Geoffrey Lapage
(1888-1971), Parasitologist and writerSitter in 1 portrait
Geoffrey Lapage graduated from Manchester University in 1911 and taught Zoology there until 1916. He served in Iraq until 1919 as a protozoologist. He returned to Manchester, teaching, until 1926 when he left to start a new Department of Zoology at Exeter University College, leaving there to take up a post at Cambridge University in 1932. He married in 1927. He published 'Parasitic Animals' in 1951. He was appointed Lecturer in Animal Pathology in 1952. He retired in 1954 and subsequently published many scientific books and papers of which the main work was 'Veterinary Parasitology' (1956). He also wrote books for children, and some volumes of verse. 'Art and the Scientist' a study of drawings by scientific men was published in 1961.
by Elliott & Fry
bromide print
NPG x90401
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John Harvey
31 January 2019, 19:11
Geoffrey Lapage, born on 5th October 1888, arrived at Ellesmere College in January 1904 when he followed in the footsteps of his elder brother, John Clement, who had left in 1902. Geoffrey only spent three terms at the college but he certainly made the most of the opportunities that this gave him. He was previously educated at Bradfield College and, on arriving at Ellesmere, he was admitted directly into the VIth Form. The School Inspectorate, in their report in 1904, stated that in Latin “Lapage’s paper was the best” and with regards to the work he submitted in French they commented “Lapage sent in a paper that was nearly faultless”. He also managed to grasp the rudiments of shorthand and was awarded a 3rd Class Pitman Certificate for his progress.
He represented the ‘Arthur’ dormitory at hockey and was immediately made a member of the college 1st XI football team. He played centre-half and was soon awarded his full Colours. In the match against Willaston School, a commentator wrote: “Lapage, as centre half, was remarkably clever. His kicking and placing being superb”. His enthusiasm for sport led to him being elected a member of the Games Committee. Geoffrey left Ellesmere at the end of the winter term in December 1904 and went on to study Medicine at Victoria University, Manchester.
He graduated from there, M.B. and Ch. B., in the spring of 1908 and was also awarded the Sidney Renshaw Exhibition in the same year. The 1911 Census records that he was a student in ‘Natural Science’ as he was turning his attention to zoology, which was to become his lifetime’s work. He attained his B.Sc. in June 1914.
During his time at university, he became very involved in the Officer Training Corps and, by the time war had been declared, he had attained the rank of Captain. An article in the Manchester Evening News, dated 10th August 1914, recorded that “200 members of the O.T.C. (from a contingent strength of 280) had already submitted their names as volunteers for service”.
When Geoffrey enlisted is not known but we do know that, having formally registered as a medical practitioner on 14th July 1916 his expertise was put to good use. The College Roll of Honour entry records that he served as a “Captain. Royal Army Medical Corps. Pathologist. No. 32 British General Hospital, Amara, Mesopotamia”. His Medal Card records that he disembarked there in August 1916 – a stark change from the climate back in Manchester!
The Mesopotamian Expeditionary Force had occupied Amara on 3rd June 1915 and immediately made it a major medical centre with the construction of seven hospitals and several smaller units on both banks of the Tigris during 1916 and 1917. For his military service Geoffrey was awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.
Geoffrey survived the war and returned to Manchester University where he was appointed a lecturer in zoology. He lived, at this time, in West Didsbury and it was at the Christ Church there that he married Enid Oldham on 6th September 1927.
As his work developed, Geoffrey became one of the most prominent of British zoologists. He was a prolific author of scientific papers and books, specializing in the study of parasites, especially those that inhabited the human body – probably because of his experience in the Middle East during the war.
In 1939, he moved to Cambridge University and from there he became involved in many research projects. In 1960, with financial support from the Nuffield Foundation, he spent a year at the Slimbridge Wildfowl Trust.
As a welcome break from his scientific work, he turned to writing children’s novels with some of his books such as “A Red Rosette’ and “A Pony Every Time” becoming ‘bestsellers’ in their day – his scientific books bore more serious titles such as “Veterinary Parasitology” and “Animals Parasitic in Man”.
Geoffrey was also a respected poet, usually writing humourous verse. He was particularly well known for one work, ‘Giraffe’:
Mr. Giraffe, you make me laugh
You seem to be made all wrong;
Your head is so high up there in the sky
And your neck is so very long
That your dinner and tea, it seems to me,
Have such a long way to go,
And I'm wondering how they manage to know
The way to your tummy below.
Geoffrey died in December 1971 – Enid had pre-deceased him in March of that year.
Family of Geoffrey Lapage:
Father Charles Clement (1851 - ) Surgeon
Mother Emily Sophia (1857 - ) nee
Siblings Charles Paget (1880 - )
Reginald Henry (1881 - 1963)
Walter Seville (1883 - )
John Clement (1886 - )
Violet (1899 - )
Wife Enid (1905 - 1971) nee Oldham
m.06.09.1927
Photographs
National Portrait Gallery Bromide Photograph Ref: NPG x90401
Sources
Ellesmere College Headmaster’s Register
Roll of Honour, p. 20
Ellesmerian Magazines:
Apr 1904, p. 7, 8 Nov 1904, p. 37,38,48,49,50,53
Dec 1904, p. 55, 61, 62 Dec 1905, p. 148
Jan 1926, p. 26 Feb 1937, p. 131 May 1955, p. 54
www.ancestry.co.uk 1891 Census
1901 Census
1911 Census
Manchester Marriages & Banns 1754-1930
BMD Index 1837-1915
Select Cheshire Bishops’ Transcripts 1598-1900
England & Wales Christening Records 1530 -1906
Marriage Index 1916-2005
Death Index 1916-2007
WW1 Medal Index Cards 1914-1920
UK Medical Registers 1859-1959
National Archives WO 339 / 66617
WO 372 / 12 / 3082
Manchester Courier & 23rd March1908, p. 10, 12
15th March1909, p. 9
General Advertiser 19th June 1914, p. 6
8th March 1915, p. 2
Yorkshire Post & Leeds 3rd July 1915, p. 8
Intelligencer
Manchester Evening News 19th June 1914, p. 2
10th August 1914, p. 3
Dundee Courier 12th April 1919, p. 5
Aberdeen Journal 29th October 1932, p.2
Hawick News & Border 7th December 1923, p. 4
Chronicle