Death
He was killed by a Provisional Irish Republican Army bomb in Kensington, London on 23 October 1975. The bomb, placed under a car, was intended for Sir Hugh Fraser. The Balcombe Street Gang were subsequently convicted of his murder.
Brian Keenan a senior IRA commander, was also apprehended and stood trial at the Old Bailey in London in June 1980 accused of organising the IRA's bombing campaign in England and being implicated in the deaths of eight people including Gordon Hamilton-Fairley. Keenan was sentenced to 18 years imprisonment after being found guilty on 25 June 1980.
Hamilton-Fairley had four children, the youngest of whom was 12 years old when he died. Hamilton-Fairley had been offered an appointment as the Queen's personal physician, but he turned it down, preferring to work with the public. More than 10,000 people attended his funeral, and the Queen sent a representative to pay her respects.
He is commemorated by a blue plaque in the crypt of St Paul's Cathedral which reads: "Gordon Hamilton-Fairley DM FRCP, first professor of medical oncology, 1930-75. Killed by a terrorist bomb. It matters not how a man dies but how he lives". A ward at St Bartholomew's Hospital was named after him.
Read more about this topic: Gordon Hamilton Fairley
Famous quotes containing the word death:
“All good biography, as all good fiction, comes down to the study of original sin, of our inherent disposition to choose death when we ought to choose life.”
—Rebecca West (1892–1983)
“Of Mans First Disobedience, and the Fruit
Of that Forbidden Tree, whose mortal taste
Brought Death into the World, and all our woe,
With loss of Eden, till one greater Man
Restore us, and regain the blissful Seat,
Sing Heav’nly Muse, that on the secret top
Of Oreb, or of Sinai, didst inspire
That Shepherd, who first taught the chosen Seed,
In the Beginning how the Heav’ns and Earth
Rose out of Chaos:”
—John Milton (1608–1674)
“According to legend, Dr. Sappington purchased his coffin several years before his death and kept it under his bed, with apples and nuts in it for his visiting grandchildren.”
—Administration in the State of Miss, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)