Charles Bent Ball

Sir Charles Bent Ball, 1st Baronet, Hon FRCS MD FRCSI (21 February 1851 – 17 March 1916) was an Irish surgeon and an honorary surgeon to the King in Ireland.

Early life and education

Charles Bent Ball was born in Dublin on 21 February 1851, the third and youngest son of the seven children of Robert Ball and Amelia Gresley Ball (née Hellicar). His brothers were astronomer Sir Robert Stawell Ball and the geologist Valentine Ball. Ball attended Trinity College, Dublin (TCD), graduating with a BA in 1871 with a gold medal in natural science, following with an MB and M.Ch. in 1872. after he was responsible during an operation for appendicitis on Lady Dudley, wife of the Earl of Dudley, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. He was later awarded a baronetcy in 1911. He held a number of presidencies, including the Dublin University Biological Association in 1886, the surgical section of the British Medical Association in 1905, and the Royal Academy of Medicine in Ireland from 1909 to 1912. Ball was a member of RCSI council, and an honorary fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons (England) from 1900. As he was a keen botanist, Ball was elected president of the Royal Zoological Society of Ireland from 1911 to 1916. Over his career he held many public posts, such as the commissioner of national education, medical referee under the Workmen's Compensation Act, and member of the advisory board for the army medical service.

Later life and family

Ball died at his home at 24 Merrion Square, Dublin, on 17 March 1916. Ball married Annie Julia Kinahan on 23 July 1874, and the couple had three sons and four daughters. Sir Charles Arthur Kinahan Ball was the eldest, and went on to be surgeon at Sir Patrick Dun's Hospital and regius professor of surgery at TCD, and succeeded his father as baronet. Their youngest son was Sir Nigel Gresley Ball a botanist who succeeded his brother in the title in 1945. Ball is commemorated in TCD's War Memorial in the 1937 Reading Room.