Samuel Roden's youngest son Serjeant Samuel, born 1827, was sent to Scotland to read medicine. After he qualified in 1851, he moved to Droitwich and lived in 64, Friar Street. He also had an adjacent property 29, St Andrew’s Street, opposite St Andrew’s Church, where he held a surgery. In addition, he owned West Ford House, now Droitwich Golf Club, which is shown on many documents as his principle residence.
In 1857, Serjeant married Cara Susanna Gibbons. They had two sons, Horace Hassall born 1858 and Percy Austin born 1859. Two daughters died in infancy
As Town Clerk, Samuel Tombs would have been aware of a vacancy in the practice of Dr William Henry Ricketts and his brother Martin and passed the information to his brother-in-law Serjeant, who joined in 1851. Martin’s father was the proprietor of the Droitwich Lunatic Asylum which stood on the corner of Ricketts Lane and Friar Street. Dr Charles Hastings, the founder of the BMA, was also involved, as he had purchased the Asylum in 1849. The partnership between Serjeant Samuel Roden and Martin Ricketts was dissolved in 1854.
Serjeant had studied a paper, written in 1797, by Dr Currie of Liverpool about the efficacy of brine and used this as the basis of a paper he gave to the BMA at their meeting in Worcester 1882. He opened with these words, ‘Few of you will be aware that you are only seven miles from the most powerful brine spring in the world’. He went on to state that the concentration of brine in sea water was 2,536 grains per gallon whereas in Droitwich it was 22,563. Later he conducted them round the salt works in Droitwich. He led strenuous efforts to develop the town as a Spa. In addition, he was author of a number of books on the value of saline treatment for rheumatism and kindred complaints, his most widely circulated being ‘The Brine Springs of Droitwich’.
