POSSIBLY MADE BY EVANS OR SIMPSON, LONDON ENGLAND
At first blush, this interesting set would appear to violate every rule of an “honest set”, by the fact that there are multiple instruments from different manufacturers and eras present. It is, for lack of a better term, a “mishmash” of instruments. Yet, it was obtained directly from the great-great-nephew of Dr. Morris, and had never been out of the family. Perhaps the fact that the set passed through the hands of three successive generations of physicians has something to do with the assortment of instruments found.
This set was originally owned by a native Irishman, William Morris, M.D. (1821 – 1900), then his son, William M. Morris, Jr. M.D. (1854 – 1915), then finally Keith Maurice Morris, M.D. (1883 – 1942), who passed it to his nephew, from whom the set was purchased. Many of the largest items in the set – the tenon capital saw, the metacarpal saw, Hey saw, tourniquet, trephine handle with (three!) bits – are unmarked. However, these all are a perfect fit to the case, and I have no doubt that they are original. Particularly rare is in the inclusion of a second (spare) capital saw blade, as well as a second (disassembled) handle and screws! The case is typical for English manufacture, and may have been originally intended for military use, with the reinforced brass banding on the top and sides. The assortment of sizes for the crown-style trephine bits indicate that this set was intended for different degrees of neurosurgical applications. The lid of the set does not open past 90 degrees, a feature common to very early sets, according to Bennion.
The variety of manufacturers represented in the set, with approximate respective dates, are:
Evans of London (largest Liston knife) c. 1783 – 1802. Since it is not marked “Evans & Co.” this is likely David Evans, who was in sole business at 10 Old Change, London during the years above. The handle has two smooth and two cross-hatched sides. According to Bennion, around 1790 was the start of the cross-hatched handle, so this knife is likely at the latter end of that time period.
Simpson (large Liston knife), 55 Strand, London, c. 1863
W. Pepys (catlin), no address, so 1750 – 1863.
Kuhlmann (catlin), no address, c.1867
Tiemann (chisel), no address, Old-English font suggests c. 1860
A.L. Hernstein (tenaculum), no address c. 1879
Maw, London (suturing needle), no address, 1828 – 1859 (years the firm was not “& Son.)
Burgoyne & Burbidge (tenaculum), no address, 1853 – 1876 (years the the firm was just “Burgoyne & Burbidge”.)
Young, Edinburgh (scalpel), no address, c. 1840 – 1858 (by 1859, Young was gazetted cutler-in-ordinary to Queen Victoria, and, thereafter, he had the privilege to place the Royal Arms on his products. )
Whitford (thumb lancet), no address, 1798 – 1822 (crown mark present)
THE ORIGINAL OWNER OF THE SET
WILLIAM MORRIS, M.D. (1821 – 1900)
William Morris was born July 1, 1821 in Limerick, Ireland. He was educated at Ennis College before going to Trinity College and Royal College of Surgeons in 1839 in Ireland. In June of 1843, he received the degrees of M.D. and L.R.C.S.I. after completing a work period at the Dublin Lying-In Hospital. From 1843 – 1844 he was the Resident-Surgeon at the City of Dublin Hospital.
He married Henrietta (King) Morris in Ireland and emigrated to Toronto, Ontario in 1845. In 1854, he moved his family to Florence (Lambton County) Ontario and stayed there for 20 years. He passed his Upper Canadian Medical Boards in 1865.
He eventually moved to Michigan and continued to practice medicine. He was appointed as the Secretary to the United States Examining Board of Surgeons. By 1889 he was retired and living with his wife and one of his daughters in Caro, Michigan. He died on March 27, 1900 and is buried in Caro Cemetery.
Dr. Morris and his wife had seven children; his oldest son, Harvey, married the daughter of a physician (and their son William became a physician.) His second son, William, became a physician.
WILLIAM M. MORRIS JR., M.D. (1854 – 1915)
William M. Morris, Jr. was the second son of Dr. William and Henrietta. He was born in Buffalo, New York, and moved with his parents to Canada when he was a year old. He first practiced in Delaware, Canada. He married Lucy Jane Greer in 1871, and had three children, Keith M. and William M., and a daughter. In 1870, he moved his family to Michigan, first to Caro and then Gagetown, where he spent the remainder of his life. He died at the age of 61, from pleural pneumonia.
KEITH MAURICE MORRIS, M.D. (1883 – 1942)
Keith Morris was born in Gagetown, Michigan on 1883. He graduated from Michigan College of Medicine and Surgery in 1903 and opened general practice in Sebewaing in 1908. Later he took a post graduate course in eye, ear, nose and throat at the Post Graduate and Medical College and Hospital in Chicago. Dr. Morris lived in Detroit from 1919 until 1933, and in in his later years, practiced in Saginaw. He was the uncle of the seller of this surgical set.