Sir Stephen James Hamilton Miller, KCVO, GCStJ,

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, ...

(1915–1996) was a Scottish ophthalmic surgeon. He was Surgeon-Oculist to the Queen from 1974 to 1980.

Early life, education and military career

Born on 19 July 1915 in

Arbroath Arbroath () or Aberbrothock ( ) is a former royal burgh and the largest town in the Subdivisions of Scotland, council area of Angus, Scotland, Angus, Scotland, with a population of 23,902. It lies on the North Sea coast, some east-northeast of ...

, Miller was the son of an engineer. He studied at the

University of Aberdeen The University of Aberdeen (abbreviated ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; ) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Scotland. It was founded in 1495 when William Elphinstone, Bis ...

, graduating with his medicine and surgery degrees in 1937."Miller, Sir Stephen James Hamilton (1915–1996)"
''

Plarr's Lives of the Fellows ''Plarr's Lives of the Fellows'' is a biographical register of the fellows of the Royal College of Surgeons of England The Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCS England) is an independent professional body and registered charity that promo ...

'' (

Royal College of Surgeons of England The Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCS England) is an independent professional body and registered charity that promotes and advances standards of surgery, surgical care for patients, and regulates surgery and dentistry in England and Wa ...

). Retrieved 20 July 2021. He then undertook house appointments, including one in

ophthalmology Ophthalmology (, ) is the branch of medicine that deals with the diagnosis, treatment, and surgery of eye diseases and disorders. An ophthalmologist is a physician who undergoes subspecialty training in medical and surgical eye care. Following a ...

Hull Hull may refer to: Structures * The hull of an armored fighting vehicle, housing the chassis * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a sea-going craft * Submarine hull Ma ...

."Sir Stephen Miller", ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' (London), 18 April 1996, p. 23. At the outbreak of the Second World War, he was commissioned as a surgeon-lieutenant in the

Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family or royalty Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Roya ...

. After three years, he was appointed ophthalmic specialist at the Royal Navy's hospital in

Kilmacolm Kilmacolm () is a village and Civil parishes in Scotland, civil parish in the Inverclyde council area, and the Counties of Scotland, historic county of Renfrewshire (historic), Renfrewshire in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies on th ...

. He completed the Diploma of Ophthalmic Surgery and Medicine in 1944. He was subsequently posted to

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

, before leaving the armed forces in 1946.

Surgeon

After a short spell in the

Glasgow Eye Infirmary Glasgow is the most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in west central Scotland. It is the third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom and the 27th-most-populous city in Europe, and comprises 23 wards w ...

in 1946,"Miller, Sir Stephen (James Hamilton)"
''

Who Was Who ''Who's Who'' is a reference work. It has been published annually in the form of a hardback book since 1849, and has been published online since 1999. It has also been published on CD-ROM. It lists, and gives information on, people from around ...

'' (online ed.,

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, 2021). Retrieved 20 July 2021. Miller was appointed a consultant ophthalmic surgeon at the

Hull Royal Infirmary Hull Royal Infirmary is a tertiary teaching hospital and is one of the two main hospitals for Kingston upon Hull (the other being Castle Hill Hospital in nearby Cottingham). It is situated on Anlaby Road, just outside the city centre, and is r ...

, but soon resigned when promised equipment and buildings did not materialise. He was appointed registrar at

Moorfields Eye Hospital Moorfields Eye Hospital is a specialist National Health Service (NHS) eye hospital in Finsbury in the London Borough of Islington in London, England run by Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. Together with the UCL Institute of Ophthal ...

in 1947 (where he remained until 1950); in 1948, he was elected a fellow 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 ...

. He was also employed as a registrar at St George's Hospital, London, from 1949 where he was promoted to Ophthalmic Surgeon in 1951 (remaining there until 1980); alongside this appointment, he was Ophthalmic Surgeon at the National Hospital, Queen's Square, from 1955 to 1978 and a Surgeon at Moorfields Eye Hospital from 1954 to 1980. At the latter, he created London's first

glaucoma Glaucoma is a group of eye diseases that can lead to damage of the optic nerve. The optic nerve transmits visual information from the eye to the brain. Glaucoma may cause vision loss if left untreated. It has been called the "silent thief of ...

unit. He authored ''Modern Trends in Ophthalmology'' (1973), ''Operative Surgery'' (1976), the 16th (1978), 17th (1984) and 18th (1990) editions of ''Parsons' Diseases of the Eye'', and ''Clinical Ophthalmology for the Post-Graduate'' (1987). Miller was appointed Surgeon Oculist to the Royal Household in 1965 (in the same year also being appointed Ophthalmic Surgeon at

King Edward VII's Hospital King Edward VII's Hospital (formal name: King Edward VII's Hospital Sister Agnes) is a private hospital located on Beaumont Street in the Marylebone district of central London. Agnes Keyser, later known as Sister Agnes, established the h ...

). He was promoted to be Surgeon-Oculist to the Queen in 1974. In 1979, he was appointed a Knight Commander of the

Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order () is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the monarch, members of the royal family, or to any viceroy or senior representative of the m ...

, and in 1980 left his royal office and retired from the

NHS The National Health Service (NHS) is the term for the publicly funded health care, publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom: the National Health Service (England), NHS Scotland, NHS Wales, and Health and Social Care (Northern ...

. From 1980 to 1990, he was Hospitaller of the St John Ophthalmic Hospital in

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

(he was made a Commander of the Order in 1962, a Knight of Grace in 1978 and Bailiff Grand Cross in 1987).
The London Gazette
', issue 42573 (16 January 1962), p. 433. He died on 12 April 1996.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Miller, Stephen 1915 births 1996 deaths Scottish surgeons Knights Commander of the Royal Victorian Order