An ‘essentially normal boy’

Peter was born in 1940 in Peking (now Beijing). His father was English, while his mother was American – she was the third generation of a family who had worked as Presbyterian missionaries in China since 1870. A Christian church in Shanghai was built to honour the memory of her great grandfather George Field Fitch.

Peter and his family spent the second world war years in California and Canada, before returning to China to live in a beautiful old palace in Peking until the Communists assumed power in 1949. At this point the family moved to Hong Kong, and a couple of years later, Peter and his brother started boarding school in the UK.

After attending Rugby School, Peter went on to study at King’s College London and St George's Hospital Medical School. Peter qualified in medicine in 1966 and joined the Royal Navy as a ship’s medical officer. He then chose to focus on gynaecology, training in military and civilian NHS hospitals and becoming a consultant gynaecologist in 1978, later specialising in infertility treatment.

While he was working at Sutton General Hospital in 1966, he met a nurse called Gillian, who was to become his future wife – in his words it was ‘love at first sight’. During his time in the Royal Navy, he and his family moved multiple times as he took up posts in London, Portsmouth, Plymouth, twice in Malta, Gibraltar and Hong Kong. Later, unwilling to commit to a desk job, he resigned from the Royal Navy in 1982 with the rank of surgeon commander.

After a couple of interesting years working in Saudi Arabia, Peter joined Bourn Hall Clinic in Cambridge, the world’s first IVF Clinic, to work with Patrick Steptoe who had pioneered conception through IVF with Robert Edwards, leading to the birth of the world’s first ‘test-tube baby’ Louise Brown in 1978. IVF was still in its early days and it was a fascinating time to be involved in its research and development, although this also included resolving many ethical dilemmas. When Patrick Steptoe died, Peter was appointed as medical director at the clinic, later becoming group medical director of Bourn Hall International, then consultant medical director at Bourn Hall Clinic.

Peter has travelled extensively to lecture on the subject of fertility and assisted conception, in Europe, America, India, the Middle East and also China, where he holds four honorary professorships, including one from Peking Union Medical College where he was born - and where his birth notes describe him as an ‘essentially normal boy’ (he is very proud of that!) Although he has now retired from medical roles, he still lectures on the historical and ethical aspects of assisted reproduction, including a recent Zoom talk for the Royal Asiatic Society in Beijing.

A few years ago, Peter and Gillian moved to Tavistock to be close to family, and also for its proximity to Dartmoor, which has become one of Peter’s passions - he has now visited 156 of its tors. He is also a keen wildlife photographer, delighting in studying both local birds and animals, as well as travelling widely to the see the fauna of the Arctic, Antarctic, Galapagos Islands, Kenya and Baja California. Scuba diving was another favourite pastime and he has enjoyed discovering the marine life of the seas around Australia, the Caribbean, and the Far East.

Peter is a very competent woodturner and could probably have been quite an artist considering his painting of Van Gogh at the age of sixteen. He also has a deep appreciation for history, art and culture both in this country and in the many other countries he has explored. In more recent times, Peter has put his oratory skills to further use to share some of these many personal interests. His wide-ranging series of talks covers subjects such as ‘My family in China 1870-2020’, Nelson, and the art and culture of Japan – while a recent visit to Malta to attend the 80th anniversary of the island’s award of the George Cross, served as a research opportunity for another talk.

Peter has written and edited three medical textbooks, and more than 100 articles for medical journals, has frequently appeared in the media and held a string of posts with numerous societies, including president of the British Fertility Society. Although now in his eighties he is still an active member of the community, taking on the roles of Abbeyfield trustee and chair of Tavistock Probus Club and of Tavistock Woodturners. He often gives talks, and you can hear him as part of the Tavistock Heritage Trust series in September.

By Rosemary Best

Peter Brinsden’s talk on ‘The fascinating art and culture of Japan’ is on 1 September in Tavistock Guildhall.