Henry Percy Pickerill

Henry Percy Pickerill (3 August 1879 – 10 August 1956) was a British-born New Zealand dental surgeon and researcher, university administrator and plastic surgeon. Pickerill made major contributions to several fields of dentistry and plastic surgery both in New Zealand and overseas.

Early life Pickerill, known to his family as Percy was born in Hereford, Herefordshire, England, on 3 August 1879, the oldest child of Mary Ann ( Gurney) and Thomas Pickerill. His father was at the time a commercial clerk and was later the managing director of the Lugwardine Tile Works which made porcelain tiles.

The eldest and only surviving son, Pickerill attended Chandos School, the private Collegiate School of Hereford and then Hereford County College.

Upon completing his secondary education he enrolled at the University of Birmingham in 1900 with the intention of studying dentistry and medicine. Following a two-year apprenticeship in dentistry he was awarded a LDSRCS (licentiate in dental surgery of the Royal College of Surgeons of England) in 1903. The University of Birmingham was the first university in Great Britain to offer a BDS degree and which allowed Pickerill to take advantage of the dental and medical degrees sharing common courses to gain a BDS and MBChB in 1904. Later he added from the University of Birmingham, a MD and MDS, both in 1911, and MCh in 1923.

In the early 20th century entry to the dental profession in New Zealand was restricted to those who had completed a degree or certificate of proficiency in dental surgery. In response, the dental school of the University of Otago was established on 1 July 1907 with a temporary director assisted by 12 honorary dental surgeons.

Pickerill reached Dunedin and took up his position in September 1907 on a salary of £500 a year. Another three students started in May of the same year. Pickerill was to convince Hercus to study medicine upon completing his dentistry degree.

In 1916 Pickerill took leave from his position at the University of Otago to serve overseas with the NZDC, departing New Zealand on 30 December 1916 with the 20th Reinforcements NZEF on the troopship Athenic. Concerned that too many soldiers were returning to New Zealand with dental and jaw injuries that could have been improved by earlier treatment, General George Richardson of the N.Z.E.F. had specifically asked for Pickerill. Upon arrival Pickerill found that the 50-bed ward had no jaw cases and no workroom. Within two months he had 40 patients, a fully equipped workshop, and a permanent dental mechanic.

On 9 January 1918, Pickerill, by now with the rank of major, his dental mechanic and 29 patients were transferred under duress to the newly opened Queen's Hospital at Sidcup. It was housed in the Batchelor, Sidcup and newly built Alexandra Wards of the hospital. In June 1919, Pickerill succeeded Barnett as officer in charge. The centre, when combined with the 25 bed capacity of the Jaw Hospital, could treat and house 111 servicemen. Reporting to Pickerill were four technical staff - a modeller, photographer, dental mechanic, and artist.

In June 1919 Pickerill was recognized for his service by being promoted to lieutenant-colonel.

Pickerill continued overseeing the long-term care of the unit's patients until December 1921 when, after the closing of the unit, he returned full-time to his position as Dean of the Dental School where he found that as the result of the work of O.V. Davies the number of students had increased and dentistry as a university discipline was well established. As the existing building was proving to be too small, Pickerill had to overcome a proposal by Auckland interests establish a rival dental school in that city. However he was able to convince the government that the dental school needed to be close to the country's only medical school. Approval for the construction of a new building was given in April 1924, and it opened in June 1926.

Pickerill strongly opposed the proposal by Thomas Anderson Hunter to establish a child dental health service which would be staffed by school dental nurses who were to receive just 18 months' training. His efforts failed to prevent the establishment of the New Zealand School Dental Service in 1921.

Using his wartime experience Pickerill developed what is known as the triangular or zig-zag graft to remove hare lips, principally on babies. This method cut the cleft into two triangles on each side and then rearranged the triangles.

Move to Sydney

Pickerill resigned from the University of Otago in 1927 to move to Sydney, where he specialized in plastic surgery. His wife and family did not join him in Sydney. In 1933 he took up a post at the Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney as senior plastic surgeon. His former house surgeon in Dunedin Hospital Cecily Mary Wise Clarkson joined him to assist and learn plastic surgery and then following his divorce, his wife.

Return to New Zealand and private practice

A short time after their wedding the Pickerill’s returned to New Zealand in 1935 and settled in Wellington where they established a private practice which by 1941 was based in Kelvin Chambers on The Terrace. They continued to be close surgical associates, working together at Lewisham Hospital in Newtown. Pickerill was also a Senior Plastic Surgeon at Wellington Hospital.

The couple established Bassam in Lower Hutt in 1939 as a hostel providing live-in accommodation for children and their parents who were receiving surgery at Lewisham Hospital. By 1942 the eight-room Bassam had become a full private hospital specializing in treating children with cleft palates and other major congenital conditions needing plastic surgery. To prevent post-surgical and cross infection Bassam was the first hospital in New Zealand where all nursing, except during surgery and the changing of dressings, was done by the mothers of the young patients. This also ensured a strong bond between mother and baby. In addition no visitors were allowed while the infant and mother were in residence and no observers were invited into the operating room.

Death

Henry Pickerill died at Pinehaven, Upper Hutt, New Zealand on 10 August 1956. His ashes were taken to England by his wife and daughter and scattered from a bridge over the River Wye at Holme Lacy near Hereford.

Honours and awards For his service in the war Pickerill was awarded the British War Medal (1914-1920) and the Victory Medal with mention in despatches oak leaf.

