Presidents of the Hunterian Society

This is a list of presidents of the Hunterian Society, founded in London in 1819 in honour of the surgeon and anatomist John Hunter.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4] Between 1940 and 1945 there was no president.^[5] Several were based at St Thomas' Hospital, Guy's Hospital, and the London Hospital.^[6] Thirty-six of the society's first 48 presidents delivered the Hunterian Society Oration.^[7]

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

Nº	Name (Birth–Death)	Term	Oration/notes	Base
1	Sir William Blizard (1743 – 1835)^[8]	1819 – 1822	Founding member^[9]^[10] Having been a pupil of Hunter, he suggested the title of the "Hunterian Society" rather than the initially proposed "London and Medical Physical"^[11] Elected president for three consecutive years^[2]^[11]	London Hospital
2	Benjamin Robinson (d. 1828)^[2]	1822 – 1824^[2]	During his presidency, the annual dinner was established, combined with the annual report and oration^[11]^[12] Formerly, he had been the society's first treasurer.^[13] In the year before becoming president, he noted that percussion of the chest could be used to detect diseases of the lung.^[14] Died a fortnight after he delivered the Hunterian oration in 1828^[14]	London Hospital
3	William Babington (1756 – 1833)^[2]	1824 – 1826^[2]	Founding member.^[2]^[15] Elected president for three consecutive years^[11]	Guy's Hospital
4	Sir Benjamin Travers (1783 – 1858)^[2]	1826 – 1828^[2]	Simultaneously served as president of the Royal Medical and Chirurgical Society of London, and delivered the society's Hunterian oration 1837.^[2]^[4]^[16]	St Thomas' Hospital
5	Archibald Billing (1791 – 1881)^[2]	1828 – 1830^[2]	Joined the Society in 1822.^[2] "An essay on auscultation of the heart" (1932)^[2]^[17]	London Hospital
6	Thomas Callaway (1791 – 1848) ^[1]	1830 – 1832	A former apprentice to Astley Cooper, Callaway delivered the society's oration to a large audience including Sir Robert Peel, nine days after Coopers death.^[18]	Guy's Hospital
7	Charles Aston Key (1793 – 1849)^[1]	1832 – 1834	Key had shared his knowledge of a disorder of heart valves with his colleague Thomas Hodgkin, who subsequently gave the first accurate description of what became known as aortic insufficiency; In 1827 and 1829, Hodgkin read out his letters to the Society on what he called "retroversion of the valves of the aorta".^[19]^[20]	Guy's Hospital
8	Benjamin Guy Babington (1794 – 1866)^[1]	1834 – 1836	The son of William Babington, a former Hunterian Society president, he served in the Indian Civil Service prior to returning to England to study medicine.^[21] 26 years before Manuel García, Babington described to the society a mirror to inspect the throat.^[2]^[22]	Guy's Hospital
9	Bransby Blake Cooper (1792 – 1853)^[1]	1836 – 1838	Nephew of Astley Cooper.^[23]^[19]	Guy's Hospital
10	John Whiting (d. 1863)^[24]	1838 – 1838	^[25]
11	John Scott^[1]	1839 – 1841	^[19]

Nº	Name (Birth–Death)	Term	Oration/notes	Base
12	William Cooke (1785 – 1873)	1841 – 1843	Having co-founded the society, he retained position as its secretary for 20 years.^[2]^[26]^[27]	St Bartholomew's Hospital
13	James Luke^[2]	1843 – 1845	Joined the society in 1827^[2] Upon the death of William Blizard, was appointed a principal surgeon at the London Hospital.^[2]	London Hospital
14	Richard Bright^[1]	1845 – 1847	15 Years before elected president, he had address the society on the topic of puerperal inflammation.^[19]^[28]
15	Gilbert Wakefield Macmurdo^[1]	1847 – 1848	^[29]
16	Francis Henry Ramsbotham^[1]	1848 – 1849	^[30]
17	Edward Cock^[1]	1849 – 1850	^[19]
18	Henry Marshall Hughes (1805 – 1858)^[1]^[31]	1850 – 1851	Studied under Astley Cooper, Richard Bright, and Thomas Addison, and later took over as full physician upon Babington's retirement.^[19]^[31]	Guy's Hospital

