Optical connections: A question of murder

There have been more eminent ophthalmologists, although Nathaniel Bishop Harman achieved much in his own right, but to have two of one’s children connected to the defence of two of the 20th century’s most notorious killers is surely unique. In one case, however, the word ‘alleged’ must be applied, as it was due largely to the testimony of Harman’s son that the accused was acquitted of murder.

Nathaniel Bishop Harman was born in 1869, the seventh child but only son to survive, of a well-connected City family. He attended City of London school, and did his medical training at the Middlesex Hospital in addition to taking a double first in Natural Sciences at Cambridge. After volunteering to serve as a surgeon in the Boer War, he returned from South Africa to work at Moorfields. By taking the post of ophthalmic surgeon at the Belgrave Hospital for Children in 1901, he ignited a lifelong interest in reforming the education of children with poor sight. He began other long associations with the West London Hospital and the British Medical Association, and was consultant oculist to the National Institute for the Blind.