Person    | Male  Born 23/5/1718  Died 30/3/1783

Dr. William Hunter

Categories: Medicine

Countries: Scotland

William Hunter was born on 23 May 1718 at Long Calderwood, East Kilbride, South Lanarkshire, Scotland, the seventh child of John Hunter (1673-1741) and Agnes Hunter née Paul (1691-1751).

William Hunter matriculated from the University of Glasgow, attended lectures given by Alexander Munro in Edinburgh, was apprenticed to William Cullen in Hamilton and studied anatomy and surgery in Paris. He set up a school of anatomy in Great Windmill Street, London, (the site is now occupied by the Lyric Theatre, 29 Shaftesbury Avenue - the stage door is in Great Windmill Street), and helped his younger brother, John Hunter, establish his career.

Following the safe delivery of a royal baby he was appointed Physician Extraordinary to Queen Charlotte from 1764 to 1783. He opened his collection of anatomical preparations, books, coins and other artefacts to researchers. He was elected fellow of the Royal Society in 1767 and of the Society of Antiquities in 1782.

He died, aged 64 years, on 30 March 1783 and was buried in the chancel of St James's Church, Piccadilly, London, bequeathing his collections to the University of Glasgow plus a large sum to build there a museum. The collections survive today as the nucleus of the University of Glasgow's Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery. His books, manuscripts and papers are held in the Hunterian Library, one of the university's special collections.

Photo credit: Royal College of Physicians, London.

Credit for this entry to: Andrew Behan.

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Dr. William Hunter

Commemorated ati

Dr William Hunter

London County Council This was the home and museum of Dr William Hunter, ana...

Read More

Other Subjects

John Nicoll

John Nicoll

Treasurer associated with St Bartholomew's Hospital in 1702.

Person, Medicine, Politics & Administration

1 memorial
Dame Rosalind Paget

Dame Rosalind Paget

Nurse and midwife. Trained at the British Lying-in Hospital. She was the first superintendent, and later inspector general, of the Queen's Jubilee Institute for District Nursing at the London Hospi...

Person, Medicine

1 memorial
St Barthomews Hospital - East wing

St Barthomews Hospital - East wing

Placed at the service of the war office during the Great War and was occupied by sick and wounded soldiers of the British Expeditionary Forces from October 1914 until the 31st January 1918. 5406 s...

Building, Medicine

1 memorial
Mary Seacole

Mary Seacole

Jamaican nurse, heroine of the Crimean War. That's the standard depiction of her but some people, as reported in a Guardian article, feel that Seacole has been promoted to the detriment of Florence...

Person, Medicine, Jamaica

5 memorials
Ladywell Mineral Spring

Ladywell Mineral Spring

The medicinal powers of the spring were supposed to help people with poor eyesight. The spring ran dry after the construction of a sewer in the late 19th century. Careful not to confuse this Ladyw...

Place, Medicine

1 memorial

Previously viewed

Wandsworth LGBT+ Forum

Wandsworth LGBT+ Forum

A group that focuses on the development and support of LGBT groups, organisations and projects so they can deliver direct services and campaign for individual rights.

Group, Gender Issues

2 memorials
Elizabeth Jesser Reid

Elizabeth Jesser Reid

Founder of Bedford College, anti-slavery activist and philanthropist. Her Wikipedia page is very informative. Elizabeth Jesser Sturch was born on 15 December 1789 in the St Clement Danes district...

Person, Education, Gender Issues, Philanthropy, Race Issues

1 memorial
Thomas Green

Thomas Green

Monk at London Charterhouse. Taken to Newgate Prison, chained and left to starve to death.

Person, Execution, Religion

1 memorial
Lieutenant Harry Leopold Pollak

Lieutenant Harry Leopold Pollak

Harry Leopold Pollak was born on 18 July 1885 in Marylebone, Middlesex (now Greater London), the second of the eight children of Joseph Pollak (1847-1927) and Emma Jane Pollak née Goldmann (1863-19...

Person, Armed Forces, Gardens / Agriculture, Argentina, France

War dead, WW1
1 memorial
Edward the Confessor

Edward the Confessor

King of England. Son of Ethelred the Unready. Born between 1003 and 1005 at Islip, near Oxford. He is regarded as the last king of the house of Wessex. Little is known of his early life, except tha...

Person, Royalty, France

4 memorials