Abstract
The fine memorial to Herbert Nicholas Chilcote in St Marychurch, Torbay, Devon is an obelisk made of local red marble (Figure 1) with a bronze bas-relief of the head and shoulders (Figure 2). The inscription reads ‘Herbert Nicholas Chilcote MRCS. Died 25 October 1886 age 46. This memorial was erected by public subscription from all classes in the neighbourhood in affectionate remembrance of a noble and unselfish life generously spent and prematurely sacrificed in the service of the sick and suffering’.
Chilcote memorial
Bronze of Herbert Nicholas Chilcote
A local newspaper report 1 tells us why a local GP deserved such a prominent memorial: ‘He was highly esteemed by all classes especially by the poor for his kindness and generosity. He was Poor Law Medical Officer and for local branches of the Foresters and Manchester Unity of Oddfellows. He was indeed the friend of the poor for he often attended to their necessities without fee or reward, and for some hours on Sunday he received patients who were unable to come in the week’.
A fortnight later a further eulogy appeared in the newspaper: 2 ‘As his good works were done in secret it was impossible to gauge to what extent this noble disciple of Esculapius gave freely his time and means amongst those who lived in the neighbourhood. As in life so in contemplation of death he had the poor in mind for in his will there is a provision that no debts for professional attendance shall be collected and there is an injunction that his pony which has carried him over many a weary mile shall be duly provided for’. Actually the pony does not get mentioned in his will; no doubt the wish was conveyed to his family.
In 1972 a historical article in the local Herald Express 3 summarized events leading to the installation of the memorial. At a meeting of the local board of health a memorial was suggested, a committee was formed and subscriptions totalled £193. After deciding against putting the money towards a breakwater and finding that the monument could not be erected on Babbacombe Downs, it was decided to put the obelisk in the centre of St Marychurch. It is so prominent that the bus stop there is known as ‘Chilcotes’. A local road and a local general practice are also named after Chilcote.
Herbert Nicholas Chilcote was born on 24 January 1840 at 12 Golden Square in Westminster 4 where his father Paul was a general practitioner. 5 He qualified MRCS in 1868 from Westminster Hospital Medical School. 6 His father then moved to Babbacombe in Devon and Herbert Nicholas set up in practice there when he qualified. He appears in trade directories 7 as surgeon, poor law medical officer and public vaccinator (a role controlled by the Poor Law Guardians). He gave evidence at the trial for murder of John Lee, ‘the man they could not hang’, who survived three execution attempts in 1885 at Exeter. 8 The death of Herbert Nicholas Chilcote in 1886 aged only 46 was recorded as from disease of the caecum, perforation of the bowel and peritonitis. 9 The Torquay Directory1 reported that his funeral was a remarkable affair with an open hearse followed by 30 carriages. His gravestone can be seen in the churchyard of St Mary Brixham. His estate left to his sisters was valued at £2,037 10 and it included Hill House in Brixham, occupied by other members of his family, but not the house he lived in as that still belonged to his mother.