Kenneth Harrison Uttley (1901-1972). Historian to the diseases of Antigua, British West Indies

RESUMO

Dr Kenneth Harrison Uttley (1901-1972) served as the Chief Medical Officer in Antigua, British West Indies, from 1955 until 1966. During this time, Dr. Uttley personally reviewed and tabulated an island-wide governmental demographic database of all births, deaths and causes of death during the preceding 100 years. This database was the result of a Compulsory Birth and Death Registration Ordinance enacted as one of several Colonial Poor Laws in 1856. His efforts resulted in the publication of a total of 30 papers in American and British medical journals. Many of these papers reviewed historical demographic trends in births, fertility rates, neonatal deaths, infant mortality and early childhood mortality rates. Others focussed on the historical epidemiology of specific diseases such as neonatal tetanus, leprosy, tuberculosis and malaria. This is the first complete bibliographical account of Uttley's contributions to the history of diseases in the West Indies in general and Antigua in particular. Dr Uttley also served as an ordained priest in the Anglican Church and, upon retirement from the Colonial Medical Services, returned to England to serve as the Vicar of Purton, Oxfordshire.