William Allen Sturge

Who was William Allen Sturge?

William Allen Sturge was an English physician and archaeologist born in Bristol.

After receiving his medical degree in 1873 from University College in London, Sturge became resident medical officer and later registrar at the National Hospital for Paralysis and Epilepsy. In 1876 he went to Paris to study neurology with Jean Martin Charcot, and pathology with Jean Alfred Fournier.

In 1877 he returned to London and was physician and pathologist at the Royal Free Hospital. In 1879 he described a disorder in a six-year old child which would later be called the Sturge-Weber syndrome. It is co-named with another English physician, Frederick Parkes Weber. This disease is a congenital disorder which affects the brain, eyes and skin.

The disease is characterized by a port-wine nevi on the scalp along the distribution of the trigeminal nerve, combined with glaucoma and intracranial vascular abnormalities.

From 1880–1907, Sturge practiced medicine in Nice, and was personal physician to Queen Victoria and her family members when they came to the French Riviera. The Queen awarded Sturge with an MVO, which is a decoration reserved for people who have rendered personal service to the Royal Family.