Ernest Last Fyson was born at Exning in 1843, the son of a local farmer. His mother’s maiden name was Last, hence his unusual middle name (see The Fysons for more details about the wider the family). However, of particular significance to Ernest was his uncle Robert Fyson, who like Ernest grew up in Exning and became a Newmarket medic before him (eventually they became business partners and Ernest continued the practice after Robert’s retirement). By the time of Ernest’s birth, Robert Fyson had already been practising in Newmarket for several years.
No doubt Ernest took an interest in his uncle’s local practice as he was growing up. However, Ernest didn’t become his apprentice, perhaps because by that time being in London near a medical school was becoming increasingly useful / the norm (see The history of medical treatments, training, qualifications and regulation). Whatever the reason, Ernest was apprenticed to Edwin Jones of Southwark, London. He started there in 1860, when he would have been 16 years of age, for 5 years. He commenced lectures in 1861, and can be seen on the 1861 census in the household of Edwin Jones at 194 Blackfriars’ Road ‘apprentice to a surgeon’. Interestingly, here was another Jones practice further up the road at number 174, which was likely connected to Edwin’s practice, run by Frederick Jones, so he probably had some involvement there too. He was also attached to Guy’s Hospital for part of his training.
In 1863 Ernest Fyson is recorded passing some intermediate examinations at the Royal College of Surgeons and the Society of Apothecaries, then in 1864 he qualified from the Royal College of Surgeons and in 1865 from Apothecaries Hall, the standard qualifications at that time for a generalist medic. His first appearance in the Medical Directory was in 1866 with the relevant qualifications from these institutions shown i.e. MRCS and LSA. He gave his address as Exning, although it’s not completely clear that he was in practice at Exning at that point; he might simply have been giving his home address. If he was in practice at Exning it’s not clear whether he would have been part of his uncle’s Newmarket practice at that stage.
Anyway, a couple of years later, in 1869, his entry changed to indicate that he was in partnership with someone called Richard Devereux at Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire. The 1871 census captures him living there (see the page on The Fysons for an image), separate from Richard Devereux’ household (who lived further up the High Street). Ernest described himself as a ‘General Practitioner’ rather than using the older ‘surgeon and apothecary’ terminology. Interestingly his sister Sara(h) was his housekeeper. Even more interestingly, his younger brother Edmund was with them and defined as a ‘Scholar of Medicine’ on the day of the census at least, although possibly he was just visiting (in fact most likely Edmund Fyson trained with Edwin Jones like Ernest – see The Fysons for details). Also in 1871 Ernest Fyson added the LRCP to his list of qualifications, but from Edinburgh rather than the London College of Physicians.
The partnership with Richard Devereux lasted until 1873, when for one year Ernest Fyson is recorded in north London, then from 1874 he was back in Newmarket. That timing is significant, since in 1872 his uncle Robert Fyson’s longstanding business partner Samuel Gamble had married and moved away to Torquay. For a while Robert had an assistant (John Rowland Wright), but it appears Ernest returned to Newmarket to plug the gap. However, he again recorded Exning as his address, rather than Newmarket itself (perhaps living in the family home there?). To complicate things further, in 1877 he was briefly back in Southwark again, working with his brother who had been there since qualifying a few years earlier (again see The Fysons for more details). Possibly Ernest was briefly covering for his ex-trainer Edwin Jones, who had moved away to Brighton that year. The likely linked Frederick Jones was still in practice further up the road at number 174, but interestingly he died suddenly in early 1878, which might have precipitated Ernest’s return to Newmarket, for reasons that are not completely clear. Anyway, he was back in Newmarket by August 1878. It’s also of note that John Rowland Wright appears to have continued in the Fyson practice as an assistant until 1877/8, at which point he joined and succeeded to Richard Faircloth’s practice. So Ernest is shown on the 1881 census living in the household of Robert Fyson as his business partner, at his house/surgery on the north east corner of the High Street, ‘surgeons in general practice’, with John Rowland Wright in Richard Faircloth’s old house newly in partnership with Walter Hutchinson (see the pages on these individuals for details). Ernest’s brother Edmund was still at 194 Blackfriars’ Rd on that census, and in the Medical Directory, where he remained for another 5 years before moving on again, see The Fysons for more details).
Ernest Last Fyson on the 1881 census, in the household of his uncle Robert Fyson on the end of the High Street, both described as ‘Surgeon in Gen Practice’ (see below or click image for source and acknowledgements etc., ref. Image 1).
The other significant person of note on the 1881 census in Robert’s household, aside from Ernest, is Frances (Fanny) Fyson, Robert’s 31 year old daughter. She later became Ernest’s wife (but not before she had married someone else in 1883 who died in early 1891). Ernest and Frances married in 1892, both in their 40s; they never had any children.
Robert Fyson appears to have retired in stages during the 1870s and 80s (see the page on Robert Fyson for full details). Clement Gray took on his Newmarket Union role in 1873, before Ernest’s arrival back in Newmarket, then Ernest took on his ‘Oddfellows’ medical officer role in 1884 (see the references below), but Robert doesn’t appear to have fully retired until 1887. After that Ernest continued the Fyson practice from Cheveley House (on the opposite side of the Clock Tower – which interestingly was erected in 1887 to mark Queen Victoria’s golden jubilee; perhaps the Fysons secretly thought of it as Robert’s retirement clock! – and how it’s unofficially regarded on this website).
