Sir William Job Collins, (9 May 1859 – 11 December 1946) 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 ...

, anti-vaccinationist and later a Liberal politician and legislator.

Background

Collins was born at 46 Gloucester Road, Regent's Park, LondonWilliam Job Collins at the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography – subscription required, accessed 30 July 2012
/ref> the eldest son of William Job Collins (also a doctor) and Mary Anne Francisca (née Treacher). He attended University College School, London, and began his medical training at St Bartholomew's Hospital, where he became ophthalmic house surgeon, extern midwifery assistant and assistant demonstrator of anatomy at the medical school. His '' Times'' obituary reported that "his further progress toward the staff of the school was barred by the heterodox views he held, and freely expressed, on the subject of vaccination." He subsequently became a Fellow, Scholar and gold medallist in Sanitary Science and Obstetrics at the University of London, graduating as BSc in 1880 and MD in 1881. He specialised in anatomy and ophthalmology, in 1918 receiving the University of Oxford Doyne Ophthalmic Medal. He served two terms as Vice-Chancellor of the University of London in 1907–1909 and 1911–12.

Anti-vaccination

Collins was an

anti-vaccinationist Vaccine hesitancy is a delay in acceptance, or refusal, of vaccines despite the availability of vaccine services and supporting evidence. The term covers refusals to vaccinate, delaying vaccines, accepting vaccines but remaining uncertain abou ...

and spoke at meetings for the London Society for the Abolition of Compulsory Vaccination.Williamson, Stanley. (2007). ''The Vaccination Controversy: The Rise, Reign, and Fall of Compulsory Vaccination for Smallpox''. Liverpool University Press. p. 222. Along with Charles Creighton and Edgar Crookshank, he became one of a small number of medical critics of smallpox vaccination in the late 19th century. Collins commented that: He was a member of the Royal Commission on Vaccination, 1889–1896. In 1889, the Royal Commission began an examination of vaccination. Of the fifteen members of the Commission only Collins and James Allanson Picton were anti-vaccinationists.

Political career

In later life he turned to politics, elected as member of London County Council for St Pancras in 1892, reaching the office of chairman in 1897. In 1904, Collins was the first chairman of the education committee, which laid the foundation of the education service in London. He was elected Liberal Member of Parliament (MP) for St Pancras West, 1906–1910, and for Derby in 1917–18. In parliament he was particularly instrumental in promoting the Metropolitan Ambulance Act, that resulted in the establishment of the London ambulance service. He served on various government committees, including the Vivisection Committee 1906–1912, as British plenipotentiary at the international opium conferences at The Hague, 1911–1914, the Sussex Agricultural Wages Committee, and the Select Committee on the

Hop A hop is a type of jump. Hop or hops may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Hop'' (film), a 2011 film * Hop! Channel, an Israeli TV channel * ''House of Payne'', or ''HOP'', an American sitcom * Lindy Hop, a swing dance of the 1920s and ...

Industry. He was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...

in the

1902 Coronation Honours The 1902 Coronation Honours were announced on 26 June 1902, the date originally set for the coronation of King Edward VII. The coronation was postponed because the King had been taken ill two days before, but he ordered that the honours list shou ...

, receiving the accolade from King Edward VII at

Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a London royal residence and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and royal hospitality. It ...

on 24 October that year. He was later appointed a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (KCVO) in 1914, and served as Vice-Lieutenant of the County of London from 1925 to 1945.

Personal life

On 2 August 1898 Collins married Jane Stevenson Wilson (1856–1936), daughter of

John Wilson John Wilson may refer to: Academics * John Wilson (mathematician) (1741–1793), English mathematician and judge * John Wilson (historian) (1799–1870), author of ''Our Israelitish Origin'' (1840), a founding text of British Israelism * John Wil ...

, MP for Glasgow Govan. Jane was a Sister at the National Temperance Hospital in Hampstead Road, north London. Collins died aged 87 at 1 Albert Terrace, Regent's Park where he had lived since the age of two.

Publications

*1883 ''Sir Lyon Playfair's Logic'' LONDON: E.W. ALLEN *1883 ''A Review of the Norwich Vaccination Inquiry'' LONDON: E.W. ALLEN *1884 ''Specificity and Evolution in Disease''

References

COLLINS, Sir William Job (1859–1946)
Biography, ref: GB 0096 MS 812, Senate House Library, University of London. *Obituaries, Sir William Collins, ''The Times'', Saturday, 14 December 1946 *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Collins, William 1859 births 1946 deaths People educated at University College School Knights Bachelor Knights Commander of the Royal Victorian Order British anti-vaccination activists British surgeons Fellows of the Royal College of Surgeons Members of London County Council Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1906–1910 UK MPs 1910 UK MPs 1910–1918 Alumni of the Medical College of St Bartholomew's Hospital Progressive Party (London) politicians Vice-Chancellors of the University of London