TOPIC:

David, many thanks for emailing the information you have found for Dresser EAMES.
Cheers Steve

Hi
The Welsh Hospital picture shows gentleman next to a replica Cromlech found in North Wales , holy burial chamber used by Druids 2,000 years ago absolutely fascinating picture and the whole article is marvelloys

Rhodri - well spotted as I cropped the description off the photo in question:



You will also like this one:

Yes it is resting place , but in 1900 they used ph as an equivalent to ff - same sound

Smethwick wrote:

Only the front seated row are named beneath the photo as follows (for the men I have included their function based on the June 1901 medal roll): Sister Bulkley Williams, Sister Lewis, Mr Laming Evans (Asst Surgeon), Dr Lynn Thomas (Surgeon), Lieut Col Keogh RAMC (he signed off the medal roll and must have taken over at some stage from Major Bockerill), Matron Marion Lloyd, Prof A W Hughes (Civil Administrator), Dr Mills Roberts (Surgeon), Sister Jones, Sister Martins. The discomfiture at having one’s photograph taken in 1901 is noticeable. The wearing of military uniforms by civilians I find strange.

On his return to England in November 1900, Dr Robert Herbert Mills-Roberts, F.R.C.S., was presented with a large silver cigar box and address.

The cigar box was engraved: "PRESENTED / TOGETHER WITH AN ADDRESS / TO / R.H. Mills-Roberts, Esq., F.R.C.S. / BY THE INHABITANTS OF / LLANBERIS / IN RECOGNITION OF SERVICES / HE RENDERED AT / THE WELSH HOSPITAL. / SOUTH AFRICAN WAR. / 1900".

With Birmingham hallmarks for 1900, and maker's initials "A& [over] JZ" into a shield (for Arthur & John Zimmerman).

The presentation was made on 19 Nov 1900, in the Llanberis Concert Hall.













The Llanberis Concert Hall was crowded to its utmost limits on Monday evening, on the occasion of a public presentation to Dr R. Mills Roberts, on his return from South Africa, whether he had gone as a member of the staff of the Welsh Hospital. At the outset, a vote of condolence was passed with Mrs and Miss Rowlands, in the great loss they had sustained by the death of a dear son and brother (Private J. Rowlands, of Brabant's Horse). This was moved by the Rev J.J. Davies, and seconded by Mr G.H. Beal.

The chair was occupied by Mr R. Hughes, who was supported on the platform by the leading inhabitants of Llanberis. Having explained the objects of the meeting, the Chairman stated that he was sorry that Mr Assheton-Smith had found it impossible for him to be present. He pointed out that Dr Mills Roberts at very short notice had gone out to the Transvaal, to do his duty to his fellow-Welshmen, and they were all proud of him and glad to see that he had returned safely. He had been enabled to go out by the kind permission of Mr Assheton-Smith.

Miss Morris having given an overture on the piano, a song was rendered by Mr J. Peris Jones. Then formal welcome was extended to Dr Mills Roberts, by the Rev E.B. Thomas, who said that the people of Llanberis were proud, to welcome him back, and that they gave expression to their feelings by subscribing handsomely to the testimonial he was to receive that evening.

The Rev G. Tecwyn Parry next addressed the guest of the evening, in verse and further welcome was extended to him by the Revs J. Evans Owen. and Mr R. Jones, Victoria Villa.

Then came the presentation, which consisted of an illuminated album address, prepared by Mr J. Vaughan, of Carnarvon, enclosed in a beautiful solid silver casket, with the inscription "Presented, together with an address, to R.H. Mills Roberts. Esq., F.R.C.S., by the inhabitants of Llanberis, in recognition of the services he rendered at the Welsh Hospital (South Africa War), 1900".

