Plaque honouring esteemed Leeds surgeon Walter Thompson who died in 1920s discovered and handed over to his descendants

Walter Thompson was a revered surgical staff member at Leeds General Infirmary before he died in 1924 following a short illness at the age of 58.

In a fitting tribute to the surgeon, people donated to the hospital on his behalf and the equivalent of what would be nearly £90,000 today was raised.

A plaque honouring Walter was placed above a bed on a ward and after being forgotten about and stored away over the years, it has now been handed over to his descendants.

The ceremony for the handover was arranged by archivist Ronnie Walsh, who when researching Walter was fascinated to learn many of his relatives had become medical professionals themselves.

He said: "He died after a short illness while he was still in post and by the sounds of it, he was a really sound bloke.

"His passing was really badly felt.

"The really nice thing about it is the fact that Walter Thompson was a medical person, he was an honoured surgeon.

"A lot of his current family descendants are in the medical profession.

"There's some active and retired GPs, consultants, the medical gene is alive and well in the Thompson strand.”

The plaque was uncovered in a crate containing others that were used to honour the memory of someone or commemorate charitable donations.

Ronnie explained: “Over the years, as the wards have been refurbished, these things have fallen out of favour, taken down, put into storage and forgotten about.

"What I did was catalogue and photograph the plaques just in case they got lost. I decided to try and research some of the ones which had names on to see if the families were still alive.”

He served in World War One and was a close friend of famous and revered surgeon Berkeley Moynihan.

In cruelly ironic fashion, it was Walter’s friend that operated on him while he was in the grip of the illness that took his life.

Ronnie said: "When Walter Thompson was ill with the illness that took him, Berkeley Moynihan operated on him.

"We had this situation where one of his best mates was operating on him, what must have been going through their heads, one can only guess."

Several of Walter’s relatives were invited to Leeds General Infirmary, where they received the plaque and were given an insight into the life and work of their relative.

Among the attendees was Walter’s great-grandson Robin Constable, who said: “I've always felt a connection to Leeds myself although I don't come from here. It's very special and it's nice that on his death, he was marked in this way. They obviously thought a lot of him.

"There is pride in being related to someone of that standing. To think that his father was a farmer - I don't know what it was that took him into medicine.

"It's funny he married my great grandmother, an early pioneer of women being doctors. They had that very strong medical bond which has carried on through a lot of family members.”

Walter’s granddaughter Elizabeth Middleton was also at the event and told the YEP: "It's been a great honour and all due to Ronnie Walsh's very hard work and enthusiasm in finding about Walter Thompson, my grandfather.

"He died in 1924 and I was born during the second world war so I didn't know him at all but I obviously knew his wife, my granny.

"It's a great privilege and to get all the members of the family together on such a festive occasion with something to celebrate is most enjoyable."

The plaque is now proudly in the possession of Walter’s family, an outcome Ronnie is proud of considering the handover stemmed from a discovery in a crate.

Ronnie said: “The family were bowled over, it's just a fantastic story with a brilliant ending."