The St Mark's Doctor who Became a Victorian Cycling Star
Percy Furnivall also credited with performing first ever heart operation
Percy Furnivall
April 30, 2026
St Mark’s Hospital has produced many distinguished surgeons over its long history, but few lived a life as improbable — or as energetic — as Percy Furnivall, the Victorian colorectal specialist who combined a pioneering medical career with national fame as a champion cyclist.
Furnivall, who served as surgeon to St Mark’s Hospital for Diseases of the Rectum in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, was known in medical circles for his sharp intellect, outspoken manner and early contributions to cancer research. But outside the hospital walls, he was equally renowned for something entirely different: speed.
Long before he entered the operating theatre, Furnivall was a star of Britain’s cycling boom. In the 1880s he became a champion amateur bicyclist, tricyclist and tandem rider, winning 11 prizes during a tour of the United States and holding national records at one and five miles. His 1888 book Physical Training for High-Speed Competitions set out strict rules for athletic discipline — including abstaining from alcohol, tobacco and even pickles — and urged riders to remember “that you are a sportsman and a gentleman.”
He did not however always follow his own advice. One remembered him as “a tall gaunt figure in a great fur coat, smoking an enormous cigar as he stepped out from one of the earliest of motor cars”.
Furnivall’s medical career was no less remarkable. After early posts at St Bartholomew’s Hospital, he was appointed surgeon to St Mark’s, then the leading specialist centre for colorectal disease. His work at the hospital placed him at the forefront of research into tumours of the stomach and intestine, earning him the prestigious Jacksonian Prize in 1897 and later the role of Hunterian Professor of Pathology and Surgery.
St Mark’s, now based in Park Royal as the UK’s national bowel hospital, still cites Furnivall among its notable historical figures — a surgeon whose clinical skill and academic ambition helped shape the hospital’s reputation for specialist excellence.
In 1903, while still serving at St Mark’s and the London Hospital, Furnivall performed what is now recognised as the first known case of heart surgery in Britain. He operated on John Long, a patient stabbed in the chest, repairing the knife wound directly — an extraordinary intervention at a time when heart surgery was considered impossible.
The case, rediscovered in his surgical logbook and presented publicly in 2019, has led some historians to describe him as “Britain’s first heart surgeon.”
Furnivall retired early in 1919 due to ill health and later developed throat cancer. His own treatment — involving radium and X-rays, then new and controversial — prompted him to write to the British Medical Journal describing the “prolonged hell” of the side-effects. His letter sparked a national debate between advocates of emerging radiotherapy and those who believed surgery remained safer.
He died in 1938, but the questions he raised about cancer treatment would shape medical practice for decades.
Today, Furnivall is remembered as a man of contradictions: a surgeon who pushed the boundaries of early cancer and cardiac treatment, and an athlete whose competitive spirit never quite left him.
Like Reading Articles Like This? Help Us Produce More This site remains committed to providing local community news and public interest journalism. Articles such as the one above are integral to what we do. We aim to feature as much as possible on local societies, charities based in the area, fundraising efforts by residents, community-based initiatives and even helping people find missing pets. We've always done that and won't be changing, in fact we'd like to do more. However, the readership that these stories generates is often below that needed to cover the cost of producing them. Our financial resources are limited and the local media environment is intensely competitive so there is a constraint on what we can do. We are therefore asking our readers to consider offering financial support to these efforts. Any money given will help support community and public interest news and the expansion of our coverage in this area. A suggested monthly payment is £8 but we would be grateful for any amount for instance if you think this site offers the equivalent value of a subscription to a daily printed newspaper you may wish to consider £20 per month. If neither of these amounts is suitable for you then contact info@neighbournet.com and we can set up an alternative. All payments are made through a secure web site. One-off donations are also appreciated. Choose The Amount You Wish To Contribute. If you do support us in this way we'd be interested to hear what kind of articles you would like to see more of on the site – send your suggestions to the editor. For businesses we offer the chance to be a corporate sponsor of community content on the site. For £30 plus VAT per month you will be the designated sponsor of at least one article a month with your logo appearing if supplied. If there is a specific community group or initiative you'd like to support we can make sure your sponsorship is featured on related content for a one off payment of £50 plus VAT. All payments are made through a secure web site. |