Whitehead Clock Tower

Walter Whitehead, FRCSE, FRSE (1840-1913) was a surgeon at various hospitals in Manchester and was president of the British Medical Association in 1902.

Whitehead was born to a family with a long-standing interest in textile manufacture in Bury. His interest in medicine was piqued when he attended lectures intended to improve his knowledge of the chemical processes of bleaching cloth. He enrolled at the Manchester Royal School of Medicine without telling his parents and thus embarked on his medical career. He began as a general practitioner and gained experience caring for workhouse inmates, returning to Manchester in 1867 to begin his career as a surgeon.

Widely respected for his simple, bold and direct operating technique, Whitehead said that "the greatest drawback under which a surgeon can suffer is knowledge of anatomy - it makes him timid". His methods did not use antiseptic but instead relied on soap and water, as was common at the time.

The clock tower to commemorate Whitehead was erected in Bury 1914 when he was described as a "Lancastrian among surgeons". It was designated a Grade II listed building in 1985.

Quote for today:
CLOCK, n. A machine of great moral value to man, allaying this concern for the future by reminding him what a lot of time remains to him.
- Ambrose Bierce