William Clift
FRS (14 February 1775 – 20 June 1849) was a British illustrator and conservator.
Early life
Clift was born in Burcombe near
Bodmin
Bodmin () is a town and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated south-west of Bodmin Moor.
The extent of the civil parish corresponds fairly closely to that of the town so is mostly urban in character. It is bordere ...
in
Cornwall
Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...
. He was the youngest of seven children and grew up in poverty following his father's early death.
While attending school in Bodmin, William's talent for drawing attracted the attention of the Prior Colonel Walter Raleigh Gilbert’s wife. Mrs. Gilbert noticed Clift had a natural talent for drawing, visible through his eagerness "to come into her kitchen in Cornwall and make drawings with chalk on the floor." She soon recommended William for an apprenticeship with
John Hunter, a celebrated surgeon.
Clift arrived in London on 14 February 1792 and was taken on as an unpaid apprentice "to write and make drawings, to dissect and take part in the charge of the museum" which his master had established at the back of his house in
Leicester Square
Leicester Square ( ) is a pedestrianised square in the West End of London, England. It was laid out in 1670 as Leicester Fields, which was named after the recently built Leicester House, itself named after Robert Sidney, 2nd Earl of Leicester ...
. This arrangement continued until Hunter's death on 16 October 1793.
![Grave of William Clift in Highgate Cemetery](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/82/Grave_of_William_Clift_in_Highgate_Cemetery.jpg)
Career
After Hunter's death, Clift was engaged for six years by the surgeon's executors to watch over the collections. He lived with an old housekeeper in the house in Castle Street, since his pay was limited to 'seven shillings a week'. He was solely responsible for the safety of collections. He copied and preserved around one half of Hunter's manuscripts that otherwise would have perished. When the collection was purchased by Parliament it was reportedly in a better state than it was at its owner's death. When the newly incorporated
Royal College of Surgeons
The Royal College of Surgeons is an ancient college (a form of corporation) established in England to regulate the activity of surgeons. Derivative organisations survive in many present and former members of the Commonwealth. These organisations a ...
agreed to take charge of the collection in 1800 it agreed to retain Clift as its Conservator, rewarding his services with a salary of about £100 a year. From that date, his time and talent were exclusively devoted to the advancement of
comparative anatomy
Comparative anatomy is the study of similarities and differences in the anatomy of different species. It is closely related to evolutionary biology and phylogeny (the evolution of species).
The science began in the classical era, continuing in t ...
and
physiology
Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemical ...
. He lived to see the museum 'enriched, enlarged, and worthily displayed and illustrated.' Under his supervision, Hunter's collections were successfully relocated twice, first in 1806 to a temporary location and then in 1813 to the College museum.
Personal life
Clift married Caroline Amelia Pope in 1799, at
St. Martin's-in-the-Fields in London and remained with her until her death in April 1849. A few weeks later, on 20 June 1849, Clift died at Stanhope Cottage, Hampstead Road, London. They were both buried in
Highgate cemetery
Highgate Cemetery is a place of burial in north London, England. There are approximately 170,000 people buried in around 53,000 graves across the West and East Cemeteries. Highgate Cemetery is notable both for some of the people buried there as ...
.
Clift's only son, William Home Clift, assisted his father in the museum. He was born in 1803 and died in 1833. His only daughter, Caroline Amelia Clift, was married at New St. Pancras Church on 20 July 1835 to
Professor (later Sir Richard) Owen, and died at Sheen Lodge, Richmond Park, on 7 May 1873, age 70.
Legacy
Clift achieved respect and popularity within the scientific community of his time. Dr. South spoke of him as 'a kindly-hearted creature, always ready to impart and not to appropriate information,' and with a 'head crammed full of knowledge.'
Benjamin Brodie the elder praised his industry and his thirst for the acquisition of knowledge, his sagacity and keen observation. He was esteemed by Sir
Joseph Banks
Sir Joseph Banks, 1st Baronet, (19 June 1820) was an English naturalist, botanist, and patron of the natural sciences.
Banks made his name on the 1766 natural-history expedition to Newfoundland and Labrador. He took part in Captain James ...
, Dr.
Wollaston, Sir
Humphry Davy
Sir Humphry Davy, 1st Baronet, (17 December 177829 May 1829) was a British chemist and inventor who invented the Davy lamp and a very early form of arc lamp. He is also remembered for isolating, by using electricity, several elements for t ...
. Through the influence of the latter, he was elected
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 8 May 1823.
He was a member of the Chemical Society, a group of members of the Royal Society who submitted papers to the parent institution with the object of promoting the study of animal chemistry.
Gideon Mantell
Gideon Algernon Mantell MRCS FRS (3 February 1790 – 10 November 1852) was a British obstetrician, geologist and palaeontologist. His attempts to reconstruct the structure and life of ''Iguanodon'' began the scientific study of dinosaurs: in ...
acknowledged his debt to Clift in the original memoir on the ''Iguanodon.''
