Sir Richard Robert Cruise, GCVO, FRCS (1876–1946) was an English ophthalmic surgeon. He was Surgeon-Oculist to George V and Queen Mary.

Early life

One source gives Cruise's birth year as 1877,[1] others as 1876.[2][3] He was born in Purneah in the British Raj,[4] to Francis Cruise (died 1879) and his wife Frideswide, daughter of Edward Kellet of Waterstown in county Meath.[5] The baptism record of Richard Robert Cruise (christened in Purneah in December 1876) records a date of birth as 27 October 1876.[6] He was educated at Harrow School.[7]

Career

Cruise trained at St Mary's Hospital and qualified as a Member of the Royal College of Surgeons and Licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians in 1900.[1] He became an ophthalmologist and worked as a senior clinical assistant in that specialism at St Mary's. He was also the Chief Clinical Assistant at the Royal London Ophthalmic Hospital. In 1903, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons. He worked as a surgeon at the Bristol Eye Hospital and the Royal Eye Hospital. In 1909, he was appointed to the Royal Westminster Ophthalmic Hospital, where he became a consulting surgeon.[1] He was also appointed to that position at King Edward VII's Hospital in London. During the First World War, he was an officer in the Royal Army Medical Corps and invented a chain mail visor for soldiers (to protect them from being blinded by shrapnel)[7] which was put into use in late 1917. Though they improved safety, the helmets were unpopular with soldiers, who found them distracting; Cruise developed a second model to address some of the complaints, though it is not clear that it was distributed during the war.[8]

Cruise was ophthalmic surgeon to George V (reigned 1910–36);[1] he was appointed a Commander of the Royal Victorian Order in 1917[9] and in 1918 he was appointed Surgeon-Oculist Extraordinary to the King.[10] In 1922, he was promoted to Knight Commander.[7] On the king's death in 1936, Cruise was appointed Surgeon-Oculist to Queen Mary, in which office he served till he died.[1] He was promoted to Knight Grand Cross in 1936.[7]

Family and death

Twice married, Cruise's first wife was Margery Woolcombe-Boyce and his second was Eileen Greenlees; he had three children.[7] Cruise died on 24 December 1946.[4]

Likenesses

The National Portrait Gallery, London houses eight portraits of Cruise in its collections.[3]

Publications

  • Cruise, Richard R. (18 May 1940). "Visor for the Prevention of War Blindness". British Medical Journal. 1 (4141): 53–58. ISSN 0007-1447. PMC 2177268. PMID 2177268.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Cruise, Sir Richard Robert (1877–1946)", Plarr's Lives of the Fellows (Royal College of Surgeons). Retrieved 28 July 2021.
  2. ↑ Anton Sebastian, A Dictionary of the History of Medicine (London: Informa Healthcare, 2011), sub "Cruise Operation".
  3. 1 2 "Sir Richard Robert Cruise", National Portrait Gallery, London. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
  4. 1 2 "Cruise, Sir Richard (Robert)", Who Was Who (online ed., Oxford University Press, 2021). Retrieved 28 July 2021.
  5. ↑ A. C. Fox-Davies, Armorial Families, 7th ed. (London: Hurst and Blackett, 1929), p. 474.
  6. ↑ "India Births and Baptisms, 1786–1947: Richard Robert Cruise", FamilySearch. Retrieved 28 July 2021. His parents were named in that record as Francis John Cruise and his wife Frideswide Eileen Cruise. The marriage of Francis John Cruise and Eliza Frideswide Kellett took place in Queensland, Australia, in 1875: "Eliza Frideswide Kellett in the Australia, Marriage Index, 1788–1950", Ancestry. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 "Sir Richard Cruise", The Times (London), 28 December 1946, p. 7. Gale CS119620508
  8. ↑ An example of this invention can be seen at "Mk I Steel Helmet with Second Pattern Cruise Visor: British Army", Australian War Memorial. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
  9. ↑ The Edinburgh Gazette, issue 13099 (4 June 1917), p. 1054.
  10. ↑ The London Gazette, issue 30892 (10 September 1918), p. 10659.
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