Nº	Name (Birth–Death)	Term	Oration/notes
19	John Adams^[1]	1851 – 1852	^[19]^[32] At the society's centenary in 1919, he was awarded a silver medal for his work on congenital syphilis.^[33]
20	Henry Greenwood^[34]	1852 – 1853	^[19]
21	John Hilton^[1]	1853 – 1854	^[19]
22	John Charles Weaver Leve^[1]	1854 – 1855	^[19]
23	Thomas Blizard Curling^[1]	1855 – 1856	In 1848 he had addressed the society with "The Advantages of Ether and Chloroform in Operative Surgery", he argued that surgical pain was unequivocally "an evil" dismissing the idea that endurance of suffering reflected moral courage, and that examples of those who perversely relished suffering demonstrated that pain itself possessed no moral virtue.^[19]^[35]^[36]
24	George Hilary Barlow^[1]	1856 – 1857	^[19]
25	Samuel Solly^[1]	1857 – 1858	^[19]
26	William James Little^[1]	1858 – 1859	^[19]
27	D. Henry Walne^[1]	1859 – 1860	^[19]
28	Sir James Risdon Bennett^[1]	1860 – 1861	^[19]
29	George Critchett^[1]	1861 – 1863	^[19]^[37]

Nº	Name (Birth–Death)	Term	Oration/notes	Base
30	Thomas Mee Dalby^[1]	1863 – 1865
31	Alfred Smee^[1]	1865 – 1866
32	Stephen Henry Ward	1866 – 1867	^[38]
33	John Jackson^[1]	1867 – 1868
34	Thomas Bevill Peacock^[1]	1868 – 1869
35	Jonathan Hutchinson^[1]	1869 – 1870
36	Dennis De Berdt Hovell^[1]	1871 – 1872	^[39]	"The power above matter"

Nº	Name (Birth–Death)	Term	Oration/notes
37	Herbert Davies^[1]	1872 – 1873
38	Thomas Bryant^[1]	1873 – 1874
39	Robert Barnes^[1]	1874 – 1875
40	William Sedwick Saunders^[1]	1875 – 1876
41	Henry Isaac Fotherby^[40]	1876 – 1877^[40]	Joined the Society in 1854, became its secretary in 1857, and delivered the oration in 1969 on "The Rise, Progress, and Influence of the Society".^[40] Treasurer between 1872-1887.^[40]
42	Arthur Edward Durham^[1]	1877 – 1878
43	Sir Thomas Boor Crosby^[1]	1878 – 1879
44	John Braxton Hicks^[1]	1879 – 1880
45	John Couper^[1]	1880 – 1881
46	Peter Lodwick Burchill^[1]	1881 – 1882
47	John Hughlings Jackson^[1]	1882 – 1883
48	Walter Rivington (1835 – 1897)^[7]^[41]	1883 – 1885	Related to Sir William Blizard, Rivington had also previously delivered the society's oration.^[42]
49	Philip Pye-Smith^[1]	1885 – 1886
50	Francis Mead Corner^[1]	1866 – 1887
51	Henry Gervis^[1]	1887 – 1888
52	Richard Clement Lucas^[1]	1888 – 1890
53	Stephen Mackenzie^[1]	1890 – 1892
54	Frederick Gordon Brown^[1]	1892 – 1894
55	Charters James Symonds^[1]	1894 – 1896

