East London Street, Edinburgh - geograph

William Williams

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This soci ...

PRCVS (1832–1900) was a Welsh veterinary surgeon who served as principal of the

Dick Veterinary College The Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, commonly referred to as the Dick Vet, is the veterinary school of the University of Edinburgh in Scotland and part of the College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine the head of which is Moira Whyt ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

(1867–73) and as president of the

Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) is the regulatory body for veterinary surgeons in the United Kingdom, established in 1844 by royal charter. It is responsible for monitoring the educational, ethical and clinical standards of the v ...

(1879). He was the founder and principal of the rival New Veterinary College (1873–1904), originally housed in Gayfield House, Edinburgh. He wrote several standard works on

veterinary science Veterinary medicine is the branch of medicine that deals with the prevention, management, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, disorder, and injury in animals. Along with this, it deals with animal rearing, husbandry, breeding, research on nutri ...

Life

Williams was born in Bontnewydd near

St Asaph St Asaph (; cy, Llanelwy "church on the Elwy") is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and community (Wales), community on the River Elwy in Denbighshire, Wales. In the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 Census it had a population of 3,355 ...

, north Wales, in 1832. As with many early vets, he appears to have had a background in farriery. He enrolled in the new

under William Dick in 1855.The New Veterinary College, Edinburgh, 1873–1904, C. M. Warwick and A. A. MacDonald He qualified

MRCVS The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) is the regulatory body for veterinary surgeons in the United Kingdom, established in 1844 by royal charter. It is responsible for monitoring the educational, ethical and clinical standards of the v ...

in 1857, and set up a veterinary practice in

Bradford Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...

, Yorkshire, England. In 1867 he returned to his alma mater in Edinburgh to become third principal of the

, replacing the brief principalship of Colonel James H. B. Hallen

who was urgently called to India to address an outbreak of cattle plague.

Walter George Burnett Dickinson Major Walter George Burnett Dickinson FRSE FRCVS TD (22 April 1858 – 6 August 1914) was a British veterinary surgeon, and (officially rather than correctly) one of the first "victims" of the First World War. He did not die in battle, but of a ...

was amongst his many students. In 1868 Williams was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established i ...

his proposer being

Sir William Turner Sir William Turner (7 January 1832, in Lancaster, Lancashire, Lancaster – 15 February 1916, in Edinburgh) was an English anatomist and was the Principal of the University of Edinburgh from 1903 to 1916. Life Turner was born in Lancaster ...

. In January 1869 he and fellow veterinary professor

Allen Dalzell Professor Allen Dalzell MD FRSE (1821–1869) was a Scottish chemist and pharmacologist. He was Professor of Chemistry and Materia Medica at the Dick Veterinary College in Edinburgh. Life He was born in Madras in India in 1821 to a father in th ...

were sued in the Scottish Court of session by a former colleague, John Adam McBride, leading to a great deal of ill-will in the college. A lot of the ill-will focussed upon Mary Dick, William Dick's sister, who held a high degree of control over the college after her brother's death. In 1873 Williams founded the New Veterinary College in Edinburgh, in direct competition to William Dick's College. The new college was housed in Gayfield House on East London Street. His staff included Dr

Stevenson Macadam Stevenson Macadam (27 April 1829 – 24 January 1901) was a Scottish scientist, analytical chemist, lecturer, and academic author. He was a founding member of the Institute of Chemistry of Great Britain (now the Royal Society of Chemistry) an ...

. In 1883, due to growing success, the college commissioned

William Hamilton Beattie William Hamilton Beattie (10 December 1842 – 29 November 1898) was a Scottish architect specialising in hotel design in the late 19th century. He was the eldest son of George Beattie (1810-1872) an architect/builder in Edinburgh and ...

to design a purpose-built building on the east side of Elm Row, at the head of

Leith Walk Leith Walk is one of the longest streets in Edinburgh, Scotland, and is the main road connecting the centre of the city to Leith. Forming most of the A900 road, it slopes downwards from Picardy Place at the south-western end of the street to the ...

where it remained until closure in 1904. The building, later also serving as a BBC Scotland studio, is now converted into student housing. Williams died on 12 November 1900, at 1 Crawford Place, Edinburgh. He was interred at

Warriston Cemetery Warriston Cemetery is a cemetery in Edinburgh. It lies in Warriston, one of the northern suburbs of Edinburgh, Scotland. It was built by the then newly-formed Edinburgh Cemetery Company, and occupies around of land on a slightly sloping si ...

. His white marble stone is flat to the ground and disappearing from view. It lies on the upper section of the vaults to the west side.

Family

Williams married Caroline Owen. Her death in 1867 affected Williams greatly. Their son

William Owen Williams William Owen Williams FRSE FRCVS (1860–1911) was a Yorkshire-born veterinarian of Welsh descent. Life He was born in Bradford in 1860, the son of William Williams and his wife Caroline Owen. Caroline died in 1867 when young William was onl ...

(1860–1911) was also a veterinarian and worked with his father at the Elm Row college. Following his father's death the college lost momentum and in 1904 William Owen Williams moved to Liverpool to set up a new veterinary college, being officially Professor of Veterinary Medicine and Surgery at

Liverpool University , mottoeng = These days of peace foster learning , established = 1881 – University College Liverpool1884 – affiliated to the federal Victoria Universityhttp://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/2004/4 University of Manchester Act 200 ...

Artistic recognition

Williams was one of twenty "shadow portraits" created in 2005 of the various Dick Vet Principals. The portraits were moved from Summerhall to Easter Bush when the old college closed.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, William 1832 births 1900 deaths British veterinarians Welsh scientists Welsh science writers Veterinary scientists Welsh scholars and academics British academic administrators Founders of academic institutions Burials at Warriston Cemetery Academics of the University of Edinburgh Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Alumni of the University of Edinburgh 19th-century Welsh writers 19th-century Welsh scientists Fellows of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons