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Auction: 25112 - Orders, Decorations and Medals - e-Auction
Lot: 859

Jubilee 1897, Police Ambulance Service (Surg Capt. G. T. Beatson V.M.S.C.), light contact marks very fine

K.C.B. London Gazette 9 November 1907.

K.B.E. London Gazette 1 January 1918.

France, Legion of Honour, London Gazette 4 June 1920.

Belgium, Legion of Honour, London Gazette 22 October 1920.

George Thomas Beatson was born in Trincomalee, Sri Lanka and he was the son of George Stewart Beatson, Honorary Physician to Queen Victoria and Surgeon General to the Indian Army. Beatson moved to Scotland as a boy and grew up in Campbeltown. He was educated at King William's College, on the Isle of Man, and went on to Clare College, Cambridge, where he graduated BA in 1871. In 1874 he graduated from the University of Edinburgh. He then studied medicine, examining the links between ovulation, lactation and cancer for his thesis. He graduated MD in 1878 and then spent time working for Joseph Lister, the pioneer of antiseptic surgery, who was then the university's Professor of Surgery.

By 1878 Beatson had moved to Glasgow where he established a medical practice. He also joined the 1st Lanark Artillery, a unit of the Volunteer Forces which later became the Territorial Army. He was appointed assistant Professor of Surgery at Glasgow's Western Infirmary, and in 1893 he became a consulting surgeon at the Glasglow Cancer and Skin Institution. This was renamed the Glasgow Cancer Hospital in 1894, with Beatson as director. Beatson established an innovative domiciliary service, which supplied nursing care to patients in their own homes.

In 1896 he published a paper entitled On Treatment of Inoperable Cases of Carcinoma of the Mamma: Suggestions for a New Method of Treatment, with Illustrative Cases. This detailed his pioneering treatment of three patients with advanced breast cancer through bilateral oophorectomy (removal of the ovaries). Although he did not perform the operation again, oophorectomy became the standard treatment for advanced breast cancer over the following years. He is considered the father of anti-hormonal treatment of breast cancer since he was the first to describe remissions of metastatic breast cancer after this operation.

Meanwhile, he continued his involvement with the Volunteer Army, taking charge of the Glasglow Companies of the Volunteer Medical Corps in 1890. He attended the Coronation of 1902 in London as the Commanding Officer of the Glasglow Volunteer Companies of the Royal Army Medical Corps Stretcher Squads. In 1908, he was appointed Principal Medical Officer to the Lowland Division of the Scottish Territorial Forces. He rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel and was honorary colonel of the Army Medical Corps (Volunteer). Beatson was also involved with the St. Andrew's Ambulance Association, and he helped to establish the Scottish Red Cross. Beatson's professorship ended in 1913 when he was succeeded by Prof George Henry Edington, who also continued many of Beatson's secondary roles.

In 1882 he was elected a member of the Harveian Society of Edinburgh and served as president in 1913. He was made a C.B. in 1902, and a K.C.B. in 1907. His Great War Service saw him work with the Red Cross and he was awarded a British War Medal (sole entitlement) and was additionally awarded a K.B.E.. Raymond Poincaré, President of the French Republic, when in Glasgow in 1919 decorated him with the Officer of the Legion of Honour. He also received the decoration of Officer of the Crown of Belgium and served as a Deputy Lieutenant of the County of the City of Glasgow. Beatson was a member of the Royal Scottish Automobile Club, although he used to arrive at meetings by horse and carriage. He died unmarried at the age of 84.

In 1948, the Glasgow Cancer Hospital was renamed the Royal Beatson Memorial Hospital in his honour. The institution is now known as the Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Centre. In 1967, the research department of the hospital became the Beatson Institute for Cancer Research (renamed the Cancer Research UK Beatson Institute in 2013). The institute is funded by Cancer Research UK and is based in Bearsden.

Please see Lot 914 for the miniature awards to his father.

Sold together with a miniature Jubilee 1897, Metropolitan Police issue medal and a Children's Fete in Glasgow 1897 Jubilee medal.

A total of 210 Police Ambulance Service medals were issued for the Diamond Jubilee 1897.

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Sold for
£750

Starting price
£280