Journal of Charles William Krohne, 1903-1904

Biographical history

Charles William Krohne was born in Prussia in 1823. He founded a business making surgical equipment in Blackfriars, London, at an unknown date. He was joined by his half-brother Henry Frederick Sesemann in 1860, when the partnership Krohne and Sesemann was formed. Krohne became a naturalised British subject in 1871. The business's premises were close to the London Hospital in Whitechapel, with which business was conducted. Further premises were opened in the West End of London, probably at the suggestion of Harley Street specialists who were consultants to the London Hospital. The West End premises became the head office and factory, although the workshops and fitting rooms were maintained at Whitechapel to serve patients at the London Hospital. The West End premises, at Duke Street, were rebuilt c1908, but later demolished by a bomb. Both partners were interested in anaesthetics: Krohne invented an inhaler for chloroform and Sesemann invented the double spray bellows and other apparatus. Both administered chloroform to patients of Harley Street doctors. The business also acted as distributor for oxygen for medical purposes for the Brin's Oxygen Co (later the British Oxygen Co Ltd), supplying cylinders all over the country. In the 1890s Krohne wrote articles and letters concerning deaths under anaesthetics in the medical press under the nom-de-plume 'Pro Bono Publico'. Details of deaths under anaesthesia reported in the press in 1903-1904 were passed to him by a Fleet Street press association. Krohne died in 1904. The business was succeeded by Alfred Cox (Surgical) Ltd (later Cox Surgical).

Content

• Handwritten journal of C W Krohne reporting inquests on deaths under anaesthesia, 1903-1904, summarising cases in hospitals in various locations in the UK. With two advertisements for Krohne & Sesemann products, 1934 and undated, and biographical information on Krohne and his company.

Related material

The Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland holds a copy of the Catalogue of Surgical & Orthopaedic Instruments, manufactured & sold by Krohne & Sesemann, 8, Duke Street, Manchester Square, W and at 241, Whitechapel Road, E, Surgical Instrument Makers to the London Hospital, the German Hospital, the Samaritan Free Hospital for Women & Children and the Central London Throat & Ear Hospital (London, 1878). The Association also holds its own records and records deposited by various anaesthetists.