Walter Whitehead | |
|---|---|
 Portrait of Whitehead by Elliott & Fry | |
| Born | 12 October 1840 Bury, Lancaster |
| Died | 19 August 1913 |
| Education | Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh |
| Occupation | Surgeon |
| Known for | Popularising use of anesthesia in surgeries |
Walter Whitehead, FRCSE, FRSE, (12 October 1840 – 19 August 1913) was a surgeon at various hospitals in Manchester, England, and held the chair of Clinical Surgery at the Victoria University of Manchester. He was president of the British Medical Association in 1902. He once claimed that knowledge of anatomy was an impediment to being a good surgeon but was himself a bold, innovative practitioner of international repute. His procedure for excision of the tongue using scissors and his formulation of a related ointment became a standard treatment, as did a procedure he developed for the treatment of haemorrhoids.
Whitehead was born to a family with a long-standing interest in textile manufacture in Bury, Lancashire. His interest in medicine was piqued when he attended lectures intended to improve his knowledge of the chemical processes of bleaching cloth. He enrolled at the Manchester Royal School of Medicine without telling his parents and thus embarked on his medical career. He began as a general practitioner and gained experience caring for workhouse inmates, including while working for a time in Mansfield Woodhouse, Nottinghamshire. In 1867 he returned to Manchester to begin his career as a surgeon.
Several Mancunian hospitals appointed Whitehead to various surgical positions during his career, sometimes concurrently. Of those, it was the Manchester Royal Infirmary, which he joined in 1873, with which he was associated for the longest time. His association with the university in Manchester began in 1884 and eventually included governing roles as well as his professorial chair. His career also included acting as an expert witness in court cases, as a co-publisher of a medical magazine and as a member of various committees and a hospital reform organisation. He also held various posts as an officer of the Royal Army Medical Corps and related military units.
A clock tower commemorating Whitehead was erected in Bury after his death in 1913.