THE VETS OF WIMBORNE
Timeline
I have discovered evidence of the veterinary profession active in Wimborne in continuous line from 1850Â to the present day. That is only 6 decades after the founding of the first British Vet School, the London Veterinary College, now known as the Royal Veterinary College.
RICHARD STONE BLAKE 1825-1886
Active in Wimborne from 1849Â until 1886
Richard came from Taunton in Somerset and studied in London. He worked in Wimborne for his whole career and "was much respected, enjoying a very high professional reputation"
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EDWARD WHITLEY BAKER (1861-1931)
Victorian Gentleman touched by tragedy
Edward W. Baker practised in Wimborne for over 50 years, having first worked under Richard Blake before taking over his practice. Edward was well respected in both the town (chairman of the urban council several times, chief officer of the Fire Brigade and governer of Wimborne Grammar School) and in the local veterinary community as President of the Southern Counties Veterinary Society. Tragedy struck his family in 1920 when his eldest son, Edward junior, died of pneumonia in Berlin, possibly related to the outbreak of Spanish 'flu. He is buried like his father in Wimborne Cemetery.
CHANGING TIMES AND LOCATION
The practice arrives in Station Road
From 1931 until 1942 Edward George Robertson moved into the practice house at Glencairn, Avenue road and went into partnership with Frederick Beckett, a vet in Blandford (now Damory vets). We know at this time the practice gained its telephone (and still has the same phone line today!) and Edward moved the practice to Lynwood house in 1937.
JOHN BIRRELL
and the first years of Lynwood Vets
John Birrell bought the practice in 1942, through an advert posted in the Vet Record. He is considered the father of Lynwood Vets as we know it today, finally retiring in 1982 at the age of 77, and passed away in Wimborne in 1998.
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