Ernest Last Fyson on the 1891 census, by that stage in Cheveley House, this time described as a ‘General Medical Practitioner’ (see below or click image for source and acknowledgements etc., ref. Image 2).
Ernest Fyson seems to have had at least two assistants after his move to Cheveley House, Charles Shackleton Simpson in 1888 and John William Roberts in 1891, but it appears both were in Newmarket only very briefly. Likely they were in some sense covering for the loss of Robert Fyson from the practice (although John Roberts might just have been covering whilst Ernest had an injured hand – see the February 1891 reference below). No evidence of later assistants has yet emerged, and Ernest Fyson certainly no other colleagues such as partners.
Ernest Last Fyson’s grave in Newmarket cemetery (see below or click image for source and acknowledgements etc., ref. Image 3).
Robert Fyson died in 1894, the old surgery opposite being sold and a new veterinary practice built on the site. Ernest continued the practice from Cheveley House until his death in 1917 at the age of 73, Frances having died 10 years earlier. They are buried together in Newmarket cemetery very near to Robert’s grave (see images on the right and the page about Robert Fyson). Comments made at the time describe him as able, conscientious and generally respected.
Clement Gray, who was described as ‘an old friend as well as a pro-fessional confrére’ of Ernest’s (they were a similar age) covered the practice during his final illness, as well as caring for him. Quite likely therefore the Fyson practice was absorbed into the Grays’ practice at that point, which was expanding, Norman and Gilbert Gray having come on stream a few years earlier. Ernest Crompton was also noted to be involved caring for his namesake at this time, but there is no evidence that he took on any of the Fyson patients; in fact his practice ceased to exist just a few years later in 1922, when he retired due to ill health himself (see the page on Ernest Crompton for details).
Regarding medical activities, the usual collection of reports have survived in the local press, with an inevitable skew towards the more forensic cases that tend to get reported. Ernest Fyson had no involvement with the Newmarket Union to glean cases from. A sobering case in 1878 shows the lack of effective treatments at the time – a head injury case, who was weak and barely conscious, yet just sent home with ‘lotion and powders’ (Robert Fyson used lotion for a similar case in 1858). The fact that these 19th century surgeons were very much generalists is illustrated well by a patient in 1886 being described as under his ‘care for the past week… in a low and desponding way during the whole time’. The plethora of designations applied to Ernest Fyson show this well too, including, ‘surgeon’, ‘surgeon in Gen Practice’, ‘physician’, ‘General Medical Practitioner’ or plain ‘General Practitioner’, and he was called both Mr and Dr or doctor, sometimes in the same breath (see 1878 and 1890 below). However, unlike the modern GP, he performed his own post mortem examinations, which appears to have been standard practice at the time. Also, he was with several other generalist Newmarket medics (including his uncle) assisting Clement Gray to perform a Cæsarian section in a patient’s house in 1883 – not something GPs would attempt today!
Regarding contemporaries (excluding those Ernest Fyson might have known whilst growing up just down the road in Exning), when he was first in practice at Newmarket, in the 1870s, Frederick and Clement Gray would have been running the Gray’s practice together. He would have known Richard Faircloth, and seen Robert Fyson’s assistant John Rowland Wright succeed to that practice in 1878. The fourth practice in town at that time was run by George Borwick Mead. Then during his career Ernest Fyson would have known all three generations of Gray, but not their successors, or the advent of Alton House surgery. He would have seen the Faircloth/Wright practice turn into the Wright/Hutchinson practice, then diverge, Wright being succeeded by John Hansby Maund, and Hutchinson by Sidney Winslow Woollett. Regarding the Mead’s practice, he would have seen Owen Mead join his father and then be succeeded by Ernest Crompton.
Image 1: The 1881 census, reference RG11/1677 (cropped); image ©, reproduced with kind permission of The National Archives.
Image 2: The 1891 census, reference RG12/1294 (cropped); image ©, reproduced with kind permission of The National Archives.
Image 3: Photograph taken in 2018, by the author of talkingdust.net.
Note: see comments regarding images and copyright © etc. on the Usage &c. page as well.
1801, 1st January: Wm son of Wm Fyson and Sarah (late Sizar) baptised, Soham (born 17th October 1800). Reference: An indexed transcription of the parish registers of Soham. Cambridgeshire Family History Society; 2009, (Cambridgeshire County Record Office [called Cambridgeshire Archives], Cambridge – subsequently relocated to Ely).
1807, 1st June: Robert Fyson born, son of Mr Fyson and Sarah Peachy Fyson (late Sizer), baptized 11th June at Exning St Martin. Reference: Microfiche of Exning St Martin parish register (fiche 11), (Suffolk County Record Office, Bury St Edmunds). [Note: obviously this is listed on 11th June.], [Note also, this is his uncle Robert, the Newmarket medic who Ernest joined in partnership in the 1870s, brother to the William in the reference above and below – see The Fysons for more details.]
