Herbert Ritchie Spencer

Herbert Ritchie Spencer (16 January 1860 – 28 August 1941) was professor of obstetrics at University College London.

Spencer wrote numerous articles and books on gynaecological and obstetric topics, as well as on the history of midwifery and the English anatomist and physiologist William Harvey. In 1901, he published an article on breech birth, where he discussed its dangers and encouraged antenatal screening by examining the abdomen for difficult foetal positions, and advised on its management with particular reference to the external cephalic version.

He was active amongst various medical societies and was president of the Obstetric and Gynaecology section of the British Medical Association (BMA), president of the Obstetrical Society of London, president of the Obstetrics and Gynaecology section at the Royal Society of Medicine (RSM), and later president of the History of Medicine Society of the RSM. In addition, he was an examiner for both the Royal College of Physicians and the Royal College of Surgeons and the universities of Oxford, Cambridge, and London.

Early life Herbert Spencer was born on 16 January 1860, in Atherstone, Warwickshire; one of at least two children of Henry Spencer, a railway contractor. Spencer was named after his uncle, the philosopher and political theorist Herbert Spencer.

He attended Atherstone Grammar School and in 1879, gained admission to medicine at University College London, achieving the LSA and MRCS in 1883. He received honours in the MBBS finals in 1884 and his MD in 1886.

The procedure of external cephalic version (ECV) had previously been described by François Mauriceau in the 17th century as “a little more difficult than turning an omelette in a frying pan”, He assembled an important collection of early writings on obstetrics. at Flat 4f, 73 Bickenhall Mansions, Marylebone Road, London. He left an estate of £46,355.

Selected publications Books Tumours Complicating Pregnancy, Labour, and the Puerperium: Being the Lettsomian Lectures &c. Harrison & Sons, London, 1920. Caesarean Section. 1925. The History of British Midwifery from 1650 to 1800. Bale & Danielsson, London, 1927. (Fitzpatrick Lectures)

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