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Personal papers and correspondence
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Letter from John Hunter to the governors of St George’s Hospital, 28 Feb 1793

Printed letter addressed to the governors of St George’s Hospital, signed by John Hunter at Leicester-square 28 Feb 1793.

Hunter writes that when he was appointed surgeon at the hospital, he wished to extend his knowledge, to be ‘more useful to mankind’, and to improve his pupils’ knowledge; he notes that prior to his arrival, the senior surgeons at the time, Mr Hawkins [Caesar Hawkins] and Bromfield [William Bromfeild] had received their education ‘prior to the period of improvement in this country’; he notes that other hospitals were beginning ‘to participate [in] the improving spirit of the times’ and to give lectures not only in surgery, but also ‘in every branch of the healing art’; he states that he ‘paid more attention to the pupils than had been usual’, which made him a popular instructor; he had a meeting with other surgeons on how to address the pupils’ complaints of leaving for other hospitals and that the number of pupils at St George’s was diminishing; he allowed St George’s pupils to attend his lectures on surgery ‘for some time after, gratis’, as the other surgeons were not giving lectures; he describes conflicts and discussions with the other surgeons; he says he began to treat his pupils as the other surgeons did, with the consequence that there were fewer pupils; when his business grew and his health grew weaker, he was given as assistant his brother-in-law, Mr Home [Everard Home], who he supported when a vacancy for surgeoncy at the hospital came up; he says that looking into the laws of the hospital he found that ‘the division of the money, paid by the pupils, was arbitrary’ which did not encourage some of the surgeons to do their share of the work; he wrote a letter to his colleagues on 9 Jul 1792 regarding settling the accounts on pupils’ pay, with a response declaring their ‘entire disapprobation of [Hunter’s] proposal’; he states that the number of pupils who had since 1770 studied under Mr Gunning [John Gunning] was 103, and the number of his own pupils was 449, and the number with the other three surgeons altogether 284; he argues that the laws have not been adhered to, with regard to pupil numbers and their fees, and that a larger number of pupils ‘increases the reputation of an hospital’; he argues the dispute is a matter of ‘general interest’ and that he stands for ‘the good of mankind, the improvement of the healing art, and the character of the Hospital’

Two copy letters from James Williams to Mary Williams regarding Hunter’s death

Two letters from James Williams to his sister Mary in Worcester.

In the first letter, James Williams describes his daily work assisting John Hunter with preparations, and his attendance of Matthew Baillie’s lectures on anatomy and Everard Home’s lectures on surgery and physiology. He describes living with Hunter [at 13 Castle Square, backing onto Hunter’s Leicester Square residence], where his room is right below the ‘dissecting room with half a dozen dead bodies in it’, and how ‘there is a dead carcass just at this moment rumbling up the stairs and the Resurrection Men swearing most terribly’. He describes Hunter as a ‘very good kind of man when you have been used to him tho he has some oddities’. He states that the fee to attend dissections is five guineas, ‘besides buying bodies’, generally shared by two students and costing ‘about a guinea’. He asks for Mary’s watch as he does not have one himself, and it is as safe in London as it is in Worcester, promises to pay George back and asks for his books to be forwarded to him.

The second letter appears to have been written on the day of Hunter’s death. Williams states that Hunter had had ‘for these several years a very irregular spasmodic affection at his heart’. Williams describes having had breakfast with Hunter in the morning, after which Hunter left to see his patients and then to St George’s Hospital, where ‘the surgeons of this charity have been at variance with him … respecting some of the pupils’. Following ‘several words with the surgeons which brought on his complaint’, he died at the hospital. Williams says that Mrs Hunter [Anne Hunter] and their children were out of town. He says that ‘the other two pupils’ are leaving London for a while, and with no lectures he also plans ‘an excursion somewhere or other’.

These letters are transcripts and photocopies by George Edwards in 1968 from letters held by a descendant of James and Mary Williams (Edwards, George. 1968. John Hunter’s last pupil. Annals of The Royal College of Surgeons of England 42 (1):68-70).

Papers of Harold Lambert

The papers include material relating to epidemiology and smallpox in particular, including correspondence, a notebook, smallpox testing kit and publications relating to smallpox in the 1960s.

Sans titre

Papers relating to John Hunter

The collection relates to Hunter’s dispute with St George’s Hospital and the division of pupils’ fees among the surgeons, which Hunter perceived as unfair, arguing he brought in more pupils than the other surgeons. The dispute culminated in a meeting in Oct 1793 at the hospital, during which Hunter suffered a heart attack and died.

In addition to the papers relating to the dispute, there are some additional notes, some collected by Charles Hawkins and some by George Edwards. These include copies of two letters from John Hunter’s pupil James Williams to his sister, describing working with Hunter, dissections and the work of the so-called ‘Resurrection Men’, and describing Hunter’s death. These were acquired apparently from a descendant of Williams by Edwards; the location of the original letters is unknown.

Copy printed letter by John Hunter, 1790 (newspaper cutting)

Not dated (c.1860s-1870s). Printed notice in the Medical Times and Gazette on the publication of a letter written by John Hunter in 1790 from ‘the large collection of Hunterian manuscripts in the possession of Charles Hawkins’, with a manuscript annotation by Hawkins noting the letter was addressed to Lord Auckland

Statement from the Weekly Board of St George’s Hospital regarding the attendance of physicians’ pupils at operations, 2 May 1787 and 12 Oct 1791

Weekly Board 12 Oct 1791, called to consider objections made ‘to the attendance of physicians pupils at operations’, signed by James Robertson, Matthew Baillie, George Pearson, John Burges and Stephen Aisley

Weekly Board 2 May 1787, called to consider suspension of by-law prohibiting physicians and surgeons from recommending assistants or deputies, signed by Robert Hallifax, William Bromfeild, John Jackson, Thomas Robinson and John Tetlow. A manuscript annotated signed ‘C.H.’ [Charles Hawkins] notes that Thomas Keate and Everard Home were elected assistant surgeons.

Letter from John Hunter, 26 Apr 1792

Copy of a letter by John Hunter, asking the recipient to vote for Hunter’s brother-in-law Home as a surgeon. Manuscript notes in pencil note biographical details of Charles Hawkins and the number of votes of Mr Keate (134) and Mr Home (102)

List of items

List of items with a note from Davies asking his mother to send them to him, accompanied by a list ‘sent to John Jan 7. 1839[?]’, including a claret jug, 6 caraffes, spoons, wine glasses, napkins etc.

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