1831, 27th October: William Fyson, bachelor of Exning, married Sophia Last, spinster of Newmarket All Saints’, at Newmarket All Saints’. Reference: Microfiche of Newmarket All Saints’ parish register (fiche 8), (Suffolk County Record Office, Bury St Edmunds).
1843, 24th July: Ernest Last Fyson baptised at Exning St Martin, son of William and Sophia Fyson (farmer). Reference: Microfiche of Exning St Martin parish register (fiche 14), (Suffolk County Record Office, Bury St Edmunds). [Note: he was born on 1st July – see November 1863 reference below.]
1848, 21st May: Edmund Fyson baptised at Exning St Martin, son of William and Sophia Fyson (farmer). Reference: Microfiche of Exning St Martin parish register (fiche 14), (Suffolk County Record Office, Bury St Edmunds). [Note: see the 1861 and 1871 censuses, and 1917 Newmarket Journal report on Ernest Fyson’s death below. See also the page on The Fysons.]
1849, 26th November: Frances Maria Fyson baptised, son of surgeon Robert and Maria, St Mary’s church, Newmarket. Reference J552/10, microfilm of Newmarket St Mary’s parish register, (Suffolk County Record Office, Bury St Edmunds).
1861, 7/8th April: Ernest L ‘Flyon’ [sic] aged 17, born in ‘Eleing’ [sic] Cambridgeshire, an ‘apprentice to a surgeon’, in the household of Edwin Jones, ‘M.R.S.C [sic] + L.S.A.’ and his wife Grace Jones, other family members and a housekeeper, living at 194 Blackfriar’s Road, Christchurch, Southwark, [London – then defined as Surrey]. Reference: The National Archives, 1861 census. [Note: Ernest’s family can be seen on the 1861 census for Exning, at North End, including his father William aged 60, a farmer born in Soham, and his mother Sophia aged 55, born in Newmarket, together with seven of his siblings all born in Exning listed (including Sarah aged 23 and Edmund aged 12), and a servant.], [Note also, the 1851 census for Exning is missing, like that for Newmarket St Mary’s; his family can again be seen on the 1841 census at Exning, but that was before he was born.], [Note also, Edwin Jones is shown as aged 37, born in Ramsgate, Kent, and another medic Frederick C Jones up the road at number 174 aged 47, born at Harrow Weald, Middlesex, so it’s not clear whether these two medical Jones households were connected, but it seem likely that they were – see November 1863 and 1877 below also.]
1863, 29th April: ‘EXNING.- Mr. Ernest Last Fyson, of Guy’s Hospital, passed the Anatomical and Physiological Exami-nation at the Royal College of Surgeons, April 29.’ Reference: The Cambridge Independent Press. Tuesday May 9 1863: 8. [Note: it’s interesting that he was ‘of Guy’s Hospital’ and serving a traditional apprenticeship as shown on the Society of Apothecaries entry below, at the same time. This might explain why he had elected to serve the apprenticeship in London rather than with his uncle in Newmarket, a more London centric hospital and medical school type training being increasingly the thing to do as the 19th century progressed – see The history of medical treatments, training, qualifications and regulation for more on this.]
1863, 5th November: Ernest Last Fyson passed the first part of his LSA examination, apprenticed to Edwin Jones of Blackfriar’s Road. It records his indenture being dated June 1860 for 5 years, having started attending lectures in 1861. It also notes that his father was ‘Wm Fyson Newmarket’ and that he was born on 1st July 1843. Reference: Court of Examiners Candidates’ Qualification Entry Book, The Society of Apothecaries Archives, Apothecaries’ Hall, Black Friars Lane, London EC4V 6EJ. [Note: he passed the second part of the examination on 11th May 1865, which is when he officially qualified.], [Note also, Edwin Jones was at 194 Blackfriar’s Rd. London S. in the 1863 Medical Directory (and see the 1861 census above). There was also a Frederick Chas. Jones at 174, who might have been connected – see 1861 above and 1877 below also.]
1866: ‘FYSON, ERNEST LAST, Exning, Newmarket, Suffolk – M.R.C.S. Eng. 1864; L.S.A. 1865.’ Reference: The Medical Directory. London: Churchill; 1866. [Note: this was his first entry in the Medical Directory, oddly marked with a *, which should indicate that he had not returned his information, but he must have done for this to be his first entry?]
1869: ‘FYSON, ERNEST L., High-st. Tewkesbury (Devereux and Fyson) – M.R.C.S. Eng. 1864; L.S.A. 1865; (Guy’s).’ Reference: The Medical Directory. London: Churchill; 1969. [Note: this was his first mention of being in Tewkesbury. He mentions Devereux and Fyson until 1872 (although the 1872 entry has a * indicating that it had not been updated), then in 1873 he appears in the London section for one year before listing himself as back in Newmarket from 1874 (see below); from 1870 his entry in Tewkesbury adds that he was a surgeon to the Tewkesbury Dispensary.]