The address, which contained 400 signatures or more, was read in English by Mr G.H. Beal, and was as follows: –

Dear sir,

We, the undersigned, as representing the inhabitants of Llanberis, take the present opportunity of welcoming you back once more among us, and of showing our appreciation of the proved courage, valour and patriotism you have shown in leaving your country for the front, to render aid to the sick, and to alleviate the suffering of the wounded in the service of their Queen and country.

We observed the noble zeal and self-sacrifice which impelled you to offer your services to the Welsh Hospital, and it was with the liveliest interest and deepest concern, we watched your progress in the never-to-be-forgotten and most terrible of modern wars, and the ready succour which you have extended to the dying and the wounded under your care, and we may state that we are proud of the honour of being your fellow-countrymen, and of the still more important fact, because more nearly akin to us, that you are the head of the Dinorwic Hospital; you are our earnest lecturer in ambulance work, medical adviser and friend of a wide portion of the community, and captain of the local corps of volunteers.

By your readiness, and that of your confreres to go to South Africa, you have helped to demonstrate to the world the truth — the tangible truth — that there is something more than mere name — more than mere show in the grand volunteer movement of Great Britain — that there was and is a readiness, a courage, a brave spirit pulsating in every heart to fight and even to die for their country, where necessity calls them forth to duty, and furthermore such willingness has attracted the attention of the wondering and admiring eyes of Europe, and the world to the self-sacrifice of the sons of Britain.

We were not in want of proof of your skill of your generosity and your deep sympathy for suffering humanity, for these unequalled qualities were evident before you left your native shores, but your absence in South Africa served to corroborate and confirm us in the high esteem in which have always held you.

The great service which you have there rendered, and the sad experience which you went through, heighten and deepen such esteem, and endear you more to our hearts.

It is also with heartfelt and sincere feelings we view the recognition by General Wilson, of the Army Medical Corps, of the grand service you and your fellow-professionals have rendered in connection with the Field Hospital.

From, our innermost hearts, we wish you a lifelong prosperity, and a happy, useful career among us to enjoy the same.

Signed on behalf of the said inhabitants of Llanberis: – Chairman, R. Hughes, Dolperis; treasurer, G.H. Beal; secretaries E.F. Evans and D.W. Thomas, October, 1900.


Mr R.E. Jones read the address in Welsh, and the chairman formally presented it to Dr Mills Roberts, amid loud and prolonged cheering.

