Frank Colyer

Who was Frank Colyer?

Sir James Frank Colyer KBE FRCS FDSRCS Eng was a British dental surgeon and dental historian.

Colyer trained at Charing Cross Hospital and the Royal Dental Hospital. He was awarded the Licentiate in Dental Surgery of the Royal College of Surgeons of England in 1887 and two years later also became a qualified physician as Member of the Royal College of Surgeons and Licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians. He served as a house officer and demonstrator of operative dentistry at the Royal Dental Hospital, then was appointed full surgeon. He served as dean from 1904 to 1909.

In 1893 he also became dental surgeon to Charing Cross Hospital. During the First World War, he served as consulting dental surgeon to the Croydon War Hospital and the Ministry of Pensions, and for these services he was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in January 1920. In 1932 he was elected first president of the British Society of Dental Surgeons.

Colyer was also an expert on the history of dentistry.