BIOGRAPHIES

 

William Henry Folker was born at Brighton on 30 August 1826, the fourth child in a family of seven and the oldest to survive beyond the age of two. When he was about four years old, the family moved to Oxford from where his parents has originally come about ten years earlier. He was educated at New College School.

William went into the medical profession by way of an apprenticeship to James Fernandez Clarke who was at that time editor of The Lancet magazine. He was a student at Charing Cross Hospital where he won several prizes including the Final Silver Medal for clinical work. He then continued his studies in Paris University.

William became a member of the Royal College of Surgeons in 1851. In 1852 he became a Licentiate of Midwifery also a Licentiate of the Society of Apothecaries of London. The following year he was elected Resident House Surgeon and Apothecary to the North Staffordshire Infirmary and Eye Hospital, a position which he held for thre next three years.

During his spell as house surgeon, William had to amputate a patient's arm at the shoulder joint and in the absence of all medical staff sucessfully completed the operation with the aid of a porter and the night nurse.

In 1856 William commenced practice in Hanley.

William was married to Ellen Jane Fourdrinier by licence on 30 April 1857 at Weston upon Trent. Ellen was the daughter of the late George Henry Fourdrinier who was a pioneer in the paper-making industry.

Their first child, Ernest Henry was born in 1858 and their children totaling seven were born over the following eleven years. Their fourth child, Herbert Henry, was to follow in his father's footsteps as a surgeon in Stoke-on-Trent.

William's name was entered onto The Medical Register on 1 January 1859 in Edinburgh and in the same year he was elected Honorary Surgeon to the North Staffordshire Infirmary, a post which he held until 1890. He performed the first operation for the excision of hard cataract and the first ovariotomy done in the country.

Also in 1859 William joined the Volunteer service then the following year was appointed Battalion Surgeon to the 1st Battalion Satffordshire Volunteer Rifles.

In 1864 William became a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England.

William was a member of the old North Staffordshire Medical Society when it became the

Staffordshire branch of the British Medical Society. He later became president on which occasion he read an address on the Surgery of the Extremities, one interesting feature of which was the comparison of the surgery of the eighteen fifties with that of 'more modern times'. During the 1860's, Williams is shown in local directories as living in Market Street in Hanley. Around 1871 the family moved at Bedford House in Havelock Place, Hanley, a large house on the corner of Clarke Street. The area was developing quickly and terraces of houses grew up all around. William had a surgery at the house and it was still a medical centre, but somewhat rundown when visited in 1992.

The census of 1881 shows the family as having three servants being a Housekeeper, a Cook and an Under Housemaid.

In 1882 William's wife Ellen was tragically found drowned in the canal near their home having been missing for a week.

When the factory Act was passed William was appointed one of the first Certifying Surgeons and held this position in the period from about 1884 and 1904. His son Herbert Henry later also held this post.

In 1890 he was appointed Honorary Ophthalmic Surgeon then Senior Consulting Surgeon in 1898.

William was interested in the welfare of the staff and was the instigator in 1899 of the provision of a home for the nurses. In a letter to the General Committee of the hospital he proposed the setting up of a building fund which he would start with a donation of £100.

The King Edward VIIth Nurses Home was formally opened by King Edward VII on 24 May 1904 at which ceremony William was one of the invited guests presented to the king.

His political persuasion was that of a Conservative but having no taste for public life he took no part in politics. He declined offers to be on the council or to be made a magistrate. He was, however, a freemason and held a provisional rank in the Gsilefroi de Beaufflon Poeceplory.

William remained at Bedford House until his death on 26 March 1912, leaving £21,558 in his Will. He was buried at Bucknall church on 31 March 1912, the service being held at St Jude's church in Hanley.