Gordon Hamilton Fairley

Gordon Hamilton Fairley DM, FRCP (20 April 1930 – 23 October 1975) was a professor of medical oncology. Born and raised in Australia, he moved to the United Kingdom where he studied and worked. He was killed by an IRA bomb intended to kill Sir Hugh Fraser.

Life and work

The son of a research worker in tropical diseases (Sir Neil Hamilton Fairley), Fairley grew up in Melbourne. He later studied at Magdalen College, Oxford, and St Bartholomew's Hospital, London. Trained in hematology as Leverhulme Research Scholar at the Royal College of Physicians, he continued his research with an emphasis on immunohematology.

In 1968 he became director of the Clinical Research Unit at the Institute of Cancer Research. Two years afterward, he became director of the Medical Oncology Research Unit. In 1972 he was appointed Imperial Cancer Fund Professor of Oncology. As Professor of Medical Oncology at St. Bartholomew's Hospital he contributed a great deal to the chemotherapy and immunology of malignant disease, and, in particular, to the treatment of the malignant reticuloses.^[1]

Death

He was killed by a Provisional Irish Republican Army bomb in Kensington, London on 23 October 1975.^[2] The bomb, placed under a car, was intended for Sir Hugh Fraser.^[3] The Balcombe Street Gang were subsequently convicted for his murder.^[4][5] Brian Keenan a senior IRA commander, was also apprehended and stood trial at the Old Bailey in London in June 1980 accused of organising the IRA's bombing campaign in England and being implicated in the deaths of eight people including Gordon Hamilton-Fairley.

Keenan was sentenced to eighteen years imprisonment after being found guilty on 25 June 1980.^[6] Hamilton-Fairley had four children, the youngest of whom was 12 years old when he died. Hamilton-Fairley had been offered an appointment as the Queen's personal physician, but he turned it down, preferring to work with the public. More than 10,000 people attended his funeral, and the Queen sent a representative to pay her respects.^{[citation needed]}

He is commemorated by a blue plaque in the crypt of St Paul's Cathedral which reads: "Gordon Hamilton-Fairley DM FRCP, first professor of medical oncology, 1930-75. Killed by a terrorist bomb. It matters not how a man dies but how he lives".^[7] A ward at St Bartholomew's Hospital was named after him.^[8]

External links

• The Gordon Hamilton Fairley Fellowship e.g. Cancer Research UK webpage

• BACR (British Association for Cancer Research)/Gordon Hamilton Fairley Young Investigator Award.^{[citation needed]}

References

1. ^ British Journal of Radiology
2. ^ CAIN: Sutton index of deaths, 1975
3. ^ Moysey, Steven (2008). The Road to Balcombe Street: The IRA Reign of Terror in London. Haworth Press. p. 108. ISBN 978-0789029133. 
4. ^ BBC: Balcombe Street gang's reign of terror
5. ^ Guardian: Balcombe Street Gang to be freed
6. ^ Christenson, Ron (1991). Political Trials in History: From Antiquity to the Present. Transaction Publishers. p. 171. ISBN 978-0887384066. 
7. ^ Find a Grave
8. ^ Wards at Barts and the London NHS Trust

External links

• In Memoriam: Gordon Hamilton Fairley 1930-1975

Persondata
Name	Hamilton Fairley, Gordon
Alternative names
Short description	British scientist and cancer researcher
Date of birth	20 April 1930
Place of birth
Date of death	23 October 1975
Place of death	Kensington, London, England, UK