Havelock Charles

Sir Richard Henry Havelock Charles was a British medical doctor who rose to the rank of major-general and served as Serjeant Surgeon to King George V. He was born on 10 March 1858 in Cookstown, County Tyrone, the sixth son of the physician David Hughes Charles, and was named after Sir Henry Havelock, who had died two months earlier. He was educated at Queen's College, Cork, and joined the Indian Medical Service as a surgeon in April 1882. In 1894 he became Professor of Anatomy at the Medical College, Calcutta, and surgeon at its hospital, and while there served as staff surgeon to the Prince of Wales, later George V, during the prince's tour of India. He was promoted lieutenant-colonel on 1 April 1902 and later major-general, and received royal and Indian honours, including knighthoods in the Royal Victorian Order and the Order of the Star of India. Serjeant Surgeon to George V from 1910 to 1928, he was created a baronet in 1928. He died at his home in Manchester Square, London, on 27 October 1934 and is buried in Brompton Cemetery.