Chairman of the Board of Guy's Hospital in 1964. Born London.
Edward Gustave Slesinger was born on 17 March 1888, the son of Gustave Schlesinger (1852-1903) and Louise Agnes Schlesinger née Sueskind (1861-1900). His birth was registered as Edward Gustave Schlesinger in the 2nd quarter of 1888 in the Pancras Registration District, Middlesex (now Greater London). His parents had been subjects of Germany, but on 25 October 1886 had become naturalised British subjects having resided in the United Kingdom of Great Britain for at least 8 years. His father was recorded as a continental shipping agent.
In the 1891 census he is shown as Edward G. Schlesinger, aged 3 years, living at Blakemore Lodge, Shoot Up Hill, Willesden, Middlesex (now Greater London), with his parents and an elder sister, Grace Emily Schlesinger (b.1884). His father was described as a shipping agent.
When the 1901 census was undertaken he was shown as Edward Schlesinger, aged 13 years and a boarder at University School, Marine Parade, Herne Bay, Kent. His place of birth was recorded as Camden Town, London.
He was recorded as Edward Schlesinger, aged 23 years and a medical student in the 1911 census, living in the Residential College at Guy's Hospital College, 4 Great Maze Pond, London Bridge, SE London.
It was about this period that he started using Slesinger as his surname. On 4 August 1914, as Edward Gustave Slesinger, he was appointed as a Temporary Surgeon Lieutenant in the Royal Navy. During the course of World War One he was Mentioned in Despatches and awarded the Croix de Guerre avec Palme. The London Gazette dated 16 September 1919 shows a correction to the spelling of his surname from Schlesinger to Slesinger in the record of him being appointed as an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE).
He Married Gladys Eleanor Trench (1900-1983) on 19 August 1919 in Herne Bay, Kent, the marriage being registered in the 3rd quarter of 1919 in the Blean Registration District, Kent.
Electoral registers and telephone directories show him listed from 1922 to 1930 at 69 Wimpole Street, London, W1 and from 1931 to 1939 at 14 Devonshire Place, London, W1.
In the 1939 England and Wales register he is shown as a consulting surgeon at Preston Hall, Aylesford, Kent, whilst his wife and their two children: John William Trench Slesinger (1930-1993) and Anthony Graham Trench Slesinger (1938-2003), were listed at Park Cottage, Crawley Down, East Grinstead, Sussex.
Electoral registers and telephone directories show the family still at Park Cottage in 1945 but from 1948 to 1953 they were listed concurrently at both Stonecourt, Staplefield, Handcross, Sussex and 25 Berkeley Square, London, W1. From 1954 to 1965 they were shown at both Stonecourt in Sussex and at 47 Upper Brook Street, London, W1. Telephone directories in 1970 list him at Holly House, Hedgehog Lane, Haslemere, Surrey.
His death, aged 87 years, on 18 June 1975 was registered in 2nd quarter of 1975 in the Surrey South-Western Registration District.
His obituaries in the British Medical Journal and the Royal College of Surgeons give much information about this man.
He is shown as 'E.G. SLESINGER ESQ, OBE, MS, FRCS. Chairman of the Board' on the tablet marking the visit by Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother in The Colonnade, Guy's Hospital, Great Maze Pond, London, SE1.
Credit for this entry to: Andrew Behan.
