John Howard Mummery

Who was John Howard Mummery?

John Howard Mummery, CBE, FRCS was a British dentist and microscopist.

He was the son of John Rigden Mummery, a dentist, qualified MRCS in 1870 and as a dentist in 1873. He joined his father in practise at Cavendish Place in London and became one of the best known dental surgeons of his day, becoming President of the British Dental Association in 1899 and of the F.D.I. in 1914. During World War I, although aged over 70, he was appointed Registrar and Superintendent of the Maxilo-facial Hospital at Kennington. He married Mary Lily Lockhart, the daughter of William Lockhart, famed medical missionary and fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons. Mummery wrote at least two texts, Microanatomy of the Teeth and Microscopic and General Anatomy of the Teeth: Human and Comparative. He lived at 79 Albert Bridge Road, Wandsworth, London at the time the first text was published.

His wife, Mary, died from acute pneumonia on 24 May 1897 at the age of 48 at Whitby. The British Dental Association presents a Howard Mummery Prize for dental research, which was first awarded to J H Scott in 1963. Mummery died on 30 August 1926, whilst on a visit to Cornwall.