About

• Summary:
   

  Samuel was born in Leicester in 1832, one of ten children. He received his early medical training at St Bartholomew's Hospital in London. On the outbreak of the Crimean war he volunteered his services, based at Rekioi hospital and returning in 1856 to purchase Dr Thursfield's long-established medical practice in Kidderminster, based at 27 Church Street.

  Soon after arriving in Kidderminster, in 1857 Samuel married Kate Birch, whose father was a surgeon who also trained at St Bartholomew's. They were to have fifteen children, of whom John Lionel was the third son and five of whom emigrated to make new lives in New Zealand.

• Archive link: Link to Samuel's documents and images
• No of documents: 52
• No of Images: 37
• No of photo albums: 1
• Born: Friday, 30 March 1832
• Birthplace: Leicester
• Died: Sunday, 14 November 1920
• Bio:

  Family

  The fourth child of William Weston Stretton and Jane (née Harris), Samuel was one of ten children.

  He married Kate Birch, daughter of a surgeon living in Barton-under- Needwood, and had fifteen children, three of whom died in infancy. Kate died in 1912, eight years before Samuel and they are buried together at Trimpley church.

  Early days

  Not much is known about Samuel’s early days. His grandfather, William Stretton, was a currier and leather cutter in Leicester and his son, Samuel’s father William Weston, is also believed to have gone into the same business but is also recorded as being a land proprietor. However Samuel’s son, John Lionel, records memories of his grandfather, stating: ‘ I never heard of his doing any work, but he was a Justice of the Peace and he used to go down to the town every morning and often sat on the bench’ and that ‘He was fond of hunting, lived in ease and comfort, and kept a good table, though there was no extravagance.’

  Education

  It can be inferred that Samuel did well at school as the family found money to send him for medical training at St Bartholomew’s Hospital in London. Before going there however, he was apprenticed to his uncle, William Harris Stretton, a general practitioner in Leicester. At Barts, He passed the diploma of Member of the Royal College of Surgeons in 1853, and then held the post of House Surgeon at the hospital between 1853 and 1855. This was by nature a junior but demanding post, usually involving long hours and living on the premises.

  There seems little doubt that Samuel was highly regarded. One of his teachers was Luther Holden, who remained at Barts for nearly half a century. In a letter to Lionel Stretton in 1882 he said “Your father is held in high esteem by all who know him.”

  Career

  From St Bartholomew’s Samuel went to Turkey to serve as a civil surgeon supporting British troops fighting in the Crimean War against Russia. Civilian doctors started to go out to the Crimea in late 1854, several months after the military campaign had begun. It is believed that, when at Barts, Samuel worked with Isambard Kingdom Brunel on the design of prefabricated field hospitals. Samuel returned from the Crimea in 1856, at the end of the war. He had wanted to go into a dragoon regiment, but at a family conference on the subject it was decided that unless one of his wealthy old aunts would give him £300 a year he must refuse the commission that had been offered him. The £300 a year was not forthcoming.

  Following this disappointment, Samuel bought Thomas Thursfeld’s private practice at 27 Church Street, Kidderminster. Here, he soon became one of the Honorary Surgeons at the small infirmary and one of the Medical Officers at the Workhouse. Not only was Samuel focussed on his medical responsibilities but he was also active in general public health matters. For example, in 1868, the Kidderminster Times printed his full report to the Board of Guardians, commencing as follows:

  ‘Mill Street, Kidderminster, Dec 21st 1868 – My Dear Sir – In my official capacity as Union Surgeon, I have been compelled to complain of the bad water and inefficient drainage of the town. I cannot say that any attempt has been made to remedy the former, but all attempts to improve the latter have been mainly attended with a temporary benefit sought for the good of some poor sick persons existing close by. I do think, however, that the time has now come when the conditions of the public health deserve the gravest inquiry, and all measures calculated to promote a healthy condition in lieu of squalid disease, dejection, flth and misery, should be enforced at any cost...’

  At the same time, Samuel was one of the main driving forces behind the building of the new infirmary in Mill Street which was opened in 1871.

  In August 1882 Samuel was taken seriously ill, which resulted in his son, John Lionel, resigning his positions at Barts Hospital and returning to Kidderminster to help his father, taking up residence in 27 Church Street, where he would live for 56 years. Samuel fully recovered.

  In 1893 Samuel’s standing as the elder statesman of the district’s medical fraternity was confirmed by the formation of Kidderminster Medical Society with him as President. It was formed by the medical gentlemen of the town and district, including Bewdley, Stourport and his son, John Lionel, was elected as the Honorary Secretary.

  Samuel was last recorded as attending Kidderminster Medical Society on 1st March 1904. He and Kate probably moved from Kidderminster to Hampton House in Droitwich soon after this date.

  Notable aspects

  • Whilst in the Crimea, swam across the Hellespont and back.
  • Bust of Samuel, made by Edgar George Papworth, presented to him in 1873.
  • In 1886 patented ‘An Improved Funeral Wheeled Bier and Grave Barrier’
  • Five sons emigrated to New Zealand
  • Golden wedding celebrated in Kidderminster Town Hall

  Death

  Samuel died suddenly at home, Parkwych in Droitwich. Obituaries were published in the Kidderminster Times and British Medical Journal.

• Place of Death: Droitwich
• Spouse: Kate Stretton (Née Birch)
• Marriage Date: Tuesday, 28 April 1857
• Father: William Weston Stretton
• Mother: Jane Stretton (Née Harris)
• Sibling-1: Clement Stretton
• Sibling-2: William Harris Stretton
• Sibling 3: Joseph Harris Stretton
• Sibling 4: Jane Stretton
• Sibling 5: George Stretton
• Sibling 6: John Stretton
• Sibling 7: Augustus Stretton
• Sibling 8: Albert Stretton
• Sibling 9: Sarah Stretton
• Child 1: William Richard Stretton
• Child 2: Ernest Samuel Stretton
• Child 3: John Lionel Stretton
• Child 4: Kate Mary Stretton
• Child 5: Edward Alfred Stretton
• Child 6: Unnamed twin
• Child 7: Unnamed twin
• Child 8: Gertrude Rosa Stretton
• Child 9: Harry Weston Stretton
• Child 10: Robert Bertram Stretton
• Child 11: Francis Byrche Stretton
• Child 12: Hubert Arthur Stretton
• Child 13: Sydney Sturges Stretton
• Child 14: Archibald Callendar Stretton
• Child 15: Philip Cecil Braddyll Stretton