William Augustus Guy (13 June 1810 – 10 September 1885) was a British physician and medical statistician.

Life

He was born in

Chichester Chichester () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 edition. Publi ...

and educated at

Christ's Hospital Christ's Hospital is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 11–18) with a royal charter located to the south of Horsham in West Sussex. The school was founded in 1552 and received its first royal charter in 1553. ...

and

Guy's Hospital Guy's Hospital is an NHS hospital in the borough of Southwark in central London. It is part of Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust and one of the institutions that comprise the King's Health Partners, an academic health science centre. ...

; he then studied at the

University of Heidelberg } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...

and the

University of Paris , image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of Arms , latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis , motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin) , mottoeng = Here and a ...

before getting a Bachelor of Medicine degree from the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...

, 1837. In 1842, he was appointed professor of forensic medicine at King's College London and assistant physician at King's College Hospital, 1842; he was dean of the faculty of medicine, 1846–58. He also served as Medical Superintendent at Millbank Prison from 1859 to 1869, acting as a semi-official government advisor on prison health, diet and hygiene. He edited the

Journal of the Statistical Society of London The ''Journal of the Royal Statistical Society'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal of statistics. It comprises three series and is published by Wiley for the Royal Statistical Society. History The Statistical Society of London was founded ...

(now the

Royal Statistical Society The Royal Statistical Society (RSS) is an established statistical society. It has three main roles: a British learned society for statistics, a professional body for statisticians and a charity which promotes statistics for the public good. ...

), 1852–6 and was its president, 1873-5. The Society still presents the Guy Medals (in gold, silver and bronze) in his memory. He was vice-president of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

, 1876–7, and

Croonian The Croonian Medal and Lecture is a prestigious award, a medal, and lecture given at the invitation of the Royal Society and the Royal College of Physicians. Among the papers of William Croone at his death in 1684, was a plan to endow a single ...

(1860) and

Lumleian The Lumleian Lectures are a series of annual lectures started in 1582 by the Royal College of Physicians and currently run by the Lumleian Trust. The name commemorates John Lumley, 1st Baron Lumley, who with Richard Caldwell of the College endowed ...

(1868) lecturer, and Harveian (1875) orator at the

Royal College of Physicians The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) is a British professional membership body dedicated to improving the practice of medicine, chiefly through the accreditation of physicians by examination. Founded by royal charter from King Henry VIII in 1 ...

. He was a founder of the

Health of Towns Association The Health of Towns Association was formed at a meeting in Exeter Hall, London on 11 December 1844 and was a key organisation in the development of public health in the United Kingdom. Its formation followed the 1843 establishment of the Royal C ...

and a member of the Commission on Penal Servitude and Criminal Lunacy.

Works

Guy's ''Principles of Forensic Medicine'', first published in 1844, became a standard work; the fourth and later editions were edited by Dr.

David Ferrier Sir David Ferrier FRS (13 January 1843 – 19 March 1928) was a pioneering Scottish neurologist and psychologist. Ferrier conducted experiments on the brains of animals such as monkeys and in 1881 became the first scientist to be prosecuted ...

. Other major works were: * ''R. Hooper's Physician's Vade-Mecum; enlarged and improved by W.A.G.'', (1842 and many subsequent editions). Based on the work by Robert Hooper. * T. Walker's ''Original'', edited with additions by W.A.G. 1875; another edition 1885. Based on the publication ''The Original'' by Thomas Walker. * ''Public Health; a Popular Introduction to Sanitary Science'', pt. i. 1870; pt. ii. 1874. * ''The Factors of the Unsound Mind, with special reference to the Plea of Insanity in Criminal Cases'', 1881. * ''John Howard's Winter's Journey'', 1882. Guy published lectures, and contributed papers to the Statistical Society, including the ''Influence of Employments on Health'', ''The Duration of Life among different Classes'', ''Temperance and its relation to Mortality'', ''The Mortality of London Hospitals'', ''Prison Dietaries'', and ''John Howard's True Place in History''.

References

* . ;Attribution * ;Obituaries * Journal of the Statistical Society of London, Vol. 48, No. 4 (Dec., 1885), pp. 650–651 * The Lancet (19 Sept 1885)

External links

Royal Society citation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Guy, William 1810 births 1885 deaths People from Chichester 19th-century English medical doctors Fellows of the Royal Society Presidents of the Royal Statistical Society British statisticians Academics of King's College London