Part 2 — CHAPTER XXIII. Eminent Citizens of the Nineteenth Century. (continued 2)

“On the 27th of September, 1811, Mr. Crosse went to London for the purpose of studying his profession in that Metropolis, and was the following day introduced to Mr., afterwards Sir Charles Bell, whose pupil he became, with whom he contracted a close intimacy, and of whose merits as a teacher and man of science he always spoke in the highest terms of respect and gratitude. In the following January, he entered to Abernethy’s Lectures; and in April, 1812, became a student at St. George’s Hospital, where his industrious habits and intelligence attracted the particular attention and marked notice of the medical officers of that noble institution. In the following month, he entered as a pupil at the Lock Hospital; and in the course of the year, officiated as House Surgeon during the temporary absence of the gentleman who occupied that situation. In the following winter session, commencing October, 1812, he studied under Brodie, Bell, Brande, Clarke, Home, and others; and remarks in his journal, ‘very industrious all this winter, sitting up constantly till past two a.m.’ In March, 1813, he became a dresser to Sir Everard Home at St. George’s Hospital; attended Midwifery under Dr. Clarke; and on the 16th of April, passed the College of Surgeons in London. After a short holiday, he returned to London on the 13th of May, and attended the Eye Infirmary at Charter-house Square. In June, he resigned his dressership under Sir E. Home; became acquainted with the late Mr. Travers, Abernethy, Sir W. Blizard, and Dr. Macartney, whom he agreed to accompany to Dublin; and much of his spare time during this summer was devoted to the study of German, a language he ever after cultivated that he might enjoy the profundity and research of the professional literature of that country.

“Mr. Crosse left England for Dublin on the 2nd of October, 1813, arriving there the following day. In December he became Demonstrator of Anatomy under Dr. Macartney, and remained there until October, 1814, when he returned to London, having received a very handsome testimonial from the numerous students of the school in which he taught, as to his ability and energy in the capacity of their instructor in anatomy.

“On quitting Dublin, Mr. Crosse returned to Suffolk, and was afterwards introduced to the late Dr. Rigby of Norwich. In December he went to Paris, where he remained until the end of February, 1815, during which period he took French Lessons, wrote his Diary in the French language, and availed himself of every possible opportunity of increasing his professional knowledge.

“On the 29th of March, 1815, Mr. Crosse came to Norwich; and after remaining one year in lodgings, took a house in St. Giles’, in which he resided for many years. He soon after published his “Sketches of the Medical Schools of Paris,” and showed, both by his writings and the industrious pursuit of his professional avocation, that he was destined to arrive at considerable eminence in the locality he had chosen for the arena of his future life. On the 19th of July, 1823, he was the successful candidate for the appointment of Assistant Surgeon to the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital. So great was his desire to become connected with the Hospital, and so strong the competition in which he was engaged to obtain this object, that his health gave way under the exertions he made to succeed; and he was obliged to absent himself for a time, on which occasion he took a trip to Holland, visiting Brighton on his return. The result was favourable, and he returned to Norwich in good health. On the death of Mr. Bond, in 1826, he was elected full Surgeon to the Hospital, and thus attained one of the greatest objects of his ambition.

“The rapid rise and progress of Mr. Crosse’s reputation as a professional man, and the large extent of his private practice, are too well known to require further notice; but notwithstanding the unremitting exertions required to fulfil his private engagements, he never allowed them to interfere with his public duties; and the devotedness of his service to the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital was remarkable. It may be truly said that no private patient received more kindness, skill, and attention at his hands, than did those who were placed under his care in the wards of the Hospital.

“As an operating surgeon, Mr. Crosse had but few superiors, and not many equals. He was possessed of considerable manual tact and dexterity, which, coupled with a sound judgment as to the necessity for the performance of an operation, stamped him as a surgeon of first-rate attainments. In his early professional life he studied anatomy with great assiduity, and his subsequent occupation as Demonstrator of Anatomy at Dublin so impressed the subject upon his memory, that the constitution and form of the human body were always in his mind’s eye; and thus he was rendered equal, at all times and upon all occasions, to the serious emergencies of surgery. In short, he obtained and held for a long period the foremost rank in his profession in this district; and such was the quality of his mind, that he would probably have been pre-eminent in whatever locality it might have fallen to his lot to be placed.

“In 1819, Mr. Crosse published A History of the Variolous Epidemic of Norwich, which has been, and is even now, quoted as an excellent standard work. In 1822 he published Memoirs of the Life of the late Dr. Rigby, prefixed to the valuable Essay which the Doctor had published some years before On Uterine Hæmorrhage.

“In 1835, the Jacksonian Prize was awarded him for his Essay on the Formation, Constituents, and Extraction of the Urinary Calculus; and in the same year he received, in consequence of this Essay, the Diploma of M.D. from the University of Heidelberg.

“From 1822 to the close of his life, Mr. Crosse contributed many valuable Papers to different medical periodicals, which are of deep interest to professional men.

“In 1836, Mr. Crosse was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society—a distinction which marked him for eminence throughout the whole civilized world. In 1845, the College of St. Andrew conferred the Degree of M.D. upon him, and there is scarcely a medical or surgical society in Europe of which he was not a member, as well as being an honorary member of the most eminent societies in Asia and America.

“During the last year of Mr. Crosse’s life (1850), it became painfully evident to his friends that he was gradually losing that vigour of mind and body which had so long characterized him; and at the urgent solicitation of his medical advisers, he was induced to leave home for a few weeks, when he took the opportunity of consulting Sir B. Brodie and Dr. Watson in London, and spent a short time with the late Dr. Mackness at Hastings, of whose kindness he afterwards spoke in the highest terms of gratitude. On his return home, he endeavoured to resume his professional and even his literary avocations; but although in a degree benefited by his holiday, he gradually lost power, and it was clear that his race was almost run.”