1869: ‘DEVEREUX, DANIEL, High-st. Tewkesbury – L.R.C.P. Lond. 1862; M.R.C.S. Eng. and L.S.A. 1858; (Middlx. and Paris); J.P. for Tewkesbury; Mem. Path. Soc.; and Glouc. Med. Surg. Assoc.; Surg. Tewkesbury Rural Hosps., Tewkesbury Disp., and 8th Gloucestersh. R.V.; late Res. Med. Off. Middlx. Hosp.; formerly House Surg. Cumbld. Infirm. Carlisle. Contrib. “Case of Aneurism of the Ascending Aorta bursting into the Pericardium,” Med. Times. 1862; “Sudden Death from Fatty Degeneration of the Heart,” Ibid. 1863, &c.’ Reference: The Medical Directory. London: Churchill; 1969. [Note: Daniel Devereux appears in Tewkesbury in the 1865 Medical Directory, but in 1864 he was in London as Resident Medical Officer and Apothecary to the Middlesex Hospital.]
1871, 2nd/3rd April: Ernest L Fyson, aged 26, ‘General Practitioner’ with qualifications listed, living in Tewkesbury High Street, with his sister Sara as housekeeper and brother Edmund as a ‘Scholar of Medicine’, and two servants. Reference: The National Archives, 1871 census. [Note: see the page on The Fysons for an image.], [Note also, Daniel Devereux (see 1869 above) also defined as a ‘General Practitioner’, with qualifications listed, can be seen on a different part of Tewkesbury High Street, aged 36, with his wife and young family.], [Note also, the ages of Sara and Edmund seem incorrect on this census. Edmund is shown aged 19, when he was 12 on the 1861 census, consistent with his baptism in 1848 (see above), and Sarah is shown aged 23 here and on the 1861 census was 23 as well! William and Sophia Fyson did have a daughter Sarah baptised 9th April 1836 at Exning, but that would make her at least 34 when this census was taken – suffice to say that he had a sister called Sara(h) who was his housekeeper in Tewkesbury, probably in her mid 30s.], [Note also, Ernest was in fact 27 not 26 too!]
1872, 19th March: ‘Mr. Robert Fyson Medical Officer of no. 1 District of the Union rescinded his nomination of Mr. Samuel Gamble his late Partner and in his stead named his assistant Mr. John Rowland Wright a legally qualified medical practitioner to whom application for medicine or attendance may be made in the case of his absence from home or other hindrance to his personal attendance’. Reference: 611/28, Newmarket Union minutes, (Suffolk County Record Office, Bury St Edmunds).
1873: ‘FYSON, ERNEST L., 4, Penton-st. Claremont-sq. N. – L.R.C.P. Edin. (exam) and L.M. 1871; – M.R.C.S. Eng. 1864; L.S.A. 1865; (Guy’s).’ Reference: The Medical Directory. London: Churchill; 1873. [Note: this is in the separate London section of the Medical Directory.], [Note also, Daniel Devereux (see 1869 above) remained in practice at Tewkesbury.]
1873, 2nd September: Robert Fyson resigned from his Newmarket Union medical officer role. Reference: 611/28, Newmarket Union minutes, (Suffolk County Record Office, Bury St Edmunds). [Note: Clement Frederick Gray took on his district.]
1874: ‘GAMBLE SAMUEL, Cotswold, Torquay – L.R.C.S. Edin. 1841; L.M. Dub. 1841; L.S.A. 1851; (T. Coll. Dub. And Univ. Edin.).’ Reference: The Medical Directory. London: Churchill; 1874. [Note: in the 1873 Directory he was still recorded in Newmarket, but the entry was marked with a *, indicating that he had not updated the entry since 1872. See also Ernest Fyson’s entry below and comments.]
1874: ‘FYSON, ERNEST LAST, Exning, Newmarket, Suffolk – L.R.C.P. Edin. (exam) and L.M. 1871; – M.R.C.S. Eng. 1864; L.S.A. 1865; (Guy’s).’ Reference: The Medical Directory. London: Churchill; 1874. [Note: this was his first appearance back in the Newmarket area. So he appears to have replaced Samuel Gamble who had moved on – see above, except in 1877 he appears back in London for two entries, although the 1878 entry has a *, suggesting it was not updated, then from 1879 he was back listing Newmarket specifically (i.e. not Exning) – see 1877 and 1879 below, but see also the 1878 case in the press.]
1877: ‘FYSON, ERNEST LAST, 194, Blackfriars-rd. S.E. – L.R.C.P. Edin. (exam) and L.M. 1871; M.R.C.S. Eng. 1864; L.S.A. 1865; (Guy’s).’ Reference: The Medical Directory. London: Churchill; 1877. [Note: his brother Edmund is listed at 194 Blackfriars Rd from 1875 (after qualifying in 1874). Ernest appears to have replaced Edwin Jones (see 1861 census and 1863 LSA examination details above), who had moved to Brighton in the 1877 Medical Directory, but Frederick Chas. Jones was still at 174 Blackfriar’s Rd. Interestingly however, Frederick died suddenly as reported in Sheldrake’s Aldershot Military Gazette. Saturday Feb 9 1878: 3, which possibly precipitated Ernest’s move back to Newmarket, for reasons that are not clear? Edmund Fyson remained in Southwark until 1886 (see The Fysons for more details).], [Note also, this is in the separate London section of the Medical Directory.]
