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Frognal Hampstead, NW3
FROGNAL
HAMPSTEAD, NW3
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Located in a prominent Hampstead position, a unique home refurbished to exacting standards; the former London home of pioneering plastic surgeon Sir Harold Gillies
71 Frognal, a grand Victorian residence, is located in the heart of Hampstead and set in exquisite gardens.
Dating from the early 1800s, 71 Frognal was the home of leading surgeon and gender re-assignment pioneer Sir Harold Delf Gillies (1882-1960), referred to by many as the ‘father of plastic surgery’.
Gillies, born in Dunedin, New Zealand, trained at Cambridge University and in 1914 joined the Royal Army Medical Corps. It was during World War I that he pioneered many surgical techniques, particularly relating to facial reconstruction. Along with colleagues he established the field of what would become known as ‘plastic surgery’, performing more than 11,000 operations on over 5,000 men.
Knighted in 1930 following World War I, Gillies pursued private practice, consulting with the Ministry of Health in World War II. Organising plastic surgery units and training other doctors and surgeons, Gillies went on to develop ‘flap surgery’; a revolutionary method of surgery where a flap of skin is taken from one area of the body to then aid healing in another. As part of this process Gillies also discovered that these ‘flaps’ of skin could be rolled into tubes, further assisting reconstructive surgery. This revolutionary development led Gillies to explore further reconstructive surgeries and the subject of gender reassignment.
The first gender reassignment surgeries in Great Britain were performed by Gillies. From 19421946 a series of procedures were performed on Laura Dillon, to become Michael Dillon, who went on to qualify as a doctor. This was the first female to male operation anywhere in the world. Gillies also performed the first UK male to female operation in 1951 on Robert Marshal Cowell. Both surgeries resulted in Gillies having to appear before the General Medical Council. While he is not thought to have performed any other reassignment surgeries, he continued to practice general surgery until shortly before his death. A Blue Plaque, denoting that Sir Howard Gillies lived there can be seen at the property.
