Sir Peter Freyer (1851-1921)

Peter Johnson Freyer was born on the 2 ^nd of July, 1851 in Ballinakill, Co. Galway. He was the eldest son of Samuel Freyer, a small land owner of Sellerna, near Cleggan, and his wife Celia Burke.

Peter Freyer went to the Erasmus Smith School in Galway and won a scholarship to attend Queen’s College, Galway. He had a distinguished academic career at the College, obtaining a first class honours degree in Arts and winning the gold medal in 1872. He then studied medicine for two years, including a period as resident pupil at Dr. Stevens' Hospital in Dublin. He won another gold medal when he was conferred in 1874.

Freyer spent a brief time working in Paris. On his return he came first in the competitive examination for commission as medical officer in the Indian Medical Service. He filled the post of acting civil surgeon at Azamgarh in April 1877 and from 1878 he began to publish articles in the Indian Medial Journal.

While based at Moradabad, in the North West Province of India, Freyer attended to one of the native Princes, the Nawab of Rampur, who was suffering from paralysis. In gratitude for his services the Nawab gave Freyer 100,000 rupees (equivalent of £10,000). His acceptance of this gift brought Freyer into conflict with the British administrative authority in India and a ban was put on his future promotion. This issue was sorted out in 1894 and Freyer, by now a lieutenant colonel, retired from the Indian Medical Service in 1896.

On his return to London, Freyer established a private practice at 46, Harley Street, Cavendish Square and in 1896 was appointed to the staff of St. Peter’s Hospital for Stone. He was appointed Examiner in Surgery at the University of Durham in 1902.

From 1904-1909 Freyer was a member of the honorary medical staff of the King Edward VII Hospital for Officers. In 1909 he became consulting surgeon at the Queen Alexander Hospital, Millbank, London, the primary Army postgraduate training hospital.

In London Freyer rapidly established a reputation as a surgeon specializing in the treatment of urinary problems. In particular he became renowned for his treatment of stone in the bladder or kidney by the operative procedures known as lithotomy and litholapaxy and for his treatment of an enlarged prostate by a suprapubic operation known as total enucleation of the prostate.

He first performed a total extirpation of the prostate in December 1900 and soon afterwards he began to write about his successful cases. This led to some controversy with colleagues but Freyer is today accredited world wide for pioneering the operation now known as a prostatectomy

In 1904 Freyer was awarded the Arnott Memorial medal in recognition of his contribution to surgery. He rejoined the medical service of the British Army during World War I, acting as consulting surgeon to the Indian soldiers in various hospitals under the control of the Brighton Military Hospital.

On the evacuation of the Indian troops he became consulting surgeon to the military hospitals in the Brighton area and subsequently for all of Sussex, part of the Eastern Command.

He was awarded the Honor of Commander of the Bath in 1917 and six months later became a Knight Commander of the Bath. In October 1919 the National University of Ireland conferred him with an Honorary Doctorate of Law.

Sir Peter Freyer married Isabella McVittie from Dublin. They had one son - Dermot Johnson and one daughter - Kathleen Mary. Isabelle died in 1914. Sir Peter Freyer died in 1921. Dermot Freyer had three sons Michael, Grattan and Patrick. Kathleen had two children. Grandson Michael died in 2002. Grandson Patrick is living in Ireland.

Freyer Publications

Litholapaxy, 1885, with enlarged edition in 1886 and 1896
Stone of the Bladder, 1900
Stricture of the Urethra and Enlargement of the Prostate, 1901 3 ^rd Ed. 1906
Surgical Disease of the Urinary Organs, 1908
Articles on Disease of the Prostate and Vesicle Calculus in Burghard's Operative Surgery, Vol. III, 1907

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