18th-century Dublin, Ireland. He succee ...
as a well qualified individual for carrying such a scheme into existence. His patients came mainly from the upper classes as shown by his fee-book which includes the noble houses of Charlemont, Enniskillen, Farnham, Howth, Leitrim, Tyrone, and Westmeath. The surgeon J. W. Cusack said of Croker-King, "He lived by the nobility and great landed proprietors, whilst I live by the people", adding, "but I make more money than he did." Croker-King was the first president of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI), from 1784 to 1785.RCSI Presidents since its foundation in 1784.
Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, 2015. Retrieved 2 May 2018.


Incidents

He was credited with saving the life of the child who became the Duke of Wellington (1769–1852) after the child was brought to him following an incorrect diagnosis by a country doctor. In May 1791, Croker-King read a paper before the
Royal Irish Academy The Royal Irish Academy (RIA; ), based in Dublin, is an academic body that promotes study in the natural sciences, arts, literature, and social sciences. It is Ireland's premier List of Irish learned societies, learned society and one of its le ...
which was subsequently published in their transactions as "Description of an Instrument for Performing the Operation of Trepanning the Skull, with More Ease, Safety and Expedition, than Those Now in General Use". In the paper he observed that surgical instruments had greatly improved in the present century with the exception of those used for
trepanning Trepanning, also known as trepanation, trephination, trephining or making a burr hole (the verb ''trepan'' derives from Old French from -4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, ...
, a procedure often required due to the frequency of accidents but which was difficult to carry out due to the nature of the instruments available and the "difficulty in keeping the patient quiet". If the operation went wrong and the brain was damaged, death might result."Description of an Instrument for Performing the Operation of Trepanning the Skull, with More Ease, Safety and Expedition, than Those Now in General Use"
''
Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy The Royal Irish Academy (RIA; ), based in Dublin, is an academic body that promotes study in the natural sciences, arts, literature, and social sciences. It is Ireland's premier learned society and one of its leading cultural and academic insti ...
'', Vol. 4 (1790–1792), pp. 119–139.
In order to remedy the defects of existing devices, Croker-King had developed his own trepanning device which had been built specially for him by John Read, a cutlery and instrument maker of
Skinner Row Christchurch Place () is a street in central Dublin, Ireland, formerly known as Skinners Row or Skinner's Row, it formed one of the main thoroughfares in medieval Dublin. History The street runs along the southern edge of Christ Church Cath ...
, Dublin.How Dublin's Georgian surgeons were a cut above during a gruesome era.
Alan O'Keeffe, independent.ie, 3 June 2018. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
It could be used either as a trepan or as a
trephine A trephine (; from Greek τρύπανον, ''trypanon'' 'instrument for boring'). is a surgical instrument with a cylindrical blade. It can be of one of several dimensions and designs depending on what it is meant to be used for. They may be spe ...
and did not require any force or pressure to cut through the skull, thus avoiding the risk of accidentally damaging the brain. Croker-King wrote that he and other surgeons in Dublin had already used the device successfully. Fellow physician,
John Gilborne John Gilborne (''fl.'' 1770/80s) was an Irish physician and poet. He lived in Vicar Street, off Thomas Street, in Dublin. Gilborne's best known poetry is ''The Medical Review'' which was a source for Charles Cameron's biographical sketches in hi ...
, wrote verse in praise of Croker-King in 1775 as follows which mentions his use of the trepan: :"The fractur'd Skull, to Samuel Croker-King, :The broken Limb, Wounds, and Luxations bring; :There's no Disaster but he can set right, :With Splints, Trepan, and Bandage not too tight."


Death and legacy

After sixty years at Doctor Steeven's Hospital, Croker-King died in North Cumberland Street, Dublin, on 12 January 1817, and was buried at St Mary's churchyard. A painting showing him wearing a crimson velvet coat, with lace ruffles and a powdered wig, passed to
Charles Croker-King Charles Harold Croker-King (30 April 1873 – 25 October 1951) was a British stage and film actor who had a career from 1920 to 1937. Biography Charles Croker-King was born 30 April 1873 in Rock Helm, Yorkshire, England England is a C ...
, his grandson and a fellow of the RCSI. An unsigned portrait of Croker is in the collection of the RCSI at their headquarters at
Stephen's Green St Stephen's Green () is a garden square and public park located in the city centre of Dublin, Ireland. The current landscape of the park was designed by William Sheppard. It was officially re-opened to the public on Tuesday, 27 July 1880 by L ...
, Dublin. A similar painting was sold by Whyte's of Dublin in 2013.


Selected publications


''A Short History of the Hospital Founded by Doctor Richard Steevens, near the City of Dublin, from its Establishment in the Year 1717 to the Present Time 1785''
P. Dixon Hardy & Sons, Dublin, 1854.
"Description of an Instrument for Performing the Operation of Trepanning the Skull, with More Ease, Safety and Expedition, than Those Now in General Use"
''
Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy The Royal Irish Academy (RIA; ), based in Dublin, is an academic body that promotes study in the natural sciences, arts, literature, and social sciences. It is Ireland's premier learned society and one of its leading cultural and academic insti ...
'', Vol. 4 (1790–1792), pp. 119–139.


References


External links

*
Entry on Samuel Croker-King in the Dictionary of Irish Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Croker-King, Samuel Presidents of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland 1728 births 1817 deaths Irish people of English descent Irish surgeons Physicians of the Rotunda Hospital Physicians of Dr Steevens' Hospital Members of the Royal Irish Academy Medical doctors from County Dublin