Honoratus Leigh Thomas (1769–1846) was a Welsh surgeon. Honoratus Leigh Thomas Green

Life

The son of John Thomas of

Hawarden Hawarden (; cy, Penarlâg) is a village, community and electoral ward in Flintshire, Wales. It is part of the Deeside conurbation on the Wales-England border and is home to Hawarden Castle. In the 2011 census the ward of the same name had ...

Flintshire , settlement_type = County , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = , image_flag = , image_shield = Arms of Flint ...

, by his wife Maria, sister of

John Boydell John Boydell (; 19 January 1720 (New Style) – 12 December 1804) was a British publisher noted for his reproductions of engravings. He helped alter the trade imbalance between Britain and France in engravings and initiated a British tradition i ...

, was born on 26 March 1769. Going to London as a very young man with a letter of introduction to John Hunter, he was appointed dresser to Hunter at St. George's Hospital and a pupil of William Cumberland Cruikshank the anatomist. He obtained the diploma of the Corporation of Surgeons on 16 October 1794, was an original member of the

London College of Surgeons The Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCS England) is an independent professional body and registered charity that promotes and advances standards of surgery, surgical care for patients, and regulates surgery and dentistry in England and Wa ...

, and was elected to the fellowship on its foundation in 1843. Thomas's early professional work was in the army and navy. He passed as 1st mate, 3rd rate (navy), on 5 July 1792, and, on the recommendation of Hunter, was appointed assistant surgeon to the

Macartney Embassy The Macartney Embassy (), also called the Macartney Mission, was the first British diplomatic mission to China, which took place in 1793. It is named for its leader, George Macartney, Great Britain's first envoy to China. The goals of the missi ...

to China in the same year. In 1799 he volunteered for medical service with the Duke of York's army in the Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland. On the capitulation of the forces to the French, Thomas wished to remain with the wounded, who could not be moved. He was told that he could only stay as a prisoner, and he decided to remain in that capacity. Later he was allowed to return home. Thomas married the elder daughter of Cruikshank, and in 1800 succeeded to his father-in-law's practice in Leicester Place, where he resided for nearly half a century. Called in for consultation in medical cases, he made more of a reputation in that way than as a surgeon. At the College of Surgeons Thomas was a member of the court of assistants from 1818 to 1845, examiner from 1818 to 1845, vice-president in 1827, 1828, 1836, and 1837, and president in 1829 and 1838. In 1827 he delivered the

Hunterian oration The Hunterian Oration is a lecture of the Royal College of Surgeons of England. The oration was founded in 1813 by the executors of the will of pioneering surgeon John Hunter, his nephew Dr Matthew Baillie and his brother-in-law Sir Everard Hom ...

, with personal reminiscences of Hunter. He was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathemat ...

on 16 January 1806, and was also a member of the Imperial Academy of St. Petersburg. He died at Belmont,

Torquay Torquay ( ) is a seaside town in Devon, England, part of the unitary authority area of Torbay. It lies south of the county town of Exeter and east-north-east of Plymouth, on the north of Tor Bay, adjoining the neighbouring town of Paig ...

, on 26 June 1846.

Works

In addition to his Hunterian oration, Thomas published some papers: * ''Description of an Hermaphrodite Lamb'' * ''Anatomical Description of a Male Rhinoceros'' * ''Case of Artificial Dilatation of the Female Urethra'' * ''Case of Obstruction in the Large Intestines occasioned by a Biliary Calculus of extraordinary size''

Family

The scholar Edward Thomas was his son. His daughter Isabella married Philip Perceval Hutchins (1818–1928), and another daughter Frances married

George Payne Rainsford James George Payne Rainsford James (9 August 1799 – 9 June 1860), was an English novelist and historical writer, the son of a physician in London. He was for many years British Consul at various places in the United States and on the Continent. ...

in 1828.Stewart M. Ellis, ''Mainly Victorian'' (1924), p. 132
archive.org.
/ref>

Notes

Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Honoratus Leigh 1769 births 1846 deaths Welsh surgeons Fellows of the Royal Society People from Hawarden