William Hunter (surgeon)

William Hunter
Occupation Surgeon, Medical Researcher, Senior Physician of London Fever Hospital

Dr William Hunter CB FRSE (1861-1937)[1] was a British surgeon known primarily for his theories on oral sepsis, one of the inspirations for the Henry Cotton theory of focal sepsis which led to the increased number of tooth extractions and tonsillectomies in the 1910s and 20s (under the presumption that hidden sepsis could lead to a wider health decline in individuals).[2] By the 1930s, this view had fallen out of favor, but not until after thousands of surgeries had been performed.[3]

Life

The Order of the Bath

He was born in Ballantrae in Ayrshire on 1 June 1861, the son of Robert Hunter of Birkenhead.[4] He was educated at Ayr Academy.[5]

He studied Medicine at Edinburgh University graduating MB ChM in 1883. He received his doctorate (MD) in 1886 and beginning work in Edinburgh's Western Infirmary. He then did further postgraduate studies in Leipzig, Cambridge, Vienna and Strasbourg.[6] In 1887 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. His proposers were William Rutherford, Sir William Turner, Sir Thomas Richard Fraser and William Smith Greenfield.[7]

He moved to London in the late 19th century and became a physician at the London Fever Hospital and at Charing Cross Hospital.

During the First World War he initially served as a Colonel in the Royal Army Medical Corps then was created President of the Advisory Committee on health to the East Mediterranean and Mesopotamian Expeditionary Force and Consultant to the Eastern Command. In 1916 he was created a Commander of the Order of the Bath (CB) and created a Grand Officer of the Serbian Order of St. Sava.[8]

Edinburgh University awarded him an honorary doctorate (LLD) in 1927.

He died in London on 13 January 1937.

Family

In 1894 he married Beatrice Fielden, daughter of Joshua Fielden MP.

References

  1. ↑ Hunter, William (1901). Oral Sepsis as a Cause of "septic Gastritis," "toxic Neuritis," and Other Septic Conditions: With Illustrative Cases.
  2. ↑ Hunter, William; Moynihan, Berkeley (1 January 1927). "Chronic Sepsis As A Cause Of Mental Disorder". The British Medical Journal. 2 (3487): 811–818.
  3. ↑ Scull, Andrew (2007). Madhouse : a tragic tale of megalomania and modern medicine (Paperback ed. ed.). New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press. pp. 37, 117, 121. ISBN 978-0300126709.
  4. ↑ http://munksroll.rcplondon.ac.uk/Biography/Details/2341
  5. ↑ http://libraryblogs.is.ed.ac.uk/untoldstories/2015/05/20/william-hunter-1861-1937-the-order-of-st-sava/
  6. ↑ http://munksroll.rcplondon.ac.uk/Biography/Details/2341
  7. ↑ BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX OF FORMER FELLOWS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF EDINBURGH 1783 – 2002 (PDF). The Royal Society of Edinburgh. July 2006. ISBN 0 902 198 84 X.
  8. ↑ http://munksroll.rcplondon.ac.uk/Biography/Details/2341
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