Thomas Bonham M.D. (c. 1564c. 1628) was an English physician, now remembered for his involvement in

Dr. Bonham's Case ''Thomas Bonham v College of Physicians'', commonly known as ''Dr. Bonham's Case'' or simply ''Bonham's Case'', was a case decided in 1610 by the Court of Common Pleas in England, under Sir Edward Coke, the court's Chief Justice, in which it ...

, of legal rather than medical significance.

Life

Bonham was educated at

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corpo ...

, where he graduated B.A. in 1581, and M.A. in 1585. He was incorporated B.A. at Oxford in 1584, and on 9 July 1611 was M.D. there. He practised his profession in London, and was an assistant to the Society of Medicine-Chirurgians. His death occurred about 1629.

''Bonham's Case''

Bonham was a physician by qualification, with a Cambridge medical degree (date now unclear), styling himself a medical doctor by 1602. He was not thereby qualified to practise in London by administering internal remedies, without a license from the

College of Physicians of London The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) is a British professional membership body dedicated to improving the practice of medicine, chiefly through the accreditation of physicians by examination. Founded by royal charter from King Henry VIII in 1 ...

. Bonham took the side of the surgeons, then a separate profession, who in 1605 petitioned parliament, unsuccessfully, for full rights as doctors. Then putting himself forward for examination by the College of Physicians in 1605, and 1606, he had a confrontation with Henry Atkins of the College on the second occasion. Finding himself in

Newgate Prison Newgate Prison was a prison at the corner of Newgate Street and Old Bailey Street just inside the City of London, England, originally at the site of Newgate, a gate in the Roman London Wall. Built in the 12th century and demolished in 1904, t ...

for contempt of the College, he was freed by his lawyer under

habeas corpus ''Habeas corpus'' (; from Medieval Latin, ) is a recourse in law through which a person can report an unlawful detention or imprisonment to a court and request that the court order the custodian of the person, usually a prison official, t ...

. Still faced with a large fine from the College for unlicensed practice, Bonham pursued the matter by legal means, which set the

Court of Common Pleas A court of common pleas is a common kind of court structure found in various common law jurisdictions. The form originated with the Court of Common Pleas at Westminster, which was created to permit individuals to press civil grievances against one ...

against the

Court of King's Bench The King's Bench (), or, during the reign of a female monarch, the Queen's Bench ('), refers to several contemporary and historical courts in some Commonwealth jurisdictions. * Court of King's Bench (England), a historic court court of common ...

Sir Edward Coke ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as p ...

in the Common Pleas ruled for Bonham, who was again in prison, and fined the College, at the same time commenting on the College's status (a charter confirmed by parliament) as potentially subject to the

common law In law, common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions."The common law is not a brooding omnipresen ...

. Coke's decision outraged the king and some leading lawyers, and continued to resonate for two centuries.

Works

Bonham left books and papers to his servant, Edward Poeton, by whom they were edited and published as ''The Chyrurgians Closet, or Antidotarie Chyrurgicall'', London 1630. The work was dedicated by Poeton, then residing at

Petworth Petworth is a small town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Chichester (district), Chichester District of West Sussex, England. It is located at the junction of the A272 road, A272 east–west road from Heathfield, East Sussex ...

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

, to Frances, Dowager Countess of Exeter, second wife of

Thomas Cecil, 1st Earl of Exeter Thomas Cecil, 1st Earl of Exeter, KG (5 May 1542 – 8 February 1623), known as Lord Burghley from 1598 to 1605, was an English politician, courtier and soldier. Family Thomas Cecil was the elder son of William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley, b ...

Notes

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Bonham, Thomas English surgeons 17th-century English medical doctors 16th-century English people 1560s births 1628 deaths Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge