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Name: BRAIMBRIDGE, Clifford Viney CBE, MVO, FRCS (Dr.)

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Birth Date: 1892 Hackney

Death Date: 17 Jan 1964 Nairobi

First Date: 1921

Profession: President of the Oxford & Cambridge Society - 1937. Surgical Specialist, Medical Dept., Kenya in 1939, appointed 1934. Originally Prob. Medical Officer 1920. Senior Specialist, Medical Dept. in 1953.

Area: Limuru, Nairobi, 1922 Kakamega, 1925 Nairobi

Married: 1. In Kidderminster 1919 Jane Murray Southwell b. 30 Nov 1895 Bristol, d. 18 Aug 1930; 2. 1932 Mollie Fear née Robinson b. 1901, d. 15 July 1967 Nairobi (prev. m. to Frederick Roy Candlin Fear 1892-1959)

Children: Mark Viney (10 Feb 1924 London); Anthony (1927-1957)

Book Reference: O&C, Staff 39, Debrett, Staff 53, KAD, Red 25, Red 31, Colonial, Hut, Red 22, Carman, Dominion, Nicholls

War Service: WW1 in EA as Capt. RAMC (two medals)

School: Taunton School and Downing College Cambridge, MA 1928, MB & BCh 1937, MRCS &LRCP (Lond), FRCS (Edin)

General Information:

Debrett - was Medical Officer, Colonial Med. Service 1920-32, since when Senior Surgical Specialist, Kenya
Carman - made Surgical Specialist. The influence of this man on the medical life of Nairobi and the Colony in general was profound, but he suffered from the disability of isolation. Had there been an equally good medical consultant to work side by side with him, the combination would have been much more evenly balanced. As it was there was a bias towards surgery and the tendency in doubtful cases was to have a look inside to try and find a diagnosis. There was a great deal said about chronic appendicitis, a condition which conservative surgeons said did not exist, but a great many appendicectomies were performed and a lot of money was earned by the operators.
Carman - The name of Cliff Braimbridge has already appeared many times in these pages and this is not to be surprised at for of all the men who contributed their quota to the medical history of Kenya, none played a more important part than did this one man. He was an enigmatic character; a mass of contradictions; of outstanding virtues conflicting with what one has reluctantly to admit were basic faults. He was possessed of quite irresistible personal charm, but at the same time he was both vain and conceited to an almost childish degree. I held him in high esteem, but he often exasperated me almost beyond endurance. I was for years his family doctor so that I can claim to have known more about his intimate personal private life than most people; his joys and his sorrows and the dark cloud which overshadowed his later years. Braimbridge was the son of a Congregational Minister; he was educated at Downing College Cambridge and St. Bartholemew's Hospital. His first introduction to East Africa was during the first war when he served with the KAR before he became a doctor. His first Kenya station was at Kakamega. Cricket was Cliff's great love; he was for years captain of the Gymkhana side and Secretary of the Kenya Kongonis C.C. He jokingly classified patients into 3 groups; those who played cricket, those who watched others play and those who took no interest in the game. I was in the first group because I used to turn up on Sunday afternoon and score for the matches at the Club. Paradoxically as he admitted himself he was not a good cricketer; he was much better at golf and tennis, though he used to take quite a few wickets as a slow bowler. In all the 35 years during which I knew him I never knew Braimbridge to read a serious book. He was something of a Don Juan, an inveterate diner-out, an accomplished dancer and a regular attendant at the cinema. His dress was fastidious almost to the point of foppishment, his trousers pressed to a knife-edge crease and his tie knotted as if he were wearing it for the first time. Nevertheless one didn't mind all these little foibles because he was more particular in his work than he was in any other walk of life. What about his ability as a surgeon? This was of an unusual type; he was not outstanding in any one field. His greatness, for great he undoubtedly was, lay in the fact that he could perform any operation in the book and perform it adequately, from a cataract to the pinning of a femur, from a ruptured pancreas to a Wertheim's hysterectomy or the removal of an ingrowing toe-nail. I suppose few people who are in a position to form an opinion would challenge the statement that an anaesthetist has unrivalled opportunities for assessing the ability of surgeons. I gave large numbers of anaesthetics for all the surgeons and would-be surgeons in Nairobi until after the second war. Braimbridge was incomparably the best of them. He was not a very good diagnostician and he was not a slick operator, but he was safe. ……. The best testimonial I can offer to his memory is that when I myself needed an abdominal operation I could pick my own surgeon and I picked Cliff Braimbridge. Having treated the Secretary of State for the Colonies while that gentleman was on a visit to Kenya, Braimbridge was offered the most lucrative appointment in the Colonial Medical Service, that of Surgical Specialist, Hong Kong, but he declined it with thanks and he told me that he did so because he could not bear to sever his connection with Kenya cricket. Similarly there came the time when he was the obvious choice for the job of DMS, but again he declined because this time he would not give up surgery. His two great loves meant far more to him than mere filthy lucre or worldly advancement. When the new Nairobi European Hospital was opened in 1954, Braimbridge was nearing the end of his career as an active surgeon and he became its first Superintendent. He held the position for ten years and died a few days after an operation for colonic cancer. ……… If I were asked who in my opinion had most certainly and justifiably earned the love and respect of the Kenyan people, I should point to Clifford Viney Braimbridge.
Dominion - Medical Officer - 1930
Nicholls - a keen cricketer who kept fit by skipping before breakfast. He gave long service to the Nairobi Club, where a room was named after him in the Gymkhana section following his death in 1964.
Gazette 9/2/1921 - Arrived on 1st Appointment - Medical  Officer - 24/1/1921
Nairobi Club - Trustee in 1960
KAD 1922 - Medical Officer, Kakamega
Gazette - Voters List 1936 - Clifford Viney Braimbridge, Medical Officer, Hospital
Gazette 1 Sep 1954 probate
Gazette 18 Aug 1967 wife's probate
Barnes Langata Cemetery, Nairobi Clifford Viney / Braimbridge O.B.E. M.V.O. / surgeon / died 17th January 1964 / also / Mollie his wife / remembered / by all cricketers

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