Frederick Tyrrell

Frederick Tyrrell was an apprentice under his uncle Astley Paston Cooper (1768-1841) 1811-1812. In 1819 he went for one year to Edinburgh for further studies. In 1820 he became an assistant surgeon in the London Infirmary for Diseases of the Eye, and in 1822 surgeon in St. Thomas’s Hospital. From 1825 he taught anatomy and surgery at the Aldersgate School, later at St. Thomas and the Royal College of Surgeons. He died suddenly in 1843, aged only 43 years.
Tyrrell was a member of the College of Surgeons 1816, of its Council 1838.

Report from St. Thomas’s Hospital, printed in The Lancet, December 14, 1823: “Operations: The operation for artificial pupil was performed here on Wednesday (Dec. 10th) by Mr. Tyrrell. The cornea was divided by means of a knife, and the requisite portion of iris removed by a small curved scissors.”

Lancet, October 16th, 1824: We have received a number of communications on the subject of the recent exploit of the consistent and conscientious person who unites the characters of a champion of “Hole and Corner” Surgery, and a humble transcriber of the pages of The Lancet. We insert the following letter with a view of enabling Mr. Tyrrell to judge of the feeling which his exploit has excited among those who are possessed of the volumes of The Lancet, and who have been ensnared into paying half a guinea for the twelve Lectures which the real Simon Pure has nearly transcribed from our pages, not only without acknowledgement, but under the false pretence that his is the only correct and authentic copy. One word as to the observation of our correspondent respecting copyright. We know that we could expose the real Simon Pure in a court of justice; but we have already declared that we think Sir A. Cooper’s invaluable Lectures cannot be to extensively diffused., and if Benbow, ashamed by being eclipsed by Mr. Tyrrell, were to imitate his example to-morrow, he may do so, as far as any legal interference on our part is concerned, with impunity. Unblushing is that individual’s invasions of literary property have been, we do not think that even Benbow, if he were to pirate our reports, would have the meanness to conceal the source from which he derived them, and the effronetry to represent himself as the author of them. A press of mater obliges us to postpone our dissection of the real Simon Pure until next week.

• The Lectures of Sir Astley Cooper on the principles and practice of surgery, with additional notes and cases by Frederick Tyrrell.
  London, Thomas & George Underwood, 1824-1827.
• The lectures of Sir Astley Cooper on the principles and practice of surgery, with additional notes and cases by Frederick Tyrrell.
  3 volumes. Philadelphia : A. Sherman, 1826.
• Clinical lectures at St. Thomas’s Hospital.
  The Lancet, London, June 19, 1824, I: 379-382.
  The Lancet, July 10, 1824, II: 56-60 – July 17: 84-90 – July 24: 112-120 – July 31: 145-151 – August 7: 172-181 – August 21: 245-250 – August 28: 279-284 – September 4: 310-315 – September 11: 340-347 – September 18: 377-379 – September 25: 404-408.
• Operation of removing the arch and spinous process of the twelfth dorsal vertebra. The Lancet, London, 1927.
• An introductory lecture on anatomy. Delivered at the New Medical School, Aldersgate-Street, October 23, 1826. London, 1827.
• Syllabus on a course of lectures on the principles and practice of surgery.
  London, 1833.
• Observations on the catarrhal and catarrho-rheumatic ophthalmia.
  Medical Quertely Review, London, 1834.
• Amaurosis.
  In: William B. Costello, The Cyclopaedia of Practical Surgery, 1837.
• The lectures of Sir Astley Cooper on the principles and practice of surgery, with additional notes and cases by Frederick Tyrrell.
  Fifth American, from the last London edition. Complete in one volume.
  Philadelphia : Haswell, Barrington, and Haswell ; New-Orleans : Alexander Towar, 1839. 580 pages.
• A practical work on the diseases of the eye, and their treatment, medically, topically, and by operation.
  2 volumes. London : Metcalf for John Churchill, 1840. 2 volumes, 533 + 566 pages.
  A peculiar feature of this work is the almost total absence of any reference to the work of others. Saunders (326) and Farre (ibid.) receive passing notice, but the work of the author's immediate predecessors at the Eye Infirmary, Travers (379) and Lawrence (231.1-233.1), goes completely unrecognized. This absence of historical material provided the focus for the criticisms of the work which appeared in the London Medical Gazette [27:245-248 (1840)] and The Lancet [2:449-457 (1839-1840)]. The Lancet reviewer concluded, "Had we, ourselves, proceeded on the principle pursued by Mr. Tyrrell, we should not have reviewed his writings at all."