John Hancock obituary | GPs
My brother-in-law, John Hancock, who has died aged 83, was a runner, climber, cyclist, socialist, naturalist and much-loved village doctor. His most difficult adventure took place in 1987, when he was an expedition doctor on a British attempt to climb Latok 2 in the Karakoram Mountains in the Pakistan-administered Gilgit-Baltistan region.
Photos from the expedition show John savoring every moment. But it boiled over and John was forced to return to his practice, leading him to walk solo for several days back to civilization. Along the way, he enjoyed connecting with local people and was happy to hold impromptu clinics in the villages he passed through.
Born in Bromley, John was the son of Letitia (née Thomas), a nurse and midwife, and Alfred Hancock, a public health inspector with Bermondsey and later Southwark councils. At age 11, John won a scholarship to Dulwich University, where he excelled in boxing. Importantly, he also followed his biology teacher’s wildflower studies and thus developed a passion for native orchids.
As a keen scout, he enjoyed climbing Harrison’s Rocks, south of Groombridge, East Sussex. This inspired climbing in much more difficult places. In the summer of 1961, John was generally incommunicado somewhere in the French Alps when his baccalaureate results arrived at the family home. His father intervened and, in John’s absence, managed to confirm his place to study medicine at the University of Leeds.
John loved the Yorkshire Dales and spent his weekends climbing and cross-country running. At university, John met Sharon Morris, also a medical student. they graduated and married in 1967. After various hospital jobs, they settled in Harbury in Warwickshire, where John would have a long career as a village doctor. At that time, GPs were responsible for their patients 24 hours a day. John considered it a privilege to be welcomed into people’s homes. And, in return, he was renowned in the village for his great kindness.
His greatest gift to village life was his leadership of the Harbury Venture Scout troop, giving the teenagers of Harbury (including his own children, Stephen and Jane) the same taste for adventure that he had acquired as a child.
John retired in 2004. For him, every day was an opportunity to learn more about the world around him, often through travel and also through membership in the local U3A. No weekday was complete without the Guardian. It is with great sadness that we note John’s declining health. He was an extraordinary man who touched the lives of many people.
He is survived by Sharon, their children, Stephen and Jane, his grandchildren, Tom, Megan, Millie, Harry, Bryony and Edith, and his great-grandchildren, Sadie, Delilah and Sylvie.
