Presidents of the Hunterian Society
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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]
| Nº | Portrait | 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
|
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] | ||
1841 - 1851
| Nº | Portrait | 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 | |
1851 - 1863
| Nº | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) | Term | Oration/notes | Base |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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] | ||
1863 - 1872
| Nº | Portrait | 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" | |
1872 - 1895
| Nº | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) | Term | Oration/notes | Base |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | |||
1896 - 1908
| Nº | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) | Term | Oration/notes | Base |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | |||
1908 - 1915
| Nº | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) | Term | Oration/notes | Base |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | |||
1915 - 1930
| Nº | Portrait | 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 | |||
1931 - 1940
| Nº | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) | Term | Oration/notes | Base |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | ||
1945 - 1960
| 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 | ||
1960 - 1970
| 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 | ||
1970 - 1985
| 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 | ||
1985 - 2000
| 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 |
2000 - 2015
| Nº | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) | Term | Oration/notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | ||
2015 - 2025
| Nº | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) | Term | Oration/notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | ||