Dr Mills Roberts, in responding, spoke at length. He first of all expressed his deep thanks to the people of Llanberis, and said that this would be another bond of union between them and him. He felt deeply grateful for this show of good feeling, and assured them that he fully appreciated it. He then went on to relate how the Welsh Hospital had been started, and paid a high tribute to those who so readily gave their services to establish the hospital, and those who had taken so deep an interest in it. Having described in detail how the staff had been picked and how the little party had left Southampton, and stood the voyage out, he stated that on arrival at Cape Town they placed themselves at the disposal of the surgeon general until the hospital was ready. Almost immediately they had instructions to proceed to the front, and three weeks afterwards they were told that the hospital was ready, and they returned to Springfontein. Dr Mills Roberts graphically described the state of affairs, and how difficult it was to cope with them. The staff were down with enteric, and hundreds of patients also, and, of course, people knew of losses sustained by the little Welsh Hospital by the death of the members of the staff. In dealing with this matter he referred to the charges brought against the medical departments by Mr Burdett-Coutts, who had gone to Bloemfontein, and found things to be in a very serious state, and so they were from the sick man's point of view. There was hospital accommodation at No. 9 for 500, but they had 1,700 patients. Then Mr Burdett-Coutts did a very foolish thing. He wrote home and created a good deal of unnecessary anxiety. Assuming that his arguments were correct, it was extremely unkind on his part to expose them as he did, instead of reporting to Lord Roberts. If he had done so and had failed to get satisfaction from Lord Roberts, he should have exposed the whole thing there and then in Cape Town, instead of writing letters to the English newspapers (hear, hear). It was extremely unkind of him to act as he did, and cause people at home to think that their brothers and sons were dying from fever, and that no provision whatever was being done for them. What could they expect should be done at Bloemfontein when Lord Roberts swooped down upon the place with 40,000 men with only two days' rations, and that 760 miles from the base. He had been told that up to now a military hospital of 530 beds had not been put up before, and the Army Medical Department had only been prepared to supply 50,000 troops, whereas they were called upon to supply 250,000. That could not be done on a day's notice. Proceeding, Dr Mills Roberts described the march to Pretoria, and said that the accommodation of the hospital was there increased to 150 beds, and subsequently to 200. They were still under the control of the Army Medical Department, and here Col. Keogh was put in charge over them. To him they had to thank for the success they attained, so well did he manage their affairs that the inspecting officer said that so far as he had seen, this was out and out the smartest hospital in South Africa. They had been there for six months, and as some of them could not afford time to remain longer they approached the authorities, who told them they could go home. They agreed to leave the hospital behind them, but on condition that its name should be changed to that of the Welsh Convalescent Hospital. On the way home he went through Natal and visited Majuba, Colenso, Spion Kop, and other places noted in the Natal campaign. They afterwards went to Magersfontein and joined the late Professor Hughes at Beaufort West. Then he appeared to be quite well, he was quite well leaving Cape Town, but on the third day out he got ill, and, as they knew, he died after he reached home. He desired before he concluded to say a few words relative to what he had heard when in South Africa. In East London, he met a Mr Griffith, a Welshman, hailing from near Swansea. He was the president of the Chamber of Commerce, and a man of great influence, and of good position. He told him that he had come to the country many years ago, a very great radical, a republican. He came out because he thought the old country was becoming too full, but he and some of the leading colonists were so disgusted by the lack of interest shown in them by successive British Governments that they made up their minds to form an independent republic on the same basis as the United States of America. Things were in this bad state before Majuba Hill, but after that, the Boers and the Dutch had such an absolutely supreme contempt of everything British and English that, seeing it would be impossible to form a Republic, the Colonists became intensely Imperialist, and they had to thank the accident of Majuba Hill for saving South Africa to the English. Had that not happened a republic would undoubtedly have been formed; for protection had been refused to them over and over again. The British Colonists, however, came to see that they could not live with the Boers in the same relations after that, and they became Imperialists. In Bloemfontein, he (Dr Mills Roberts) met General Grobelaar. He was a fine man, a grand character, and a scholar. He had filled a position in the Orange Free State Parliament, similar to the Chairman of Committees in the British Parliament. He told him that from the first he had been against the war, and had spoken strongly and voted against the alliance between the Transvaal and the Orange Free State. He could see that they had no quarrel with Great Britain, and the country in which he lived was not worth anything to Britain, but he had been outvoted in Parliament, and when the war broke out, he loyally joined the commandoes and fought, finally laying down his arms. It was he who defeated General Gatacre, and he said that had his instructions been caried out, not one of the Gatacre's force would have returned. They would all have been taken prisoners. But his instructions at that time had not been carried out. He stated further that the German advisers of the Boers had assured them that Britain could not place more than 60,000 men on the field, or at a pinch 80,000. It was that advice which really decided the issue, for the Boers felt confident that they could beat an army of that size. Grobelaar, however, added that the leaders of public opinion such as Mr Labouchere, and Mr Stead, in England were against the war. He (Dr Mills Roberts) speedily convinced him that though these gentlemen were very clever, they were by no means the leaders of public opinion in Britain. If a man like Grobelaar had fallen into such an error he did not wonder that some poor ignorant Boers were under the impression that there was a great division of opinion in this country on the war question. Another man, a Scotchman, had told him that the Jameson Raid had been intended, not to take possession of the Transvaal, but to create such a big street row in Johannesburg as to cause the British Empire and the Transvaal to give attention to the grievances of the Outlanders and interfere.

