“It matters not how a man dies but how he lives.”
The memorial plaque in St Paul’s Cathedral, London gives a mere hint about the life of Professor Gordon Hamilton Fairley, the first Professor of Medical Oncology in the United Kingdom. Barts nurses who worked with him at the time of his untimely death 50 years ago have many memories. It was a day that Barts will never forget.Â
 Gill Charlesworth worked with Gordon Hamilton Fairley on Annie Zunz ward.
“50 years ago on 23rd October 1975 there was an explosion in a quiet London square and a Barts physician, Gordon Hamilton Fairley; the first Professor of Medical Oncology, was killed. He was 45 years old; his specialism was lymphomas and leukaemias, especially Hodgkins Disease. Patients were referred to him from around the country; he had put together a team of experts and his work was known throughout the world.”
Having worked with him for 4 years; I admired him as a doctor, his bedside manner to patients and their relatives – he could always find time for them. He was a great listener and would seek opinions both from nurses as well as other members of the health professional team.
Hundreds of people sent messages of their sorrow and grief and also attended his funeral. There is a plaque to him in the Crypt of St Pauls alongside Sir Alexander Fleming and Sir Henry Wellcome.
I will always remember him for; his enthusiasm, his humour, sense of fun and inspiration.” Gill Charlesworth
Briony Beaumont was a first year student nurse at the time. “He was such an amazing man, treated little grey belts (me) as though they mattered. He even read and commented on my written project whilst I was on the ward. I’ve never forgotten his kindness or the palpable sadness in the hospital on the day he was killed.Later in the canteen there was just profound silence.”
Catherine Hopkins was a staff nurse on Colston Ward on the day Hamilton Fairley was killed.
“That morning in 1975 I was the staff nurse in charge in Colston, the Beadle came in on his rounds looking concerned. He told me he had just taken a call from the police. The officer had asked if ‘we had a bloke called Fairley working there’. He told the police officer we had a Consultant of that name… That was all we knew at that time , then later we all knew.”
Professor Hamilton Fairley had been walking his dog in London when a terrorist bomb possibly intended for his neighbour detonated. He was killed instantly aged just 45 years old.Â
The funeral was held at St Paul’s Cathedral. Merryl Lawrenson was one of many nurses who went to the service.
“We were allowed to go to St Paul’s in uniform for the memorial service everyone who could be spared went. I was in pink then.”
Professor Gordon Hamilton Fairley was a remarkable man who died at the age of 45. His family shared this biography which was written by Sir Ronald Bodley Scott at the time.
b.20 April 1930 d.23 October 1975
BM BCh Oxon(1954) DM(1961) MRCP(1958) FRCP(1968)
Gordon Hamilton-Fairley was the younger son of Sir Neil Hamilton Fairley (q.v.) and his second wife Mary Evelyn Greaves. His father was a member of a distinguished Melbourne medical family. Gordon was educated at Geelong Church of England Grammar School in Australia during World War Two. At the end of the war he arrived in England and after studying at Marlborough College and Magdalen College, Oxford, he entered St. Bartholomew’s Hospital as a clinical student in 1951. When he qualified in 1954 he initially worked at Barts before working at the Brompton Hospital before returning to St Bartholomew’s as a registrar.Â
Gordon Hamilton Fairley was captivated by malignant disease and, in particular, in the immunology of cancer. His DM thesis subject was the immune mechanisms in chronic lymphatic leukaemia and other reticuloses. In 1965 he was appointed to the staff of St. Bartholomew’s Hospital and two years later to the Royal Marsden Hospital.Â
When the Imperial Cancer Research Fund established a research unit in medical oncology at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital in 1970, Hamilton -Fairley was appointed its director. Then twelve months later he became the first professor in medical oncology in the United Kingdom.His leadership and personality made the unit an instant success and he was in demand to speak about his work all over the world. Many people wanted to work under his direction and he advised governments and official bodies. Although so much concerned in academic research, he had a genius for clinical medicine and never lost sight of the patient as the raison d’etre for all his work.
Gordon Hamilton-Fairley was also an accomplished pianist and one who loved his family..In 1952 he married Daphne Hillier-Holt and the couple had a son and three daughters. His untimely death at 45 on 23 October 1975 was a tragedy that will never be forgotten.
We were sent this remarkable podcast on the life of Prof Gordon Hamilton Fairley by his family. You can listen to it here.Â
[Brit.med.J., 1975, 4, 290, 352, 414, 470, 657;Â Lancet, 1975, 2, 880;Â Times, 24, 25 & 31 Oct 1975;Â Guardian, 24 & 28 Oct 1975]