1878: ‘WRIGHT, JOHN ROWLAND, Newmarket. Cambs (Faircloth and Wright) – M.R.C.S. Eng. 1871; (St. Mary’s); late House Surg. Male Lock Hosp. Lond.’ Reference: The Medical Directory. London: Churchill; 1878. [Note: this appears to be the point at which John Rowland Wright joined and succeeded to Richard Faircloth’s practice, although this might have taken place in the autumn of 1877 – see the page on John Rowland Wright for details.]
1878, 14th August: A coroner’s inquest was held into a case at Chippenham (Nr. Newmarket). It was a regarding a baby who had become unwell following a head injury caused by accidentally being dropped. The mother said, ‘I took it to the doctor’s, and saw Mr. Fyson, and he gave me some lotion and powders. I applied the lotion, and gave the powders as directed.’… ‘Mr. Ernest Last Fyson, physician, of Newmarket,’ then reported his account, including the baby being ‘very feeble, and slightly conscious’ and was of the opinion that the death was from ‘probable effusion of blood on the brain’ caused by the fall. Reference: The Bury Free Press. Saturday Aug 17 1878: 8. [Note: it’s quite sobering to consider that at this time it seems to have been considered quite normal just to send a child home with some ‘lotion and powders’ who was described as ‘very feeble, and slightly conscious’.], [Note also, this shows that Ernest Fyson was back locally by August 1878 at least.], [Note also, he is called ‘doctor’, ‘Mr’ and a ‘physician’ in this single account – see The history of medical treatments, training, qualifications and regulation on this.]
1879: ‘FYSON, ERNEST LAST, Newmarket, Cambs – L.R.C.P. Edin. (exam) and L.M. 1871; M.R.C.S. Eng. 1864; L.S.A. 1865; (Guy’s).’ Reference: The Medical Directory. London: Churchill; 1879. [Note: see 1877 and comments 1874 above.]
1881, 3rd/4th April: Ernest L. Fyson, aged 37, born in Exning, Suffolk, ‘surgeon in Gen Practice’, defined as a Partner, in the household of Robert Fyson, aged 74, also a ‘Surgeon in Gen Practice’ and born in Exning, together Robert Fyson’s, daughter Fanny M. (Ernest’s future wife, yet to be married to someone else first – see 1883, 1891 and 1892 below, and the pages on Robert Fyson and The Fysons), and three servants. They were all living in Newmarket St Mary’s parish on the High Street. Reference: The National Archives, 1881 census. [Note: see image above], [Note also, this was the last house on the High Street at that time, three down from the Crown heading towards the clock tower (which was not built until 1887) – see the page on Robert Fyson for details.]
1881, 18th June: ‘Dr. Ernest Fyson’ gave evidence at a Newmarket coroner’s inquest.’ Reference: The Bury and Norwich Post. Tuesday Jun 21 1881: 8. [Note: there are later similar events reported periodically in the press, e.g. 1886 below – not all are recorded here.]
1883, 8th July: With Clement Gray when he performed a cæsarean section operation in a patient’s house at Newmarket. Reference: Gray C. Case of cæsarean section in a dwarf: recovery of the mother. The British Medical Journal 1883;2(1189):727. [Note: Frederick Gray (Dr Gray), Walter Hutchinson, and Robert Fyson were also present.], [Note also, click here for a full account of this incident.]
1883, 13th August: Hubert Tyrrell de Stuteville Isaacson, solicitor, bachelor aged 36 of Newmarket All Saints’, married Frances Maria Fyson, spinster aged 33 of Newmarket St Mary’s (father Robert Fyson surgeon), at Newmarket All Saints’. Reference: Microfiche of Newmarket All Saints’ parish register (fiche 17), (Suffolk County Record Office, Bury St Edmunds).
1884, 23rd April: ‘He [Robert Fyson] was gratified to find that the Lodge [of Oddfellows] had appointed his nephew, Mr. Ernest Last Fyson, to succeed him [as their surgeon]… Mr. E. L. Fyson was then admitted as an honorary member…’ Reference: The Bury Free Press. Saturday Apr 26 1884: 8. [Note: see the page on Robert Fyson for more details.]
1885: ‘Fyson Ernest, surgeon, High street’ and ‘Fyson Robert, L.S.A., surgeon, High street’ listed in White’s Directory under Newmarket. Reference: White’s history, gazetteer and directory of Suffolk. Sheffield: White Wm; 1885, pg 516. [Note: ‘Gray Clement’, ‘Gray Frederick Clement’, ‘Mead Geo. Borwick’, ‘Mead Owen’, ‘Hutchinson William’ [sic], and ‘Wright John Rowland’ are listed separately.], [Note also, this appears to show Robert Fyson still in practice on the High Street, with Ernest not yet in Cheveley House, contrasting with the 1888 Kelly’s Directory entry below after his Medical Directory entry changed to ‘retired’ in 1887.]
1886, 16th March: ‘Ernest Last Fyson, surgeon, Newmarket’ gave evidence at a coroner’s inquest regarding a suicide. He reported ‘He had been under my care for the past week. He was in a low and desponding way during the whole time.’ Reference: The Bury and Norwich Post. Tuesday Mar 16 1886: 8. [Note: references like this highlight the fact that the role of ‘surgeon’ in the 19th century was very generalist.]
