THE DUCHESS OF CAMBRIDGE’S ANCESTOR WOULD HAVE LED THE FIGHT AGAINST COVID-19
The Duchess of Cambridge’s ancestor was the “Chris Whitty” of his day, who led the research effort into the cholera epidemic of the mid 19th century, it has emerged.
Dr Thomas Michael Greenhow, Kate’s paternal great-great-greatgrandfather, was famous for his lectures and publications into the causes of the worldwide disease, known as the “Victorian Plague”.
Based in Tynemouth near Newcastle, Dr Greenhow, his nephew, Dr EH Greenhow and Dr John Snow were founding members of the Royal Society of Medicine’s Epidemiological Society in the 1850s, where emergency talks were held regarding the cholera pandemic.
Dr Snow was Dr Greenhow’s former surgery apprentice and Queen Victoria’s personal anaesthetist, famously giving the monarch chloroform during the birth of her eighth child.
The dedicated research of Kate’s ancestor and his team saw the London cholera epidemic end in 1854, after water contamination was identified as a major cause. However, the cholera pandemic continued throughout much of the world and today its cause still remains unclear.
Melbourne-based historian Michael Reed, who has researched Dr Greenhow, said: “Kate’s ancestor died a very wealthy man in 1881 at Potternewton Hall estate, near Leeds, where his greatgranddaughter, Olive Middleton, who was a nurse, was born.”
Olive Middleton was photographed in 1915 working as a Voluntary Aid Detachment nurse during the First World War. Little did she know that her grandson, Michael Middleton, would have a daughter who will one day be queen.