Henry Pickerill and Cecily Pickerill's personal papers were donated to the Hocken Collections. In 2015, this archive was added to the UNESCO New Zealand Memory of the World Register.

Personal life He married Mabel Louise Knott on 19 June 1906 at Birmingham. They had three sons and one daughter.

Pickerill’s youngest son, Ethelbert Paul Pickerill, became a dentist and served as an officer of the NZ Dental Corps during World War 2.

Publications Pickerill, H P. (1909). "Radicular Aberrations". Proceedings of the Royal Society of Medicine2 (Odontol Sect): 145–61.

Pickerill, H P. (1909). "The medical aspect of dentistry and the necessity of dental instruction for medical students". British Medical Journal 1 (2511): 394–97. .

Pickerill, H.P. (1912). "Some pathological conditions found in the teeth and jaws of Maori skulls in New Zealand". Proc of the Royal Soc of Medicine. Odontological Section, 5 (3): 155–165.

Pickerill, H.P. and S. T. Champtaloup. (1913). "The bacteriology of the mouth in Maori children: Being Part of an Investigation into the Cause of Immunity to Dental Disease in the Maori of the Uriwera Country, N.Z". British Medical Journal 2 (2762): 1482–83. .

Pickerill, H.P. (1914). "On the Production of Narrow Jaws by the Mastication of Tough and Fibrous Foods: (Synopsis of Communication.).” Proceedings of the Royal Society of Medicine 7 (Odontol Sect): 92–100.

Pickerill, H.P. (1914). "Internal Secretions and Dental Caries: With Special Reference to Thyroid Insufficiency". British Medical Journal 1 (2791): 1406–7. .

Pickerill, H.P. (1916). "Treatment of fractured mandible accompanying gunshot wounds". British Medical Journal 2 (2899): 105–7. .

Pickerill, H.P. (1918). "Arthroplasty of Temporo-Mandibular Joint for Ankylosis". Proceedings of the Royal Society of Medicine 11 (Odontol Sect): 87–89.

Pickerill, H.P. (1918). "The 'Screw-Lever' Splint". Proceedings of the Royal Society of Medicine 11 (Odontol Sect): 90–92.

Pickerill, H.P. (1919). "Intra-Oral Skin-Grafting: The Establishment of the Buccal Sulcus". Proceedings of the Royal Society of Medicine 12 (Odontol Sect): 17–22.

Pickerill, H.P. (1927). "Non-Eruption of Teeth". Proceedings of the Royal Society of Medicine 20 (5): 603–5.

Pickerill, H. P. and Pickerill, C. M. (1945). "Early Treatment of Bell’s Palsy". British Medical Journal, 2 (4422): 457–459. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.2.4422.457

Pickerill, H. P. and Pickerill, C. M. (1945). "Elimination of Cross-infection". British Medical Journal, 1 (4387): 159–160. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.1.4387.159

Pickerill, H. P. and Pickerill, C. M. (1945). "Ectopia vesicae". The Australian and New Zealand Journal of Surgery, 15: 91–98.

Pickerill, H P. (1946). "The Advantages of Early Skin Grafting". The New Zealand Medical Journal 45 (February): 45–49.

Pickerill, H P. (1946). "Save the Foreskins". The New Zealand Medical Journal 45 (June): 238.

Pickerill, H P. (1947. "Note on Cranial Autoplasty". The British Journal of Surgery 35 (138): 204–7. .

Pickerill, H P. (1948). "Plastic Surgery in the Treatment of Malignancy". British Journal of Plastic Surgery 1 (3): 181–86.

Pickerill, H P. (1949). "Ligation of the Mandibular (Inferior Dental) Artery". British Medical Journal 1 (4603): 527. .

Pickerill, H P. (1949). "Ligation of the Mandibular (Inferior Dental) Artery". The New Zealand Dental Journal 45 (222): 241.

Pickerill, H P. (1950). "Pascal’s Law as Applied to Skin Grafting". British Journal of Plastic Surgery 2 (4): 274–77.

Pickerill, H P. (1950). "Immediate Orthodontics". The New Zealand Dental Journal 46 (225): 126–30.

Pickerill, H P. (1951). "Ombredanne’s Syndrome, Hyperpyrexia Pallida or Paleur Hyperthermie". The New Zealand Medical Journal 50 (275): 51–55.

Pickerill, H P. (1951). "On the Possibility of Establishing Skin Banks". British Journal of Plastic Surgery 4 (3): 157–65.

Pickerill, H P. (1951). "Sebaceoma Nasi, Adenoma Sebaceum (Rhinophyma).” The New Zealand Medical Journal50 (279): 502–3.

Pickerill, H P. (1952). "Hyperpyrexia Pallida and Its Prevention". The Australian and New Zealand Journal of Surgery 21 (4): 261–68. .

Pickerill, H P. (1954). "The Queen’s Hospital, Sidcup". British Journal of Plastic Surgery 6 (4): 247–49.

Pickerill, H P. (1954). "Restoration of Palatal and Lip Defects". The Australian and New Zealand Journal of Surgery 24 (2): 144–46. .

Pickerill, H.P. and C. Pickerill (1954). Speech training for cleft palate patients. Christchurch: Whitcombe and Tombs. 2nd ed. OCLC 220813251

Pickerill, C.M. and Pickerill, H. P. (1954). "Nursing by the mother and cross-infection". Lancet 267 (6838): 599–600. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(54)90382-7

Pickerill, C.M. and Pickerill, H. P. (1954). "Elimination of hospital cross-infection in children: nursing by the mother". Lancet, 266 (6809): 425–429. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(54)91137-x