Samuel Lee Rymer

The purchase of a small collection of ephemera (Appendix 1) led me to do some preliminary research on Samuel Lee Rymer, dentist and one time Mayor of Croydon. As a young dentist, Rymer called for the reform of the dental profession, which resulted in the setting up of the College of Dentists of England (later to merge with The Odontological Society of London).

His life
Samuel was born in Plymouth on 5 May 1832, the son of John Rymer, a physician who had practised in Brittany. When Samuel was ten years old, the family returned to England and lived at Weston-super-Mare, moving to Cheltenham on John Rymer’s death two years later. When the time came for Samuel to start a career, he decided on dentistry and in 1848 was articled to William Perkins in Portman Square, London. After four years, Samuel began to practice in North End, Croydon and he was to remain in Croydon for the rest of his life. On 18 November 1856 he married Elizabeth Gresham Hopkins, a descendant of Sir Thomas Gresham, at Christ Church. They had a large family, probably of ten children, seven of whom were still living when Samuel died in 1909.

The Rymers’ initial Croydon residence was 41 London Road but later they were in number 60. By 1882 they had moved to 7 Wellesley Road (“Pevensey”), later to be renumbered as number 14. This well-sited house survived until the redevelopment schemes after the Second World War.

Professional career
Samuel Rymer began as a dentist in Croydon at 52 North End (between Handcross Alley and the “Railway Bell” inn), but by 1865 his practice was at 60 London Road (later 60 North End) near Poplar Walk, where he also lived. By 1869 he had entered into partnership with Joseph Steele at 10/11 George Street, at the corner of Park Lane and George Street. When Steele retired, he was joined by Morgan Hughes at 4 Wellesley Villas (10 Wellesley Road), near Walpole Road (subsequently 20 Wellesley Road). By 1892, they were at “Eastbridge”, 10 Addiscombe Road, where Hughes continued on his own after Rymer’s retirement.

Rymer had not been in practice long when he realised that there was an obvious need for a professional approach to dentistry, which at that time was subject to sharp practice and even incompetence of some dentists. In 1842 an attempt had been made by James Robinson, a London dentist, to form a dental society but his suggestion had received little support and he had to abandon the idea. Rymer was not prepared to leave things as they were and decided to take matters into his own hands. Although he knew full well that a major difficulty was that “respectable” dentists had no wish to have anything to do with less competent ones and that no one could decide where to draw a line between the two groups, he wrote a letter to The Lancet, this was published in the issue of 25 August 1855 (Appendix 2).

Having made his call for reform of the profession Rymer followed up the letter by convening the first public meeting of members of the dental profession in England on Monday, 22 September 1856 at the “London Tavern”, Bishopsgate Street, London. Some 200 people attended and the meeting was presided over by Alfred Carpenter, M.B.. There was a wide diversity of opinion, for some members supported Rymer’s idea for a proper scheme to be started by the Royal College of Surgeons, whilst others advocated a new Chartered College of Dentists. Mainly due to Rymer’s influence, a compromise was agreed – the profession would best flourish on an independent basis. Resolutions in favour of the setting up of a Society of Dentists and a College of Dentistry were carried unanimously. To speed things forward, a committee of twenty-five people was appointed and other meetings followed rapidly, so that on 16 December 1856 the College of Dentists of England was founded. By his energy and action, Rymer had created a system out of the existing chaos and in a remarkably short time.

The next year the College started a comprehensive course of lectures on medicine, surgery and dentistry, the intention being that this should be to dentistry what the Royal College of Surgeons was to surgery. By 1859 the Metropolitan School of Dental Science was created and two years later, the National Dental Hospital.

Ironically, Rymer's letter to The Lancet and his enthusiasm had roused another section of the profession to support reform. For various reasons this group had more influence and set up The Odontological Society of London; as a result there were two societies aimed at raising standards. Minor rivalry arose between them but this was resolved when, in 1858, the Odontological Society succeeded in adding an amendment to the Medical Act of that year, which empowered the Royal College of Surgeons of England to examine and issue diplomas for dentistry. Negotiations ultimately led to the amalgamation of the two societies in 1863.

Rymer continued his support of the profession and also wrote papers and books on dentistry – for example, in Warren’s 1869 Croydon directory there is an advertisement for his new publication Remarks Upon The Use Of Nitrous Oxide In Dental Operations. He became a member of the Dental Reform Committee which promoted the Dentists’ Act of 1878 – following this the British Dental Association was formed, of which Rymer was a founding member and President in 1889.

Local matters
In 1859 Rymer attempted, albeit unsuccessfully, to gain election to the Local Board of Health; in 1870 he succeeded and remained on it until it was superseded by the Corporation in 1883 when he was elected for the Central Ward. At the first meeting of the new body he was made an Alderman and retained this office for the rest of his life. In 1893 Rymer was elected Mayor and Chief Magistrate and his year of office was singularly successful: the Croydon General Hospital was extended, part of the old rookery was closed under the Croydon Corporation Act of 1890, and the widening of the High Street continued. Rymer was also one of the original Justices of the Peace for the Borough, and took part in or actively supported many local organisations such as the Literary & Scientific Institution. He was a governor of the Whitgift Foundation and Chairman from 1892; he founded and organised the dental department of Croydon General Hospital, becoming a life governor and then Vice-President; was a founder of the Croydon Guardian newspaper and was the oldest seat-holder at Christ Church.

Rymer died from pneumonia at his home, “Pevensey”, on Sunday, 7 March 1909. After the funeral service at Christ Church, he was buried at Queen's Road Cemetery on 11 March in the same grave as his wife, who had predeceased him in 1889. Tributes were many, not only in the local press but also in the professional journals such as The Dental Record and the British Dental Journal.

Ken Harman

Acknowledgements
I thank the British Dental Association Information Centre, the Croydon Local Studies Library and the Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine for valuable assistance and the use of their facilities.

Appendix 1 ~ Appendix 2 ~ Sources