1887: ‘FYSON, ROBERT, Newmarket, Cambs (retired) – L.S.A. 1831; (Guy’s and St. Thos.’s); late Med. Off. Health Newmarket.’ Reference: The Medical Directory. London: Churchill; 1887. [Note: this is the first mention of him being retired; his entry remains unchanged from this point.], [Note also, he first mentions ‘late Med. Off. Health’ in 1885, oddly not having mentioned that role beforehand. George Owen Mead took on that role, apparently in about 1883 – see the page on George Owen Mead for details.]
1888: ‘Fyson, Ernest Last, surgeon, Cheveley house’ listed in Kelly’s directory. ‘Fyson Robert, Exeter road’ is listed in the private residents but not commercial section of Kelly’s Directory. Reference: Kelly’s directory of Cambridgeshire… London: Kelly & Co.; 1888, pg 116 (114-119 Newmarket section). [Note: Gray Clement Frederick, Gray Frederick Clement, Hutchinson Walter, Mead George Borwick, Mead George Owen and Wright John Rowland, are listed separately.], [Note also, Robert Fyson was still in the same house on the end of the High Street at this time, at its junction with Exeter Road, but interestingly here uses Exeter Road rather than the High Street for his address.]
1888: ‘SIMPSON, CHAS. SHACKLETON, Cheveley House, Newmarket, Cambs – M.R.C.S. Eng. 1887; (Guy’s).’ Reference: The Medical Directory. London: Churchill; 1917. [Note: this was his first entry in The Medical Directory, remaining the same in 1889, but by 1890 he was in Brighton, where he was in 1891 too, and can be seen on the 1891 census there. Obviously he was an assistant to Ernest Fyson, likely in some sense replacing Robert Fyson – see also John William Roberts 9th February 1891 below.], [Note also, in the Medical Register his first entry was also for 1888 and ‘Cheveley house, Newmarket’, but his 1889 entry records an address in London, then it’s Brighton from 1890.]
1889, 27th May: It was reported at the Local Board of Health meeting that Dr Fyson’s premises had flooded, together with other houses in Upper Station Road due to a drainage problem in the area. Reference: The Bury and Norwich Post. Tuesday Jun 04 1889: 7. [Note: Upper Station Road is now known as Old Station Road.]
1890, 13th September: At an inquest regarding a fatal horse riding accident it was reported that, ‘Dr. Fyson was soon in attendance, and the lad was at once removed to the hospital.- Mr. Ernest Last Fyson, surgeon, said…’ Reference: The Bury and Norwich Post. Tuesday Sept 16 1890: 7. [Note: this was likely the Rous Memorial Hospital.], [Note also, it’s interesting to see him called Dr and Mr in the same breath – see The history of medical treatments, training, qualifications and regulation on this.]
1891, 9th February: Regarding a murder trial reported in the paper, ‘On February 9th Mr. Fyson was fetched to the Horseshoe Hotel, and, as he had an injured hand, he sent me to take over the case.’ This was said by ‘John William Roberts… a qualified medical man, and at present assistant to Mr. Fyson, surgeon, of Newmarket.’ He went on to say, ‘I made a post-mortem examination of the body in the presence of Dr. Fyson and Dr. Gray.’ Reference: Saffron Walden Weekly News. Friday Mar 13 1891: 8. [Note: this must have been Clement Gray at that time.], [Note also, John William Roberts was in the Medical Register for 1891 at Oxton, Birkenhead, where he was the year before too, and in the Medical Directory as ‘Address uncommunicated’, but in both recorded as having qualified in 1888; in 1889 he’s recorded in Wales in both the Medical Directory and Medical Register. From 1892 in the Register and 1893 in the Directory he’s recorded in Chorlton-cum-Hardy, which is now part of Manchester; it’s of note that he was not in the Fyson household on the 1891 census below – but it’s not yet known where he was.]
1891, 20th February: Hubert Tyrell De Stuteville Isaacson buried, aged 44. Reference: J552/10, microfilm of Newmarket St Mary’s parish register, (Suffolk County Record Office, Bury St Edmunds).
1891, 5th/6th April: Ernest L. Fyson, aged 47, born in Exning, Suffolk, ‘General Medical Practitioner’ living at ‘Cheveley House’ (four households down from the Horse and Groom Inn – see 1901 census below), together with three servants. Reference: The National Archives, 1891 census. [Note: see image above], [Note also, his wife to be, the widowed daughter of Robert Fyson, ‘Frances de S. Isaacson’, can be seen in the household of Robert Fyson, where Ernest was on the 1881 census above.]
1892, 13th April: Maria Fyson buried, aged 85, Newmarket. Reference J552/10, microfilm of Newmarket St Mary’s parish register, (Suffolk County Record Office, Bury St Edmunds).
1892, 2nd June: Ernest Last Fyson, aged 48, bachelor surgeon of All Saints’ Newmarket (father William deceased) married Frances Maria Isaacson, aged 42, widow, of St Mary’s Newmarket (father Robert Fyson, surgeon), St Mary’s church, Newmarket. Reference: J552/10, microfilm of Newmarket St Mary’s parish register, (Suffolk County Record Office, Bury St Edmunds).
1894, 24th March: ‘FUNERAL OF MR ROBERT FYSON.- On Friday last, at the cemetery, the remains of the late Mr. Robert Fyson, surgeon, were interred in the presence of a number of sympathising friends, including Dr. G.B. Mead, Dr. C.F. Gray, Dr. W. Hutchinson…’ Reference: The Newmarket Journal. Saturday Mar 24 1894: 5. [Note: it’s odd that this account does not mention family, including Ernest and Frances, but it’s a short account and includes ‘and others’. Perhaps for some reason it wanted to emphasise the sympathising friends?]
1894, 2nd June: Sale by auction of the real estate of ‘the late Mr. Robert Fyson’ including his family residence at Newmarket. Reference: The Bury Free Press. Saturday Jun 2 1894: 8. [Note: a later report in another newspaper appears to show it having been sold to Mr. E. H. Leach, it being described as ‘family residence, for many years occupied by the late Dr. Fyson, corner of High-street and Exeter-road’. Reference: The Bury and Norwich Post. Tuesday Jun 5 1894: 8.]
1894 August: Planning application for a house, surgery and stabling etc. on the ‘Corner of Exeter Road & High Street’ for Edward H Leach, vet. surgeon. Reference: EF506/6/1/H81, (Suffolk County Record Office, Bury St Edmunds). [Note: there are two more documents apparently relating to this (H79&80 – see newmarketshops.info below) but they are deemed too fragile to be seen by the archive now.]
1899, 4th October: A Newmarket Urban District Council meeting was reported in the paper, and under ‘LIGHTING MATTERS’ it said, ‘The committee having received the draft contract with the Gas Company, for public lighting, as altered by the company, it was resolved to recommend that the same be approved.- Mr FYSON, surgeon, conveyed his thanks to the Council for having resolved to erect a public lantern in his passage, and he had inti-mated his intention of paying the cost thereof himself.’ Reference: Cambridge Daily News. Wednesday Oct 4 1899: 4. [Note: see the page on Cheveley House also.]
1901, 31st March / 1st April: Ernest L. Fyson, aged 57, born in Exning, Suffolk, ‘surgeon’ living in Upper Station Rd (now known as Old Station Rd), Newmarket, four households down from the Horse and Groom Inn (i.e. Cheveley House – see 1891 above and 1911 below), with his wife Frances M. Fyson and three servants. Reference: The National Archives, 1901 census.
1907, 14th February: Frances Maria Fyson of Newmarket All Saints’ buried, aged 56, ‘wife of Dr Fyson’, in Newmarket burial ground (i.e. the cemetery). Reference: EF506/2/10, Newmarket Burial Ground burial register 1906-1928 (=book 3), (Suffolk County Record Office, Bury St Edmunds). [Note: see comments under Ernest’s memorial in 1917 below.]
1907, 16th February: ‘DEATH AND FUNERAL OF MRS. FYSON.– We record with deep regret the death of Mrs. Fyson, who passed away at Cheveley House, Newmarket, on Monday last. The deceased lady belonged to a family which has been resident in Newmarket for many generations. She was the only daughter of the late Dr. Robert Fyson, and married her cousin, Mr. E. L. Fyson, M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P., who succeeded his uncle in practice.’ The account mentions that those in attendance included Dr. Fyson (husband), Rev. N. Fyson (brother), Mr. John Fyson (brother-in-law), Dr. C. F. Gray, Dr. E. Crompton and Dr. S. W. Woollett. Reference: The Newmarket Journal. Saturday Feb 16 1907: 5. [Note: this article refers to Mr. E. L. Fyson in the quote above and Dr. E. L. Fyson further in.], [Note also, see The Fysons for more on the wider family.]
1911, 2nd/3rd April: Ernest L. Fyson, aged 67, born in Exning, Suffolk, ‘surgeon’ and widower, living in Cheveley House, Newmarket, together with two servants. Reference: The National Archives, 1911 census.
1916: ‘Fyson, Ernest Last L.R.C.P.Edin., M.R.C.S.Eng., L.S.A.Lond. surgeon, Cheveley house’ listed in Kelly’s directory. Reference: Kelly’s directory of the counties of Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk… . London: Kelly’s Directories Ltd.; 1916, pg 194 (189-197 Newmarket section). [Note: Crompton Ernest, Gray Clement Frederick, Gray Gilbert Clement, Gray Norman, Maund John Hansby and Woollett Sidney Winslow are listed separately.]
1917: ‘FYSON, Ernest Last, Newmarket, Cambs – L.R.C.P. Edin. (exam.) and L.M. 1871; M.R.C.S. Eng. 1864; L.S.A. 1865; (Guy’s): Surg. Rous Memor. Hosp. Newmarket.’ Reference: The Medical Directory. London: Churchill; 1917. [Note: this was his last entry in the Medical Directory.] [Note also, he first mentions the Rous Memorial Hospital in 1887, but appears to have been involved from the outset as part of the mistakenly named ‘Fyson and son’ practice in 1880 – see the page on the Rous Memorial Hospital for an image.]