Philosophical Transactions
''Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society'' is a scientific journal published by the Royal Society. In its earliest days, it was a private venture of the Royal Society's secretary. It was established in 1665, making it the first journa ...
1825, p. 181 Baron Cuvier
Jean Léopold Nicolas Frédéric, Baron Cuvier (; 23 August 1769 – 13 May 1832), known as Georges Cuvier, was a French natural history, naturalist and zoology, zoologist, sometimes referred to as the "founding father of paleontology". Cuvier ...
acknowledged his assistance in the concluding volume of his work on fossil remains. Clift's knowledge of
osteology
Osteology () is the scientific study of bones, practised by osteologists. A subdiscipline of anatomy, anthropology, and paleontology, osteology is the detailed study of the structure of bones, skeletal elements, teeth, microbone morphology, funct ...
is referred to by Sir
Charles Lyell
Sir Charles Lyell, 1st Baronet, (14 November 1797 – 22 February 1875) was a Scottish geologist who demonstrated the power of known natural causes in explaining the earth's history. He is best known as the author of ''Principles of Geolo ...
and his researches in anatomical science were referenced by Sir Benjamin Brodie.
Clift's drawings were featured in ''A Series of Engravings … to illustrate the Morbid Anatomy of some of the most important parts of the Human Body'', by
Matthew Baillie
Matthew Baillie FRS (27 October 1761 – 23 September 1823) was a British physician and pathologist, credited with first identifying transposition of the great vessels (TGV) and situs inversus.
Early life and education
He was born in the mans ...
. Its initial advertisement announced that 'the drawings will be made by a young man, who is not only very well skilled in his own arts, but who possesses a considerable share of knowledge in anatomy.' Clift's illustrations featured in Sir
Everard Home
Sir Everard Home, 1st Baronet, FRS (6 May 1756, in Kingston upon Hull – 31 August 1832, in London) was a British surgeon.
Home was born in Kingston-upon-Hull and educated at Westminster School. He gained a scholarship to Trinity College, Ca ...
's papers on ''Comparative Anatomy'' in the ''Philosophical Transactions''.
In 1861 Sir
Richard Owen
Sir Richard Owen (20 July 1804 – 18 December 1892) was an English biologist, comparative anatomist and paleontologist. Owen is generally considered to have been an outstanding naturalist with a remarkable gift for interpreting fossils.
Owe ...
published ''Essays and Observations on Natural History, Anatomy, &c., by John Hunter''. These were printed from Clift's copies of Hunter's original manuscripts. Most of the original manuscripts had been destroyed while in the care of Sir Everard Home in 1823. When Clift was told of this destruction he is reported to have burst into tears saying, "Well, Sir Everard, there is but one thing more to be done, that is to destroy the collection".
He was the compiler of the catalog of the osteology in the
Hunterian Museum
The Hunterian is a complex of museums located in and operated by the University of Glasgow in Glasgow, Scotland. It is the oldest museum in Scotland. It covers the Hunterian Museum, the Hunterian Art Gallery, the Mackintosh House, the Zoology M ...
, and he gave valuable evidence to the parliamentary committee on medical education in 1834. Dr. Westby-Gibson is the owner of two manuscripts in shorthand, giving the particulars of forty-nine lectures delivered by Dr. Haighton at
Guy's Hospital
Guy's Hospital is an NHS hospital in the borough of Southwark in central London. It is part of Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust and one of the institutions that comprise the King's Health Partners, an academic health science centre.
...
1814–15, which are believed to be the work of Clift. His portrait, from a daguerreotype, is in
Claudet's ''Historical Gallery'' and his bust in plaster, with the date 1843, is placed on the entrance door to the western museum of the College of Surgeons.
Notes
References
*''
Gentleman's Magazine
''The Gentleman's Magazine'' was a monthly magazine founded in London, England, by Edward Cave in January 1731. It ran uninterrupted for almost 200 years, until 1922. It was the first to use the term ''magazine'' (from the French ''magazine'' ...
''. August 1849, pp. 209–10
*Appendix to Owen's edition of Hunter's Essays and Observations, ii. 493–500
*Owen's Descriptive Catalogue of Comparative Anatomy in Museum of Surgeons, v. pp. xii–xiii
*Abstract of Papers of Royal Society, v. 876–80
*Sir James Paget's Hunterian Oration, 51–2, 60–1
*Sir W. Lawrence's Hunterian Oration, 18, 59–64
*Brodie's Autobiog. 65–7
*Lyell's Letters, i. 116, 172, 176
*South's Memorials, pp. 73–5
*''Lancet'', 1849, i. 685
*
Boase and Courtney's Bibl. Cornub. i. 72, iii. 1121.
Attribution
*
External links
William Clift engravings–
Anatomia 1522–1867' digital collection, Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, University of Toronto
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clift, William
1775 births
1849 deaths
Burials at Highgate Cemetery
People from Bodmin
Fellows of the Royal Society
British naturalists