William Cheselden

William Cheselden (October 19, 1688 - April 10, 1752) was an English surgeon and teacher of anatomy and surgery, who was influential in establishing surgery as a scientific medical profession.

Life

Cheselden was born at Somerby, Leicestershire. He studied anatomy in London under William Cowper (1666-1709), and began lecturing anatomy in 1710. In 1713 he published his Anatomy of the Human Body, which achieved great popularity and went through thirteen editions, mainly because it was written in English instead of Latin as it was customary. In 1718 he was appointed an assistant surgeon at St Thomas' Hospital, (London), becoming full surgeon in the following year, and he was also chosen one of the surgeons to St George's Hospital on its foundation in 1733. In 1710 he was admitted to the London Company of Barber-Surgeons and he was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1712.

Related Topics:
Somerby - Leicestershire - Anatomy - London - William Cowper - 1710 - 1713 - English - Latin - St Thomas' Hospital - St George's Hospital - London Company of Barber-Surgeons - Royal Society - 1712

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In 1733 he published Osteographia or the Anatomy of Bones, the first full and accurate description of the anatomy of human skeletal system.

Related Topics:
1733 - Skeletal system

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Cheselden retired from St Thomas' in 1738 and moved to the Chelsea Hospital. In 1744 he was elected to the position of Warden of the Company of Barber-Surgeons, and had a role in the separation of the surgeons from the barbers and to the creation of the Independent Company of Surgeons in 1745, an organisation that would become later the famous Royal College of Surgeons of England.

Related Topics:
Chelsea Hospital - 1744 - Independent Company of Surgeons - 1745 - Royal College of Surgeons

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He died at Bath in 1752.

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