Samuel Cartwright FRS (1789 – 10 June 1864) was a British dentist.
Life
Cartwright, the son of Thomas Cartwright and his wife Catherine (née Bentley) was born in High Holborn, on 7 September 1788. The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography erroneously gives his birthplace and date as
Northampton
Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...
in 1789, and, perhaps correctly, states that he was originally an ivory turner. The ODNB claim that "he came to
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
at an early age, wholly dependent upon his own exertions for his daily support", should be treated with a pinch of salt. He started his career as a mechanical assistant to Charles Dumergue of
Piccadilly
Piccadilly () is a road in the City of Westminster, London, to the south of Mayfair, between Hyde Park Corner in the west and Piccadilly Circus in the east. It is part of the A4 road that connects central London to Hammersmith, Earl's Court, ...
, dentist to
George IV
George IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from the death of his father, King George III, on 29 January 1820, until his own death ten y ...
. He demonstrated his skills as an ivory turner constructing dentures.
[G C Boase: ''Cartwright, Samuel (1789–1864'', rev. Patrick Wallis, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press 2004, accessed 26 June 2015](_blank)
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During this service he found time to give a regular attendance on anatomical and surgical lectures. In 1811 he started in practice on his own account at 32 Old Burlington Street, and soon acquired a reputation second to that of none, either before or since, who have practised the same branch of the healing art. He was as remarkable for the correctness and rapidity of his judgment as he was for marvellous dexterity in all manipulatory processes. During a great part of his career he was in the habit of seeing from forty to fifty patients every day, and this for months together, standing constantly from seven o'clock in the morning until the same hour in the evening, and yet in every case doing what he had to do without the slightest appearance of hurry or fatigue.
He did much to improve and elevate his profession, and is said for some years to have been in the receipt of an income of upwards of £10,000. He became a fellow of the Linnean Society
The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature colle ...
on 19 Nov. 1833, 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 science, natural knowledge, incl ...
on 11 Feb. 1841, and was also a fellow of the Geological Society
The Geological Society of London, known commonly as the Geological Society, is a learned society based in the United Kingdom. It is the oldest national geological society in the world and the largest in Europe with more than 12,000 Fellows.
Fe ...
, but never found time to make any contributions to the ''Proceedings'' of these institutions. His pleasing manners, liberal hospitality, and professional fame acquired for him the friendship of nearly all the most distinguished in science, literature, and art of his day.
He continued in practice at Old Burlington Street until 1857, when he retired, and in the following year had an apoplectic seizure which resulted in palsy, under which he laboured for the rest of his life.
His son, Samuel Cartwright junior FRCS LDS with whom he had a rather fractious relationship ultimately took over the practice and was in turn succeeded by his sons Samuel Hamilton and Alexander Cartwright.
He died at his residence, Nizell's House, near Tonbridge
Tonbridge ( ) is a market town in Kent, England, on the River Medway, north of Royal Tunbridge Wells, south west of Maidstone and south east of London. In the administrative borough of Tonbridge and Malling, it had an estimated population ...
, on 10 June 1864.
Obituaries
Obituaries of Samuel Cartwright appeared in the British Journal of Dental Science and the Dental Review.''Dental Review'' 1864; 1: 305
References
;Attribution
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cartwright, Samuel
1789 births
1864 deaths
People from Northampton
English dentists
Fellows of the Linnean Society of London
Fellows of the Royal Society
19th-century dentists