1917, 20th February: Memorial ‘ERNEST LAST FYSON / BORN 1ST JULY 1843 / DIED 20TH FEB 1917’ Reference: Memorial stone cross in Newmarket Cemetery. [Note: see image above.], [Note also, his wife who died in 1907 is also mentioned on this memorial.] [Note also, this grave is one row back in the ‘New Ground’ part of the cemetery, directly opposite (on the other side of the path) from his predecessor and uncle Robert Fyson, who is at the far end of the old part (see the page on Robert Fyson for an image of his grave showing Ernest’s in the background).]
1917, 24th February: Under a heading ‘Death of Dr. Fyson’ a report that included, ‘We record with much regret the death of Dr. Ernest Last Fyson, who passed away at his residence, Cheveley House, Newmarket, on Tuesday, about 3.30 a.m., after a lingering illness. / Dr. Fyson was born at Exning, his father being a farmer there, about 73 years ago, and succeeded to the practice of his uncle, the late Robert Fyson, whose daughter he married… A man of considerable ability in his profession, and one of the most conscientious of practitioners… for a very long period, medical officer of the Loyal Beacon Lodge of Oddfellows… During his last illness he was attended by Dr. C. F. Gray (an old friend as well as a pro-fessional confrére), who also took charge of his practice for some months. / The deceased gentleman was a widower (his wife having died several years ago), and leaves no children. He is survived by two brothers… Dr. Edmund Fyson, who is in practice at Hastings… Dr. Fyson was generally respected, and many of our readers will regret to learn of his demise…’ Reference: The Newmarket Journal. Saturday Feb 24 1917: 3. [Note: see the page on the Fysons for more details about the family from this report.], [Note also, his death is reported in the deaths section of the same paper on page 2.], [Note also, it seems likely therefore that the Fysons’ practice was absorbed into the Grays’ at this point, who likely had the capacity now being three, although a notice appeared in the paper the following week to say, ‘We are requested by the relatives of the late Dr. Fyson to state that throughout his illness Dr. Ernest Crompton was most assiduous in his attendance upon him, visiting him night and day.’ Reference: The Newmarket Journal. Saturday Mar 3 1917: 3. This appears to be an addition rather than correction? There’s nothing to suggest Ernest Crompton’s practice was expanding at this point. In fact he retired due to ill health a few years later and his practice also appears to cease at that point.]
1917, 3rd March: The Funeral of ‘DR. FYSON’ reported in the paper. It mentioned that he was buried in Newmarket Cemetery and that ‘Blinds were drawn at a number of residences and shops along the route taken by the cortege’. Newmarket medics amongst the mourners were Dr. E. Crompton, Dr. C. F. Gray, and Dr. J. H. Maund. Reference: The Newmarket Journal. Saturday Mar 3 1917: 2.
Newmarket Union Minutes. [Note: Ernest Last Fyson does not feature in the Newmarket Union minutes. His uncle had resigned from his Newmarket Union role before Ernest joined the practice, and he never held a post in the Union himself.]
Shops History Newmarket. http://www.newmarketshops.info/index.html. [Note: newmarketshops.info has been supplied with information regarding the medical history of Newmarket by the author of talkingdust.net since August 2013 (see footnotes on some of the pages). Both websites continue to be developed, and in this sense are mutually symbiotic.]
Suffolk Medical Biographies. Profile for Fyson, Ernest Last. http://www.suffolkmedicalbiographies.co.uk/Profile.asp?Key=297 (originally accessed pre October 2013). [Note: at the time of writing (February 2018), this website had only a handful of references relating to Ernest Last Fyson.], [Note also, see comments regarding this website on the Francis Greene page.]
The Medical Directory. London: Churchill; 1865-1918. [Note: see above references for full 1866, 69, 73, 74, 77, 79, and 1917 entries (and Daniel Devereux 1869; Samuel Gamble 1874; Robert Fyson 1887, Charles Shackleton Simpson 1888], [Note also, as would be expected, Ernest Last Fyson was not in the 1918 directory, and 1866 was his first appearance.], [Note also, this publication has been known by various titles over the years. Initially it just covered London, but from 1847 it had a wider remit, being variously known as the London and Provincial Medical Directory, The Medical Directories, The Medical Directory, etc., essentially the same work with minor variations and developments. It is usually referred to as The Medical Directory (as opposed to The Medical Register), so that is how it’s consistently referred to on talkingdust.net.]
The Medical Register. London: General Medical Council; 1859ff. [Note: Ernest Last Fyson is recorded as being registered on 10th August 1865, and his first entry is in 1866, in Exning, which changes to Newmarket in 1879 (Tewkesbury is never mentioned – except I have not seen a copy of the 1870 Register).], [Note also, oddly his last entry in the Medical Register was 1916; he did not appear in the 1917 register, which presumably therefore was compiled after his death in March 1917, unless he requested not to go in it because he knew he was terminally ill?]
Note: For published material referenced on this website see the ‘Acknowledgements for resources of published material’ section on the ‘Usage &c.’ page. The sources used for original unpublished documents are noted after each individual reference. Any census records are referenced directly to The National Archives, since images of these are so ubiquitous on microfilm and as digital images that they almost function like published works. Census records are covered by the ‘Open Government Licence’ as should be other such public records (see the ‘Copyright and related issues’ section on the ‘Usage &c.’ page for which references constitute public records, and any other copyright issues more generally such as fair dealing/use etc.).