George Attfield

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George Attfield
Personal information
Full name
George Cooke Atffield
Born27 January 1826
Bath, Somerset
Died16 January 1925(1925-01-16) (aged 98)
Hove, Sussex
RelationsWilliam Attfield (brother)
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1851–1855Surrey Club
Career statistics
Competition First-class
Matches 8
Runs scored 61
Batting average 4.35
100s/50s 0/0
Top score 11
Catches/stumpings 4/–
Source: Cricinfo, 17 June 2013

George Cooke Attfield MRCS (27 January 1826 – 16 January 1925) was an English medical practitioner and first-class cricketer.

Early life and background[edit]

George Attfield was born at Bath, Somerset. The entry in the Rugby School register for his brother William Attfield, also a cricketer, gives their father as "Rev. W. Attfield, Park-Street", Bath.[1] The Rev. William Attfield, a graduate of Oriel College, Oxford, died at 14 Park Street, Bath in 1861, aged 71;[2][3][4] a newspaper report from 1926 confirms he was George's father, and states he played twice for the Gentlemen against the Players.[5] From 1814 he was a curate at St Alkmund, Shrewsbury, and in 1821 he married Mary Anne Cooke, third daughter of S. Cooke of Swan Hill House, Shrewsbury.[6][7]

Cricket[edit]

Attfield's batting style is unknown. He made his first-class debut for the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) against the West of England in 1845 at Cricket Down, Bath.[8] His next first-class appearance came six years later in 1851 for the Surrey Club against the MCC at Lord's, with him making further first-class appearances for the Surrey Club, with two against the MCC in 1855 and a further two against the same opposition in 1855.[8] He made two further first-class appearances for the Gentlemen of Surrey and Sussex in 1856, both against the Gentlemen of England.[8] Attfield made a total of eight appearances in first-class cricket, scoring 61 runs at an average of 4.35, with a high score of 11.[9]

Early career[edit]

Attfield served as a special constable during the bread riots of 1848. He became a medical practitioner, qualifying as a surgeon at St Bartholomew's Hospital, in 1850, and being admitted a Member of the Royal College of Surgeons (MRCS).[10][11] In 1852 he qualified as an apothecary.[12] He was for a number of years the medical officer at Millbank Prison.[10]

In Western Australia[edit]

Attfield arrived in Australia in 1857.[13] He later became the chief medical officer of prisons in Western Australia.[10] He was appointed Imperial Surgeon to West Australia, a position he held to 1879. He was medical officer to Fremantle Gaol, and superintendent of Fremantle Lunatic Asylum.[14] At the gaol, he kept a medical admission register, and compiled a number of reports. He opposed the use of solitary confinement and hard labour, as detrimental to the health of the convicts. The sanitary status of the gaol had been improving in the mid-1850s, in terms of accommodation, but he had some criticisms of his precessor David Rennie, in particular in his perceptions of tuberculosis.[15] The medical historian Bryan Gandevia took a positive view of Attfield's "humane" approach, including exempting those with physical or mental illness from flogging.[16]

In the 1860s and into the 1870s, Attfield took part in cricket matches between Fremantle and Perth, becoming Fremantle's captain and dropping out in 1873.[17][18] While living in Australia, he was invited to join a touring All England Eleven, but declined the invitation.[10] He was state amateur billiards champion, with local opponents Alfred Rosser (born 1826) and Henry Hetherington (born 1818).[19] He owned Bushman, a noted racehorse, and was a steward of the Western Australian Turf Club.[20][21] He often went shooting on Rottnest Island and its environs.[20]

Attfield retired on a pension.[20] He left Australia in 1879, on the SS City of New York bound for San Francisco.[13]

Later life[edit]

Returning to England and settling at Hove, Sussex, Attfield died there on 16 January 1925, just short of his 99th birthday. He was at the time of his death believed to be the oldest medical practitioner in England.[10]

Family[edit]

Attfield married in 1863, at St George's Cathedral, Perth, Alice Maude Roe, youngest daughter of John Septimus Roe, then aged 18. They had five daughters.[22][23] Of the daughters, Maude Cecil married in 1892 Frederick John Paley, physician and son of Frederick Apthorp Paley.[24]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Rugby School Register : with annotations and alphabetical index. Vol. I. Rugby: A.J. Lawrence. 1881. p. 197.
  2. ^ The Ecclesiastical gazette, or, Monthly register of the affairs of the Church of England. 1861. p. 130.
  3. ^ The Monthly (alphabetical) record of births, deaths, & marriages (and Alphabetical list of estates of deceased persons). p. 651.
  4. ^ Foster, Joseph (1888–1892). "Attfield, William" . Alumni Oxonienses: the Members of the University of Oxford, 1715–1886. Oxford: Parker and Co – via Wikisource.
  5. ^ "Bath & County Notes". Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette. 12 June 1926. p. 4.
  6. ^ "Attfield, William (1813–1814) (CCEd Person ID 8410)". The Clergy of the Church of England Database 1540–1835. Retrieved 19 January 2023.
  7. ^ "Married". Bury and Norwich Post. 12 December 1821. p. 4.
  8. ^ a b c "First-Class Matches played by George Attfield". CricketArchive. Retrieved 17 June 2013.
  9. ^ "Player profile: George Attfield". CricketArchive. Retrieved 17 June 2013.
  10. ^ a b c d e "Obituary". The British Medical Journal. 1 (3344): 245–246. 31 January 1925. doi:10.1136/bmj.1.3344.245-b. PMC 2196818.
  11. ^ The Lancet. J. Onwhyn. 1850. p. 190.
  12. ^ The Medical Times and Gazette: A Journal of Medical Science, Literature, Criticism, and News. 1852. p. 456.
  13. ^ a b "AMPI: George Cooke Attfield". www.medicalpioneers.com.
  14. ^ Stubbe, Joseph Hans; Smith, Arthur James (1969). Medical Background: Being a History of Fremantle Hospitals and Doctors. University of Western Australia Press for the Fremantle Hospital Board. p. 24. ISBN 978-0-85564-024-8.
  15. ^ Marshall, Louis William (2019). "Surviving the colony: The impact of the Western Australian convict system on prisoner health, 1850-1877". research-repository.uwa.edu.au. University of Western Australia.
  16. ^ Marshall, Louis William (2019). "Surviving the colony: The impact of the Western Australian convict system on prisoner health, 1850-1877". research-repository.uwa.edu.au. University of Western Australia. p. 45.
  17. ^ "A Cricket Match". The West Australian Times. 7 April 1864. p. 3.
  18. ^ "Cricket: Perth and Fremantle". The Herald (Fremantle). 18 January 1873. p. 3.
  19. ^ "A Medico Centenarian". The Daily News (Perth). 16 September 1924. p. 5.
  20. ^ a b c "The Genus Homo". Freelance (Perth). 27 February 1925. p. 6.
  21. ^ "Summary of Intelligence". The Inquirer and Commercial News (Perth). 27 March 1867. p. 3.
  22. ^ "Married". Leamington Spa Courier. 23 January 1864. p. 10.
  23. ^ Jackson, Janice Lynne Burton (1982). Not an Idle Man: A Biography of John Septimus Roe : Western Australia's First Surveyor-general, 1797-1878. M.B. Roe. p. 174. ISBN 978-0-9592975-0-8.
  24. ^ "Paley, Frederick John". Who's Who. A & C Black. Retrieved 19 January 2023. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)

External links[edit]

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