|
|
Earlscliffe Residents 1930 to 1945Sir John Lumsden
John Lumsden was born in Drogheda in 1869 and was educated in Dublin and Taunton. He received his M.B. in 1894 and his M.D. degree in 1895. On the 17th March 1896 he was married to Caroline Frances Kingscote, a daughter of Major Fitzhardinge Kingscote, of Galway. [1] [16] Dr. Lumsden was a senior visiting physician on the staff of Mercer's Hospital in Dublin and in 1902 was the Principal Medical Officer to the Commissioners of Irish Lights. [1] [2] However, it was his role as Medical Officer (later Chief Medical Officer) at the Guinness Brewery that proved a turning point for Dr. Lumsden. Medical Officer at GuinnessThe Guinness family had a tradition of noblesse oblige and philanthropy and therefore Dr. Lumsden's work for Guinness focussed on the well-being of the employees, many of whom lived in appalling conditions in the slums and tenements of inner city Dublin.[3] After the Great Irish Famine, many people moved from rural areas of Ireland into cities such as Dublin looking for food and work. This resulted in overcrowding with 33.9 percent of all families in Dublin each living in a single room.[4] Poverty and cramped conditions led to problems of disease and by 1881 Dublin had the highest death rate in Europe. [5] Dr. Lumsden saw a high rate of tuberculosis amongst Guinness employees and knew that overcrowding was probably a factor. In 1900 he got the approval of the Guinness board to spend two months inspecting the homes of each Guinness employee in order to ensure that they lived in proper housing and to look for ways to prevent or treat the disease. He also studied the diets of the employees and established cookery classes for the wives of Guinness employees. Finally, he helped to set up the first Guinness sports club.[3] St. John Ambulance Brigade
The Brigade was involved with many major events in Irish history, including treating casualties from the clashes during the General Strike of 1913 (sometimes referred to as the Dublin Lockout). However, the Brigade became prominent in Dublin during the Easter Rising of 1916. [6] [1] Easter RisingThe Brigade earned the respect of all sides of the community during the Easter Rising of 1916 as they treated casualties on both sides and fed and cared for evacuees. During the fighting in the streets of Dublin Dr. Lumsden became a familiar figure as he dashed out carrying a white flag and his medical kit to tend to the wounded on both sides.[6] [1] On the Wednesday of that week around the City of Dublin Hospital, Baggot Street, bitter fighting broke out between British and Republican troops. The situation was so bad that ambulance men were told not to go into the area. However, Dr. Lumsden could not let the wounded be left unattended. Instead he went into the danger zone alone and spent several hours tending to their injuries. [1] Working with Dr. Lumsden during the Easter Rising was Dr. Ella Webb who had become a member of the St. John Ambulance Brigade of Ireland in 1914. She helped to set up an emergency hospital at the Brigade’s headquarters at 14 Merrion Square during the Rising and “cycled daily through the firing line to visit the hospital” [7] First World WarDuring the first world war, hundreds of wounded were shipped over to Ireland. Within two days of the outbreak of hostilities, Dr. Lumsden had 70 of the men who had trained in the St. John Ambulance brigade reporting to the Royal Naval Sick Berth at Chatham. Three months into the war, he also got the brigade to set up three auxiliary hospitals (at Temple Hill Blackrock, Monkstown and Mountjoy Square) to cope with the wounded that came in on hospital ships at Dun Laoghaire and Cork. [1] In 1917 and 1918 Dr. Lumsden was a Major in the Royal Army Medical Corps.[1] For these acts and his formation of the St. John Ambulance Brigade of Ireland Dr. John Lumsden was knighted for each by King George V and became Sir John Lumsden KBE. [3] At the same time Dr. Ella Webb was awarded an MBE. [8] Blood donorsSir John Lumsden also encouraged Brigade members to be blood donors and advertised in the Irish national papers [9] for people to register in order to set up an 'on call' blood donor panel to serve hospitals in the Dublin area. The Dublin Blood Transfusion Service later became the National Blood Transfusion Association in 1948 but owes its origin to the Brigade and more especially to Sir John Lumsden.[10] [11] In 1923, after the establishment of the Irish Free State, Sir John along with Dr. Ella Webb wrote to the President of the Council of the Irish Free State to start the process of breaking away from the control of the British Red Cross Society and the Order of the St John of Jerusalem. [12] This led to the Brigade becoming an Associated Body and completely independent from the English based St. John Ambulance [13] and further led to the formation of the Irish Red Cross Society in 1939. [14] Sir John was one of the first members of the Irish Red Cross Society.
|
|
© Muriel Robinson 2010 | Web page design © 2010 | Contact Earlscliffe | Sitemap
|
In
his post as Medical Officer Dr. Lumsden was asked to provide first-aid classes
for employees at the Guinness Brewery at St. James's Gate. The classes became so
popular that they later became the first registered division of the St. John
Ambulance Brigade of Ireland, which Dr. Lumsden founded in 1903 and became the
first Commissioner. He remained Commissioner until his death.
Move
to Earlscliffe