Marmaduke Sheild

Arthur Marmaduke Sheild (1858-1922) was a surgeon, whose career was curtailed by a self inflicted accident while operating, and a benefactor of Cambridge University, which named its chair in pharmacology in his honour.

Education

Marmaduke Sheild was born in 1858 in Landawke, near Laugharne, Carmarthenshire. In 1875 he began a distinguished student career at St George's Hospital winning the Brackenbury Prize and two William Brown Exhibitions before graduating MRCS in 1879. After starting as a house surgeon at St George's, Sheild then spent three years from 1881 in Cambridge, simultaneously as a house-surgeon at Addenbrooke's Hospital and an undergraduate at Downing College;^[1] during this period he qualified as a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons in 1883.^[2]

Surgical career

After leaving Cambridge Sheild held posts at St George's as anaesthetist and Westminster Hospital, culminating in a seven year period at Charing Cross Hospital where he was assistant surgeon, aural surgeon, demonstrator of anatomy and lecturer in practical surgery. In 1893 he returned again to St George's, becoming full surgeon in 1900. While practising as a surgeon he also acted as an examiner for Cambridge University and the Society of Apothecaries. ^[2]

During his career Sheild published many articles and books; his most notable work was a Clinical Treatise on Diseases of the Breast which was published in 1898.^[2]

Retirement and war service

Sheild's career as a surgeon was cut short in 1907 at the age of 49 when he accidentally inoculated himself while operating, resulting in a long illness requiring many operations. He retired to Budleigh Salterton and during the First World War was sufficiently recovered to be able to provide surgical services at the nearby military hospital at Exmouth.^[2]

Death and legacy

Sheild died on 5 August 1922 in the Hebrides after suffering a seizure.^[2] By his will he established the Marmaduke Sheild Fund at Cambridge University which initially funded the Sheild Readership in Pharmacology and medical scholarships which are awarded to the present day^[3][4]. In 1946 Cambridge University honoured Sheild by naming its newly established chair in pharmacology in his name^[5].

Publications

• Surgical Anatomy for Students, 1891
• Diseases of the Ear, 1895
• Transactions of the Dermatological Society of Great Britain and Ireland, Volume V. 1895, republished 2008 ISBN 0559269412
• A Clinical Treatise on Diseases of the Breast, 1898
• Lectures on Nasal Obstruction, 1900
• Surgical Lectures and Essays, 1903
• List of articles by Marmaduke Sheild

References

1. ^ Sheild, Arthur Marmaduke in Venn, J. & J. A., Alumni Cantabrigienses, Cambridge University Press, 10 vols, 1922–1958.
2. ^ ^{a b c d e} Obituary of Marmaduke Sheild, The British Medical Journal, 26 August 1922
3. ^ Statutes and Ordinances of the University of Cambridge
4. ^ Cambridge University Database: Readerships
5. ^ The Man Who Never Was – Walter Ernest Dixon FRS: The Seventh W.D.M. Paton Memorial Lecture by Alan W Cuthbert in The British Journal of Pharmacology (2001) 133, 945–950

Persondata
Name	Sheild, Marmaduke
Alternative names
Short description	Surgeon
Date of birth	1858
Place of birth	Landawke
Date of death	5 August 1922
Place of death	Hebrides