Sir William Job Collins, (9 May 1859 – 11 December 1946) was an English surgeon, anti-vaccinationist and later a

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politician and legislator.

Background

Collins was born at 46 Gloucester Road,

Regent's Park Regent's Park (officially The Regent's Park) is one of the Royal Parks of London. It occupies of high ground in north-west Inner London, administratively split between the City of Westminster and the Borough of Camden (and historically betwee ...

, 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 ("Slowly but surely") , established = , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent day school , religion = , president = , head_label = Headmaster , head = Mark Beard , r_head_label = , r_he ...

, London, and began his medical training at

St Bartholomew's Hospital St Bartholomew's Hospital, commonly known as Barts, is a teaching hospital located in the City of London. It was founded in 1123 and is currently run by Barts Health NHS Trust. History Early history Barts was founded in 1123 by Rahere (die ...

, where he became ophthalmic house surgeon, extern

midwifery Midwifery is the health science and health profession that deals with pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period (including care of the newborn), in addition to the sexual and reproductive health of women throughout their lives. In many ...

assistant and assistant demonstrator of anatomy at the medical school. His ''

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'' obituary reported that "his further progress toward the staff of the school was barred by the

heterodox In religion, heterodoxy (from Ancient Greek: , "other, another, different" + , "popular belief") means "any opinions or doctrines at variance with an official or orthodox position". Under this definition, heterodoxy is similar to unorthodoxy, w ...

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 The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

, graduating as

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in 1880 and MD in 1881. He specialised in anatomy and ophthalmology, in 1918 receiving the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

Doyne Ophthalmic Medal. He served two terms as

Vice-Chancellor A chancellor is a leader of a college or university, usually either the executive or ceremonial head of the university or of a university campus within a university system. In most Commonwealth and former Commonwealth nations, the chancellor ...

of the

in 1907–1909 and 1911–12.

Anti-vaccination

Collins was an anti-vaccinationist and spoke at meetings for the

London Society for the Abolition of Compulsory Vaccination The National Anti-Vaccination League (NAVL) was a British anti-vaccination organization that was formed in 1896 from earlier smaller organizations. Historically, the League had opposed compulsory vaccination, particularly against smallpox. It was ...

.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 Edgar March Crookshank (2 October 1858 – 1 July 1928) was an English physician and microbiologist. Biography Crookshank studied at King's College London and qualified for medicine in 1881. He served briefly as an assistant to Joseph Lister, a ...

, he became one of a small number of medical critics of

smallpox vaccination The smallpox vaccine is the first vaccine to be developed against a contagious disease. In 1796, British physician Edward Jenner demonstrated that an infection with the relatively mild cowpox virus conferred immunity against the deadly smallpox ...

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 James Allanson Picton (8 August 1832 – 4 February 1910) was a British independent minister, author, philosopher and Liberal politician. Picton promoted a philosophy known as Christian pantheism. Life Picton was born at Liverpool, the eldest ...

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

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

(MP) for St Pancras West, 1906–1910, and for

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby g ...

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 A ''plenipotentiary'' (from the Latin ''plenus'' "full" and ''potens'' "powerful") is a diplomat who has full powers—authorization to sign a treaty or convention on behalf of his or her sovereign. When used as a noun more generally, the wor ...

at the international opium conferences at

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, 1911–1914, the Sussex Agricultural Wages Committee, and the Select Committee on the Hop Industry. He was knighted 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 Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria and ...

at Buckingham Palace on 24 October that year. He was later appointed a Knight Commander of the

Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order (french: Ordre royal de Victoria) is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the British monarch, Canadian monarch, Australian monarch, or ...

(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, MP for Glasgow Govan. Jane was a

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at the

National Temperance Hospital The National Temperance Hospital was a hospital in Hampstead Road, London, between Mornington Crescent and Warren Street. History The hospital opened as the London Temperance Hospital on 6 October 1873 by initiative of the National Temperance Lea ...

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