Keith Waldegrave Monsarrat

K W Monsarrat, a Liverpool surgeon, who was instrumental in joining Liverpool Hospitals to the University, went on to become Dean of the Faculty of Medicine. A lifelong classic scholar, he achieved fame outside medicine as a writer, particularly of philosophy and poetry.

Keith Monsarrat was born in Kendal where his father was the vicar. He was educated at King William’s College in the Isle of Man, going on to Edinburgh University where he graduated MBChB in 1894. After taking the Fellowship of the College in 1897, he set up surgical practice in Liverpool. He was appointed Assistant Surgeon to the Cancer Hospital and the Liverpool Children’s Infirmary. In 1902 he became Honorary Surgeon to the David Lewis Northern Hospital and remained closely associated with this hospital until his retiral. His appointment coincided with the great expansion in surgery brought about by the introduction of antisepsis and anaesthesia. As a surgeon, he was regarded as a perfectionist for whom attention to detail was important and his reputation as a surgeon soon brought him to a dominant position in Liverpool surgery. He was one of a small group of clinicians who wanted to establish a closer relationship between the University and the Liverpool Hospitals and his efforts culminated with the establishment of the United Clinical School. His association with the University continued with his appointment as Dean of the Faculty of Medicine in 1908. With the outbreak of the First World War, he was posted to Salonika in charge of the surgical division of the 37th General Hospital and was awarded the Serbian Order of St Saba and later the Territorial Decoration.

After the war, he returned to surgical practice and academic work. A member of the Liverpool Institution since his earliest days in that city, he became its President in 1930.

After retiring in 1932, he began to write and publish philosophy. The outbreak of the Second World War saw his recall to Liverpool where he was given charge of organising the emergency medical service. After the war, he continued to devote himself to writing. His son, Nicholas Monsarrat, was also to find fame as a writer with the best selling novel “The Cruel Sea”.