William Hey (23 August 1736 – 23 March 1819) was an English
surgeon
In modern medicine, a surgeon is a medical professional who performs surgery. Although there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon usually is also a licensed physician or received the same medical training as ...
, born in
Pudsey
Pudsey is a market town in the City of Leeds, City of Leeds Borough in West Yorkshire, England. It is located midway between Bradford, Bradford city centre and Leeds city centre. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of ...
,
West Riding of Yorkshire
The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county County of York, West Riding (the area under the control of West Riding County Council), abbreviated County ...
, the son of Richard Hey and his wife Mary Simpson;
John Hey
John Hey (1734–1815) was an English cleric, the first Norrisian Professor of Theology at Cambridge.
Life
The son of Richard Hey of Pudsey and his wife Mary Simpson, and elder brother of William Hey and Richard Hey, he was born in July 1734 ...
and
Richard Hey
Richard Hey (1745–1835) was an English academic, essayist and writer against gambling.
Life
He was born at Pudsey, near Leeds, on 22 August 1745, the younger brother of John Hey and William Hey. He became a fellow of Magdalene College, Camb ...
were his brothers. He was a surgeon at
Leeds General Infirmary
Leeds General Infirmary, also known as the LGI, is a large teaching hospital based in the centre of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, and is part of the Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust. Its previous name The General Infirmary at Leeds is still ...
from its opening in a temporary building in 1776, and senior surgeon from 1773 to 1812.
He gave his name to Hey's amputation (a tarso-metatarsal amputation), Hey's internal derangement (dislocation of the semilunar cartilages of the knee joint), Hey's ligament (the semilunar lateral margin (falciform margin) of the fossa ovalis), and Hey's saw, used in skull surgery.
Hey served as
mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...
of
Leeds
Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...
in 1787–88 and 1802–03. In 1783 he was President of the
Leeds Philosophical and Literary Society
Leeds Philosophical and Literary Society is a Learned society in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was founded in 1819, and its museum collection forms the basis of Leeds City Museum, which reopened in September 2008. The printed works and ...
. He also founded the
Leeds Club. In March 1775, 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 science, natural knowledge, incl ...
. He was one of the founding members of the
Leeds Library
The Leeds Library is the oldest surviving subscription library of its type in the UK. It was founded in 1768, following an advertisement placed in the ''Leeds Intelligencer'' earlier that year. The first secretary was Joseph Priestley. In 1779 ...
, alongside his friend
Joseph Priestley
Joseph Priestley (; 24 March 1733 – 6 February 1804) was an English chemist, natural philosopher, separatist theologian, grammarian, multi-subject educator, and liberal political theorist. He published over 150 works, and conducted exp ...
and other surgeons, clergymen, leading industrialists and businessmen.
Family
Hey married Alice Banks (c.1737–1820) in 1761. Two of their sons William Hey (1772–1844) and Richard Hey became surgeons and worked with their father. William Hey III (1796–1875) was appointed Surgeon to the Leeds Infirmary in 1830, and took over the family practice in 1844.
He married the poet
Rebecca Hey
Rebecca Hey (née Roberts), also known as Mrs Hey, (1797–1859) was an English botanical artist and poet.
Biography
Rebecca Hey was born in Leeds and baptised at St. Peter on 21 April 1797. She was the third daughter of merchant Thomas R ...
in 1821.
Publications
* Observations on the Blood'', 1779
* ''Practical Observations in Surgery'', 1803
* ''Tracts and Essays, Moral and Theological, including a Defence of the Doctrines of the Divinity of Christ, and of the Atonement'', 1822
References
Further reading
*
*
External links
Hey Family genealogy(William Hey on sheet 4)
1736 births
1819 deaths
People from Pudsey
English surgeons
Mayors of Leeds
Fellows of the Royal Society
Medical doctors from Yorkshire
{{England-mayor-stub
Leeds Blue Plaques