Further songs were rendered by Mr E.F. Evans, and Mr Cefni Jones, and the meeting was brought to an end with the singing of "Hen Wlad fy Nhadau" and ''God Save the Queen".

It should be stated that great praise is due to the officials of the committee, and especially to the chairman, Mr Hughes the secretary, Mr E.F. Evans; and the treasurer, Mr Beal, for the success which has followed their efforts in giving Dr Mills Roberts such a hearty welcome home.











A well-known figure passes from the medical and public life of North Wales by the death of Dr Robert Herbert Mills-Roberts, which occurred at Bournemouth, in his seventy-fourth year, on November 27th after a long illness.

Dr Mills-Roberts was born at Ffestiniog in 1862, the eldest son of Robert Robert, J.P., of Plas Meini, formerly manager of the Oakeley quarries. His early education was obtained at Friars School, Bangor, and Aberystwyth College, from where he proceeded to St. Thomas's Hospital and took the diplomas of M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P. in 1887, and afterwards the F.R.C.S.Ed. in 1893. After serving as house-surgeon to the Stroud Hospital and Birmingham General Hospital he practised at Llanberis, where he was also surgeon to the Dinorwic quarries from 1889 to 1914, when he left for active service.

During the period of his practice at Llanberis he became recognized as a very capable surgeon, and did most of his own major surgery at the Dinorwic Quarry Hospital. He acquired there also much proficiency in head surgery, and in his address as president of the North Wales Branch of the British Medical Association in 1926 he took this as the theme of his discourse, and quoted and demonstrated a large number of cases. His main interest was always surgery, and on it he wrote many articles to the medical journals from time to time. He was associated with the Territorial Army movement from its inception, and held the Officers' Decoration. During the South African War he was a surgeon on the staff of the Welch Hospital, with the rank of major, R.A.M.C., and for his services was created a C.M.G., mentioned in dispatches, and received the two medals with three clasps. At the outbreak of the great war he was second in command of the 6th Battalion of the Royal Welch Fusiliers, but he was transferred to the R.A.M.C., and as lieutenant-colonel commanded the 131st Field Ambulance from 1915 to 1918 and the 41st Stationary Hospital from 1918 to 1919; for his services in France he was again mentioned in dispatches. After his demobilization he was appointed Deputy Commissioner of Medical Services under the Ministry of Pensions, and served in this capacity in North Wales and Shropshire from 1919 to 1924.

During his student days and early qualified career his attainments on the Association football field were momentous. His hobbies were all outdoor, and up to quite recent years he was an unusually fine shot. A good judge of a horse, he rode frequently, and when driving often used a tandem in the days before motor cars.

His manner (writes a colleague) was quiet and unassuming, and his retiring nature seldom brought him to the limelight, yet for all that he had a sterling aptitude for making fast friends, and of this generation many still live to mourn the loss of that friendship. To him duty was a sacred trust, and never did the dictates of his conscience fail to reveal it to him. He was a bachelor, and is survived by his only sister. His remains were cremated on November 29th, before removal to his home at Plas Meini.



...

As you can see from Neville's post, the BMJ Obit for Dr Mills-Roberts states "During his student days and early qualified career his attainments on the Association football field were momentous."

As a footballer rather than a medic he has a Wikipedia page which tells us:

As a student he played both association football and rugby football, but he eventually emerged as a first rate goalkeeper while studying at St Thomas's Hospital, London. He made the first of his eight appearances for Wales in 1885, and in 1887 was invited to play as an amateur for Preston North End in their FA Cup ties. He was a member of the Preston sides which were FA Cup Finalists in 1888 and FA Cup Winners in 1889. Their victory in the Cup in the 1888–89 season was achieved without conceding a single goal throughout, which was attributed to his goalkeeping skills. He also played for Barnes, Casuals, and Birmingham St George's. He retired in 1890, but was persuaded to make a last appearance for Wales in 1892.



Preston North End won 3-0.

I think this 1889 sketch of him was part of a larger team "photograph".