He died in his 60th year, having been a resident in Norwich 35 years.

Dr. Hooker.

Norwich and Norfolk have produced an array of distinguished botanists, such as Smith, Turner, Lindley, and the elder Hooker. The president of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, Dr. Joseph D. Hooker, F.R.S., is the son of Sir William J. Hooker, formerly Director of the Royal Gardens at Kew, and he succeeded his father in that very important post on November 12th, 1865. The present director of Kew sprung from a race of botanists. His paternal grandfather, a citizen of Norwich, devoted his leisure to the cultivation of curious plants. This circumstance, doubtless, helped to create that taste for botany which, in the career of his illustrious father, has borne such ripe fruits. On the maternal side, the grandfather of Dr. Hooker was Mr. Dawson Turner, of Yarmouth. The eldest daughter of this gentleman became the wife of Sir William J. Hooker in 1814. Mr. Turner’s is a well-known name in the annals of British botany; he is the author of various botanical publications, and it was at his suggestion that a narrative of a visit made to Iceland in 1809 by his future son-in-law was given to the world, a work which brought the name of Sir William J. Hooker prominently before the scientific world. So descended Dr. Joseph D. Hooker was born at Halesworth, in Suffolk, on June 30th, 1817. Although thus by birth a native of Suffolk, he is by descent a Norwich man. He has been a great botanical traveller in many parts of the world, and he has added greatly to our knowledge of the plants of Asia and India. On August 19th, 1868, as President of the British Association, when the meeting took place in Norwich, he delivered the Inaugural Address in the Drill Hall before a large audience.

Mrs. Opie.

Amelia Opie was the daughter of Dr. Alderson, a physician in Norwich, and was born here in 1769. The varied circumstances of her early life gave the bent to her after career. In her girlhood she beguiled the solitude of her father’s summer house by composing songs and tragedies; on her visits to London, the superior society into which the graces of her person and the accomplishments of her mind introduced her, served to stimulate her aspirations; and after her marriage, in 1798, to the painter, Mr. John Opie, she was encouraged by her husband to become a candidate for literary fame. Accordingly, in 1801, she published a novel, entitled Father and Daughter. Although this tale showed no artistic ability in dealing either with incidents or with characters, yet it was the production of a lively fancy and a feeling heart, and speedily brought its author into notice. She was encouraged to publish a volume of sweet and graceful poems in 1802, and to persist in the kind of novel writing which she had commenced so successfully. Adelaide Mowbray followed in 1804, and Simple Tales in 1806. The death of her husband in 1807, and her return to Norwich, did not slacken her industry. She published Temper in 1812, Tales of Real Life in 1813, Valentine’s Eve in 1816, Tales of the Heart in 1818, and Madeline in 1822. At length, in 1825, her assumption of the tenets and garb of the Society of Friends checked her literary ardour, and changed her mode of life. Nothing afterwards proceeded from her pen except a volume entitled Detraction Displayed, and some contributions in prose and verse to various periodicals. A good deal of her life was spent in travelling and in the exercise of Christian benevolence. When in this city she was often seen in the assize court, sitting near the judge. She seemed to take a great deal of interest in criminal cases. She died here in 1853. A life of Mrs. Opie, by Miss C. L. Brightwell, was published in 1854.

Dr. William Crotch.

The celebrated musician, William Crotch, was born in the parish of St. George at Colegate in this city, July 5th, 1775. His genius for music may be supposed to have commenced with his existence, as his parents did not remember any period in which he did not shew a great predilection for an organ, to which instrument he seemed to have a special attachment. Indeed he had a penchant for every musical instrument at an early age. As soon as he could walk alone, which was at the beginning of his second year, he would frequently quit his mother’s breast to hear a tune on the organ, and when he wanted any particular tune, he would put his finger upon that key on which the tune began; and as it sometimes happened that more than one tune began on the same key, he would strike two or three of the first or leading notes of the tune he chose to have played. Before he was two years and a quarter old, he played “God save the King” with both hands. At two years and a half he had played to several ladies and gentlemen, and was soon afterwards noticed in the public journals. At two and three quarters he could distinguish any note, and call it by its proper name, though he did not see it struck. His memory was so retentive, that a gentleman only playing to him the Minuet in Rodelinda two or three times in the evening, was astonished to hear him perform it next morning, as soon as he went to the organ. Before he was three years old, he played at Beccles, Ipswich, and other places. Afterwards he was taken to Lynn, Bury, &c., and in October, 1778, to Cambridge. In November, he was nominated to a degree of Bachelor of Arts, with a small annuity annexed to it. In December he went to London, and after performing before the foreign ambassadors, maids of honour, &c., in 1779, he was introduced to the sovereign, to whom he gave the greatest satisfaction, as he had done to the nobility and gentry in general, but more particularly to the greatest musicians. At the early age of 22 he was appointed professor of music in the University of Oxford, and there, in 1799, took his degree of doctor in that art. In 1800 and the four following years, he read lectures on music at Oxford. Next he was appointed lecturer on music at the Royal Institution; and subsequently, in 1823, principal of the Royal Academy of Music. He published a number of vocal and instrumental compositions, of which the best is his oratorio of “Palestine.” In 1831 appeared an octavo volume, containing the substance of his lectures on music, delivered at Oxford and in London. He also published “Elements of Musical Composition and Thorough Bass.” He arranged for the piano-forte a number of Handel’s oratorios and operas, besides symphonies and quartetts of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven. He performed all his public duties laboriously, zealously, and honourably, and in private life he was much beloved. He died on December 29th, 1847, in the house of his son, at Taunton.