Hunterian Society

The Hunterian Society, founded in 1819 in honour of the Scottish surgeon John Hunter (1728-1793), is a society of physicians and dentists based in London.

Established by Dr William Cooke, a general practitioner, and Thomas Armiger, a surgeon, who both practiced in the City of London and the East End of London, the Society has devoted its activities for nearly two hundred years towards the pursuit of medical knowledge and learning. Meetings are always held over dinner, which precedes the subject for debate.

Between 1815 and 1828, Sir William Blizard (1743-1835), who was a former pupil of John Hunter, praised Hunter at the Royal College of Surgeons in three Hunterian Orations, and it is believed to be due to his influence that the new Society adopted the name 'Hunterian', rather than 'The London Medical and Physical Society', which was the name first proposed for it.

Blizard became the Society's first President and had the aim of keeping it within the Hunterian tradition. In an oration of 1826, he said: "May the honoured name of Hunter ever have a magic influence on the minds of its members".

The Society promotes an annual oration and awards an annual medal.

Annual orations

*1926: George Newman: "The Private Practitioner as Pioneer in Preventive Medicine"

Hunterian Society medal

The Society gives an annual medal, which is awarded for a presentation on a subject connected to the history of medicine, which "...may be modern but should have a Hunterian flavour". The Award is of £1,000, a medal and one year's membership of the Society. [ [http://www.hunteriansociety.org.uk/competition.html The Hunterian Society Medal and Scholarship] at hunteriansociety.org.uk]

Notable members

*Sir William Blizard (President, 1819-1822)
*Jonathan Hutchinson (President, 1869-1870)
*Philip Henry Pye-Smith
*William Henry Kelson (President)

Bibliography

*Findlay, David W. (ed.) "The Hunterian Society - a catalogue of its records and collections relating to John Hunter and the Hunterian Tradition with a history of the society" (London: The Hunterian Society, 1990)

References

* [http://www.hunteriansociety.org.uk/ The Hunterian Society] - official web site