ABSTRACT
Eric Coates was born in the Nottinghamshire town of Hucknall known as Hucknall Torkard until 1916. Hucknall has had a long and distinguished history dating back to at least the twelfth century. The town is situated seven miles northwest of Nottingham in the valley of the River Leen and within easy reach of Newstead Abbey and Sherwood Forest and in close proximity to the counties of Lincolnshire, Derbyshire and Leicestershire. In the late 1860s, Harrison moved to London to study medicine at St. Thomas Hospital, then in a temporary site whilst the new hospital was built in Lambeth. He qualified as a doctor in 1872, becoming a Member of the Royal College of Surgeons and Licentiate of the Society of Apothecaries. He appears to have commenced his medical career in Saxmundham in Suffolk before moving to Hucknall with his wife Mary, where he was kept busy dealing with the assorted ailments of the large community of miners and colliery accidents.