Presidents of the Hunterian Society

1841 - 1851

1851 - 1863

1863 - 1872

1872 - 1895

1896 - 1908

1908 - 1915

1915 - 1930

1931 - 1940

1945 - 1960

1960 - 1970

1970 - 1985

1985 - 2000

2000 - 2015

2015 - 2025

References

Bibliography

External links

Related Articles

Nº	Name (Birth–Death)	Term
56	George Ernest Herman^[1]	1896 – 1898
57	John Sell Edmund Cotman^[1]	1898 – 1900
58	James Dundas-Grant^[1]	1900 – 1903
59	Alfred Lewis Galabin^[1]	1902 – 1904
60	Stephen Herbert Appleford^[1]	1903 – 1904
61	Frederick John Smith^[1]	1904 – 1906
62	John Poland^[1]	1906 – 1907
63	Francis Rowland Humphris^[5]	1907 – 1908

Nº	Name (Birth–Death)	Term	Oration/notes
64	Arthur Templer Davies^[5]	1908 – 1909
65	Thomas Horrocks Openshaw^[5]	1909 – 1910
66	John Adams^[5]	1910 – 1911
67	Richard Hingston Fox^[5]	1911 – 1912	^[43]
68	Alfred Herbert Tubby^[5]	1912 – 1913
69	William J. McCulloch Ettles^[5]	1913 – 1914
70	Thomas Glover Lyon^[5]	1914 – 1915

Nº	Name (Birth–Death)	Term	Oration/notes	Base
71	William Henry Kelson (1862 – 1940)^[5]	1915 – 1916
72	A.S. Currie^[5]	1916 – 1917
73	Hugh Lett (1876 – 1964)^[5]	1917 – 1918
74	W. Langdon Brown^[44]	1918 – 1920
75	A.C. Jordan^[5]	11920 – 1921
76	Russell Howard^[5]	1921 – 1922
77	R. Fortescue Fox^[5]	1922 – 1923
78	Sir Bruce Bruce-Porter^[5]	1923 – 1924
79	H.W. Carson^[5]	1924 – 1925
80	F. Howard Humphris^[5]	1925 – 1926
81	Albert Edward Mortimer Woolf^[45]	1926 – 1925
82	Arthur Westerman (1878 – 1963)	1925 – 1928	Joined the society in 1909.^[46]^[47]	St Bartholomew's Hospital
83	Ernest Young^[5]	1929 – 1930

Nº	Name (Birth–Death)	Term
84	A.W. Sheen^[5]	1930 – 1931
85	David Ross^[5]	1931 – 1932
86	Nathan Raw^[5]	1932 – 1933
87	W.E. Tanner^[5]	1933 – 1934
88	W. H. F. Oxley^[5]	1934 – 1935
89	W. Brander^[5]	1935 – 1936
90	H. L. Attwater^[5]	1936 – 1937
91	D.C. Norris^[5]	1937 – 1938
92	Andrew McAllister^[5]	1938 – 1939
93	John Eyre^[5]	1939 – 1940

94	Albert Edward Mortimer Woolf^[45]^[48]	1945 – 1946
95	J. Basil Cook^[5]	1946 – 1947
96	Alexander Ernest Roche^[49]	1947 – 1948
97	G.R. Mather Cordiner^[5]^[50]	1948 – 1949	"The role of radiology in the peptic ulcer problem"
98	W. Thompson Brown^[5]	1949 – 1950
99	Arthur Porritt, Baron Porritt^[51]	1950 – 1952
100	Basil T. Parsons-Smith^[5]	1952 – 1953
101	William Heneage Ogilvie (1887 – 1971)^[5]^[52]	1953 – 1954	^[52]
102	W.S.C. Copeman^[5]	1954 – 1955
103	A. Dickson Wright^[5]^[53]	1955 – 1956
104	Cecil D. Coyle^[5]	1956 – 1957
105	John Ainsworth-Davis^[5]	1957 – 1958
106	Francis Leslie^[5]	1958 – 1959
107	Alec W. Badenoch^[5]	1959 – 1960

