Dr Charles Frederick Hadfield

Personal Details

Dr Charles Frederick Hadfield

17/06/1875 to 15/06/1965

Place of birth: Birkenhead

Nationality: British

CRN: 715247

Also known as: ‘Hadders’

Education and qualifications

General education

The Leys School, Cambridge (Senior Prefect); Trinity College, Cambridge (first-class in both Part 1 [1897] and Part II [1898] of the Natural Science Tripos; St Bartholomew’s Hospital, London (Schuter Scholar).

Primary medical qualification(s)

MRCS LRCP, 1904.

Initial Fellowship and type

FFARCS by Election

Year of Fellowship

1948

Other qualification(s)

BA, 1897 (MA 1901), Cambridge; MD, 1906, Cambridge; DA, 1935, RCP&S.

Professional life and career

Postgraduate career

Hadfield trained first as a scientist, working for several years in Cambridge and then at the Marine Biological Station in Naples before deciding to study medicine. After qualifying he was: Junior and Senior HP, St Bartholomew’s Hospital, 1905; External Obstetric Assistant, St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, 1906; GP, Malvern Link, Worcestershire, 1907-08; GP, Clapton, North East London, 1909-19; Honorary Anaesthetist, Prince of Wales General Hospital, Tottenham, 1911; Civilian Surgeon and Anaesthetist, City of London Military Hospital (during WW1); Assistant School Medical officer, LCC, 1911-20; Honorary Medical Officer, British Asylum for Deaf and Dumb Females, 1911-19; District Surgeon, Metropolitan Water Board, 1916-21; Medical Officer to Post Office, 1916-21; Lecturer on Anaesthetics, North-East London Post-Graduate College; Assistant Anaesthetist, St Bartholomew’s Hospital, 1917-25; Consulting Anaesthetist , St Bartholomew’s Hospital, London; 1925-35; Lecturer in Anaesthetics to St Bartholomew’s Hospital Medical College 1925-35. Having retired in 1935, Hadfield returned to work as an Anaesthetist to Emergency Medical Service, 1939-45.

Professional interests and activities

Author of ‘Practical Anaesthetics’, 1st Edition 1923, 2nd 1931; President of the Section of Anaesthetics of the Royal Society of Medicine,1932-33; Vice-President of the Section of Anaesthetics of the BMA, 1929; President of the Section of Anaesthetics of BMA, 1934; Vice President of the Association of Anaesthetists, 1935; Senior Fellow of AAGBI, 1947; Honorary Secretary (1924-47) and then Chairman (1947-8) of the joint anaesthetics committee of the Medical Research Council and the Royal Society of Medicine. Awarded MBE in 1920 for services to the London Military Hospitals during WW1.

Other biographical information

He was a keen mountaineer and a member of the Alpine Club; President of the Fell and Rock Climbing Club; President of the Barts Alpine Club. In 1923 he became the first man to stand on the highest ground in England, Scotland and Wales on the same day. He was also an enthusiastic motorist. In the 1920s he drove from London to John O’Groats in a day in his 11.9 hp Alvis.

Author and Sources

Author: Dr E Anne Thornberry and Dr David J Wilkinson

Sources and any other comments: Obituaries in Anaesthesia (20: 514-5), BMJ (26 June 1965) and Lancet; Cambridge University Alumni on Ancestry.co.uk; Medical Directory 1905-60.