THE LASTINGHAM GROUP OF CHURCHES

Sydney Ringer was a remarkable scientist and doctor, strongly associated with the village of Lastingham and St Mary’s Church through much of his adult life. He lies buried in the churchyard of St Mary’s, together with his wife Anne, née Darley, and elder daughter Annie.

Born in Norwich, Ringer became an eminent London physician as well as Professor of Pharmacology at University College, London. He owned the lovely house named St Mary’s, in Anserdale Lane, as well as the water mill that is now a separate property. During his distinguished professional life, Lastingham was his holiday and weekend retreat (his wife’s father, Henry Darley, was Lord of the Manor), but it became his retirement home, and is where he died on 14 October 1910.

Ringer is renowned as the scientist and medical practitioner most properly credited with discovering the correct chemical composition for ‘physiological saline’. This salt solution allows the body’s tissues to function normally even when isolated from their blood supply, for a time at least. It replaces blood in many clinical circumstances. Ringer thus deserves to be as well known as other medical pioneers, such as Lister (for antisepsis) or Fleming (for penicillin), or Banting and Best (for insulin).

‘Ringer’s solution’ has allowed a huge range of biomedical research to be done, especially on isolated cells, tissues and organs. It essentially replaces blood plasma. Most people are familiar with the ‘saline drip’, a common sight in the operating theatre or hospital wards, and even at accident sites. All patients can ‘accept’ this fluid into their bloodstream because it contains only salts; there are neither the cells nor the antigens that define blood groups but cause the risk of ‘rejection’. Doctors and nurses can thus gain valuable time before whole-blood transfusion becomes necessary. Indeed, in many cases, saline alone is sufficient for the patient to overcome acute problems caused by blood loss, shock or dehydration. The body then replaces the other blood ‘components’ over days and weeks, without mishap.

Little is known of Ringer’s personality, but one biographer records:

[He] was one of the early true clinical investigators. Patient care, clinical teaching, and writing occupied most of Ringer’s career, but for many years he also maintained a small laboratory .... He was universally known for his punctuality and the fanatical way he would spend every spare moment [there]. It is even recorded that he climbed the palings of the hospital wall one evening [to get in] when he found the door locked...

And another, a student of his:

First and foremost [he is] open-eyed and open-minded; then [he is] honest. .... He never juggled with facts, never consciously strove to make things fit; facts were precious things to him. Further, he taught us by example to be strenuous; his life was full to the brim with energy, which he did not allow to remain potential, but forthwith made dynamic. Those who knew him more intimately – his house physicians and assistants – saw a great simplicity in his life; he hated display of all kinds of and all affectations.

Ringer’s name (usually simply as ‘Dr Ringer’) has been best known to the parishioners of St Mary’s for funding the 1879 ‘restoration’. This major benefaction, to designs by J.L. Pearson, RA, cost over £4000 at the time – perhaps £250,000 today. As many will know, the Church was built from the year 1078 on the still more ancient site of a monastery founded by St Cedd in 654. The unusual access to the crypt, down a stair from the middle of the nave, was part of Ringer’s renovation, though the crypt itself has remained virtually unchanged since the time of William the Conqueror.

The restoration commemorated Ringer’s daughter Annie, who died tragically at her own seventh birthday party; despite having an eminent physician for a father, she choked on a plum stone. This was a time before the simple and effective ‘Heimlich manoeuvre’ was established as first-aid for such events.

You will see Ringer, and members of his family, named in several of St Mary’s stained glass windows, which date mostly from 1879 restoration. Later additions, in the west wall, commemorate his wife and his sister-in-law, Florence, who predeceased him. (Was Sydney annoyed to see his name misspelled for ever – as ‘Sidney’ - in several of these windows?!)

Annie Ringer is the name on the original brass plaque, sited near the South Door, recording the restoration. However, Sydney’s own name is at last to appear on a ‘twin’ to this plaque, now beautifully executed by a York engraver. The plaque has been sponsored by the Physiological Society, the principal professional body for researchers and teachers of physiology in the UK, with a large international membership of biomedical scientists and clinicians. The Society was founded in 1878 and Ringer was an early member, with his key papers appearing in the Journal of Physiology.

Two years ago, it was a working party of physiologists from the universities of Glasgow, Leeds and Manchester that descended on the churchyard to help with clearing up. We came to be known as the ‘Dead Ringers Society’. Our cavalier choice of team-name does not reflect the great respect we all hold for Ringer’s memory!

We hope soon to arrange a small celebratory event to unveil the new plaque officially, and to give thanks for the benefaction from your distinguished late parishioner.

Under the auspices of the Physiological Society, Dr Miller’s more detailed biographical note on Ringer will appear soon. We are delighted that this is to be available in the church as a free leaflet. In the meantime, one or two articles about Ringer can be viewed at:

www.physoc.org/publications/pn/issuepdf/51/36.pdf
www.physoc.org/publications/pn/issuepdf/58/44.pdf

D.J.Miller@bio.gla.ac.uk

Annie Ringer

One of the Annie Ringer windows