William Hancock (ophthalmologist)
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Wiveliscombe, Somerset, England
Marylebone, London, England
Frank Hancock (brother),
Edward Sweet-Escott (brother-in-law)
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | William Ilbert Hancock | ||||||||||||||
| Born | 10 April 1873 Wiveliscombe, Somerset, England | ||||||||||||||
| Died | 26 January 1910 (aged 36) Marylebone, London, England | ||||||||||||||
| Relations | Froude Hancock (brother), Frank Hancock (brother), Edward Sweet-Escott (brother-in-law) | ||||||||||||||
| Domestic team information | |||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | ||||||||||||||
| 1892 | Somerset | ||||||||||||||
| Only First-class | 2 June 1892 Somerset v Surrey | ||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | |||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
Source: CricketArchive, 6 November 2010 | |||||||||||||||
William Ilbert Hancock FRCS (10 April 1873 – 26 January 1910) was an English ophthalmologist who worked as an assistant surgeon at the Royal London Ophthalmic Hospital. He was also a sportsman who represented England in tennis.
William Ilbert Hancock was born in Wiveliscombe, Somerset as one of ten boys and three girls to William Hancock and Mary Sweet Escott.[1] Along with his brothers, he was a strong football and cricket player during his youth. He was educated at Dulwich College, and joined Guy's Hospital as a student in 1891. While at Guy's, Hancock took an active part in the establishment's sporting clubs, playing as part of the tennis team throughout his time there, and captaining the team in 1892. He also captained the rugby football team in 1893 and 1894, and was one of the hospital's prominent cricketers.[2]
Medical career
In 1896, he qualified as a surgeon, gaining the dual qualifications MRCS and LRCP He became a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons two years later in 1898. He specialised in ophthalmic work, and worked at for a time at the Royal Westminster Ophthalmic Hospital. At the time of his death, he was Assistant Surgeon for the Royal London Ophthalmic Hospital, Moorfields and Ophthalmic Surgeon for the East London Hospital for Children, and Bolingbroke Hospital. He had earlier served as Senior Assistant Surgeon and Pathologist for the Central London Ophthalmic Hospital. His obituary in the British Medical Journal describes Hancock as genial and loyal, and predicted that "had he lived, would doubtless have taken a very prominent place in the profession."[2]