Sir Archibald Garrod
Garth Pollard, Chairman of the Woodbridge & Melton Society, unveiled a Blue Plaque to Sir Archibald Edward Garrod (1857-1936) at his former residence, Wilford Lodge, Station Road, Melton. Richard and Sabine Chalmers, the owners of Wilford Lodge, generously hosted the event which was attended by about sixty people that included members of the Woodbridge and Melton Society and their guests as well as family and friends of the Chalmers family.
Sir Archibald Garrod was a physician practising medicine at St Bartholomew’s Hospital in London where he made the ground-breaking discovery that some diseases, such as alkaptonuria, were a result of genetic inheritance. Until then the prevailing view had been that human beings were too complex for genetic inheritance, which had been identified by Mendel about 50 years earlier in plants, to be applicable to humans. Today he is still highly commemorated at the hospital with memorial plaques and displays in the old Garrod building, which is named in his honour.
Sir Archibald had a strong sense of duty and served as a medical consultant to the army in Malta in World War I. He was Knighted in 1918 in recognition of his wartime service. Following his death in 1936, he left funds which were used to purchase and establish Melton Playing Field, still much enjoyed by the village to this day. He is also commemorated in the Garrod Memorial sign which stands next to Melton Pavilion, as well as by a road being named after him in Melton.
The property, Wilford Lodge, was originally acquired by Sir Archibald’s grandfather Robert Garrod in the late 19th century and remained in the family. Sir Archibald inherited the property from his father and used it as his country residence and after his retirement in 1926 as his permanent residence.
Two of his sons, Thomas Martin and Alfred Noel, were killed in action during World War One. His third son, Basil Rahere, died in the flu pandemic in 1919. His daughter, Dorothy Annie, an archaeologist, was the first woman to be appointed a Professor in Cambridge and has a building named after her at Newnham College, Cambridge.