Sir James Earle (1755–1817) was a celebrated British surgeon, renowned for his skill in

lithotomy Lithotomy from Greek for "lithos" (stone) and "tomos" ( cut), is a surgical method for removal of calculi, stones formed inside certain organs, such as the urinary tract (kidney stones), bladder ( bladder stones), and gallbladder (gallstones), ...

. Earle was born in London. After studying medicine at

St Bartholomew's Hospital St Bartholomew's Hospital, commonly known as Barts, is a teaching hospital located in the City of London. It was founded in 1123 and is currently run by Barts Health NHS Trust. History Early history Barts was founded in 1123 by Rahere (die ...

, he became the institution's assistant surgeon in 1770. Due to the temporary incapacity of one of the hospital's surgeons, Earle performed one-third of St Bartholomew's operations between 1776 and 1784. At the end of this phenomenal feat, Earle was elected a surgeon on 22 May 1784 and remained until 1815. Just two years later, he was appointed surgeon-extraordinary to

George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...

. In March 1794 Earle 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 ...

. He was knighted in 1807. He married the daughter of

Percivall Pott Percivall Pott (6 January 1714, in London – 22 December 1788) was an English surgeon, one of the founders of orthopaedics, and the first scientist to demonstrate that a cancer may be caused by an environmental carcinogen. Career He was the ...

, the hospital's senior surgeon, and their third son,

Henry Earle Henry Earle FRS (1789–1838) was an English surgeon. Biography Earle was the third son of Sir James Earle, was born 28 June 1789, in Hanover Square, London. His mother was daughter of Percival Pott, the great surgeon. He was apprenticed to ...

, also became a surgeon at St Bartholomew's. Earle wrote a memoir of Pott that was subsequently attached to his complete works (1790) and a biography of William Austin. Earle was renowned for his surgery skills, particularly in

. He also published several medical works: ''A Treatise on the Hydrocele'' (1791, with additions in 1793, 1796, and 1805), ''Practical Observations on the Operation for Stone'' (1793), ''A New Method of Operation for Cataract'' (1801), and ''Letter on Fractures of the Lower Limbs'' (1807).Moore, Norman and Michael Bevan.
Sir James Earle
" ''

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

''. Oxford University Press (2004). Retrieved on 21 July 2007.

References

1755 births 1813 deaths English surgeons Fellows of the Royal Society {{UK-med-bio-stub