108	Gordon B. Mitchell-Heggs^[5]^[54]	1960 – 1961
109	Sir Cecil Wakeley^[55]	1961 – 1962
110	John Henderson Hunt^[5]	1962 – 1963
111	A. Lawrence Abel^[5]	1963 – 1964
112	W. Gordon Sears^[5]	1964 – 1965
113	N. Asherson^[5]	1965 – 1966
114	George Qvist^[56]	1966 – 1967
115	Clement C. Chesterman	1967 – 1968
116	Sir Eric Riches^[5]	1968 – 1969
117	C.W. Kesson^[5]	1969 – 1970

118	Reginald S. Murley	1970 – 1971
119	Fred Wrigley	1971 – 1972	Introduced to the society by William Copeman, his presidential address was title "Mankind is Man" (146th session)^[57]
120	Thomas Vangh Lee Crichow (1901-1988)	1972 – 1973
121	Oliver Garrod^[58]	1973 – 1974	"Hibernation of mammals"^[58]
122	Kenneth Owen	1974 – 1975
123	Kenneth Heathfield^[59]	1975 – 1976
124	Henry Thompson^[60]	1976 – 1978
125	A. Kingsley Brown	1978 – 1979
126	Douglas Langton Woolf^[61]	1979 – 1980
127	David Morris	1980 – 1981
128	G.W.E. Little	1981 – 1982
129	David T.D. Hughes	1982 – 1983
130	N.F.E. Burrows	1983 – 1984
131	W.J.C. Currie	1984 – 1985

132	Anne M. Jepson	1985 – 1986
133	Georges Jantet	1986 – 1987	^[62]
134	C.H. Flood	1987 – 1988
135	David W. Findlay	1988 – 1989
136	Elliot Philipp (1915 – 2010)	1989 – 1990	^[63]
137	Christopher Wastell (1932 – 2012)	1990 – 1991	A member of the Hunterian Society, he delivered the society’s oration in 1988 on "John Hunter-a man of his time". Two years later he became its president and delivered his address, "Pedagogues and surgeons", in which he posed the question "are professors of surgery necessary?"^[64]
138	Basil Helal	1991 – 1992	^[65]
139	A.E. Fyfe	1992 – 1993
140	Derek W. Zutshi	1993 – 1994	^[66]
141	Michael Dulake (1928 – 2016)	1994 – 1995	^[67]
142	R.M. Kirk^[68]	1995 – 1996
143	Ravi Kunzru	1996 – 1997
144	Sir Montague Levine	1997 – 1998
145	Jeffrey Rosenberg	1998 – 1999
146	Brian Owen-Smith^[69]	1999 – 2000

Nº	Name (Birth–Death)	Term
147	Barbara Ansell^[5]	2000 – 2001
148	James P.S. Thomson^[5]	2001 – 2002
149	Michael Laurence^[5]	2002 – 2003
150	Brian Gibberd^[5]	2003 – 2004
151	Harvey White^[5]	2004 – 2005
152	John Maynard^[5]	2005 – 2006
153	Stephen Challacombe^[5]	2006 – 2007
154	Neil Weir^[5]	2007 – 2008
155	Richard Cory-Pearce^[5]	2008 – 2009
156	Nicholas Cambridge^[70]	2009 – 2011
157	Ian Stephen^[5]	2011 – 2012
158	Prokar Dasgupta^[71]	2012 – 2013
159	Sue Weir^[5]	2013 – 2014

Nº	Name (Birth–Death)	Term
160	Nigel Thomas^[5]	2015 – 2017
161	John Skipper^[5]	2017 – 2018
162	Stephen Challacombe^[72]	2018 – 2019
163	Susan Standring^[5]	2019 – 2021
164	Richard Pusey^[5]	2021 – 2022
165	Mike Gleeson^[5]	2022 – 2023
166	John Tricker^[5]	2023 – 2024
167	Cathy Corbishley^[5]	2024 – 2026

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