William Harcourt Ranking (1814 – 4 June 1867) was an English physician, medical editor, and photographer. After studying anatomy and physiology at the Webb Street School of Anatomy and Medicine, Southwark, W. Harcourt Ranking matriculated in October 1831 at St Catharine's College, Cambridge, where he graduated M.B. in 1837 and M.D. in 1843. He visited Paris before he was appointed physician to the Bury and Suffolk General Hospital in 1840. In 1847 he was appointed physician to the

Norfolk and Norwich Hospital The Norfolk and Norwich Hospital stood on a site in St Stephen's Road, Norwich, Norfolk, England. Founded in 1771, it closed in 2003 after its services had been transferred to the new Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital. Many of the building ...

. He was elected FRCP in 1860. He contributed to the study of scrofula by translating Jean Lugol's 1844 treatise ''Recherches et observations sur les causes des maladies scrofuleuses''. Ranking also lectured on

diphtheria Diphtheria is an infection caused by the bacterium '' Corynebacterium diphtheriae''. Most infections are asymptomatic or have a mild clinical course, but in some outbreaks more than 10% of those diagnosed with the disease may die. Signs and s ...

. ''The half-yearly abstract of the medical sciences: being a digest of British and Continental medicine, and the progress of medicine and the collateral sciences'' was published from 1845 to 1873. It was published in London by

John Churchill & Sons John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

and in Philadelphia by Lindsay & Blakiston. In 1853 the title of the ''Provincial Medical and Surgical Journal'' became ''

The British Medical Journal ''The BMJ'' is a weekly peer-reviewed medical trade journal, published by the trade union the British Medical Association (BMA). ''The BMJ'' has editorial freedom from the BMA. It is one of the world's oldest general medical journals. Origina ...

''. As editor of the journal, Ranking was co-editor with J. H. Walsh. Ranking and Walsh's editorship was preceded by that of Robert Streeten and followed by that of John Rose Cormack. Ranking was a co-proprietor in the privately owned Heigham Hall Lunatic Asylum, Norwich, a director of Norwich Union Life Assurance Society, and a member of the Botanical Society of London. He was the second president of the Norwich Photographic Society. (The Society's first president was Thomas D. Eaton (1800–1871).) In 1843 in

Marylebone Marylebone (usually , also , ) is a district in the West End of London, in the City of Westminster. Oxford Street, Europe's busiest shopping street, forms its southern boundary. An ancient parish and latterly a metropolitan borough, it me ...

, London, he married Louise Leathes Mortlock, a daughter of Sir John Cheetham Mortlock, of the Mortlock banking family. William and Louise Ranking were the parents of four daughters.

Selected publications

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References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ranking, William Harcourt 1814 births 1867 deaths 19th-century British medical doctors Medical journal editors English medical writers Alumni of St Catharine's College, Cambridge Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians