John Addington Symonds (physician)
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John Addington Symonds | |
|---|---|
_1867.jpg) John Addington Symonds in 1867 | |
| Born | 10 April 1807 Oxford, England |
| Died | 25 February 1871 (aged 63) |
| Education | Magdalen College School |
| Alma mater | University of Edinburgh |
| Occupation | Physician |
| Spouse |
Harriet Sykes
(m. 1834; died 1844) |
| Children | John, Charlotte, and 3 others |
| Parents |
|
| Relatives | John Addington Symonds (son) Charlotte Byron Symonds (daughter) Sir Charles Cave, 1st Baronet (son-in-law) |
John Addington Symonds (10 April 1807 – 25 February 1871) was an English physician and writer.
He was born in Oxford, where his father John Symonds was a medical practitioner. His mother was Mary Williams, of Aston, Oxfordshire. Symonds was educated at Magdalen College School; at the age of sixteen he went to the University of Edinburgh for medical training, and graduated M.D. in 1828.
Returning to Oxford, Symonds began the practice of his profession as assistant to his father. In 1831 he moved to Bristol, where he was soon appointed physician to the general hospital, and lectured on forensic medicine at the Bristol medical school. He exchanged in 1836 for the lectureship on the practice of medicine, which he held till 1845. He retired from active service on the hospital staff in 1848. In 1853 he was elected an associate of the Royal College of Physicians, and in 1857 a Fellow. In 1859 he secretly forced Charles Vaughn to resign as headmaster of Harrow School, after learning about the latter's affair with a pupil.
In the autumn of 1868 his health began to fail. In 1869 he delivered an address on health when presiding over the health section of the Social Science Association at the meeting at Clifton. He finally abandoned practice early in 1870, and died on 25 February 1871. Thomas Woolner sculpted a bust of Symonds.
