Thomas Wakley

Thomas Wakley ( Wakeley ) ( born July 11, 1795 in Membury, Devon, England; † May 16, 1862 in Madeira ) was a British physician and radical politician.

Biography

After school he began a study of surgery in London and took there after graduation in 1817 to work as a doctor. According to the Cato Street Conspiracy burned in August 1820 from Wakleys house and practice in Argyll Street, the reason for the arson was controversial. As a result, Wakley was the work of doctors. In 1823 he founded The Lancet, one of the oldest medical journals in the world. As the first editor of this weekly magazine he denounced abuses in the former medical practice as well as the Royal College of Surgeons.

In 1835 he became a member of the lower house (House of Commons ) and represented in this until 1852 the constituency of Finsbury. After 1839 law practitioners ( Coroner ), he also strove for reforms in the field of Forensic Medicine. Most recently, he presented on claims against the adulteration of foodstuffs led to a change in the food and beverage Act ( Drink and Food Act ) 1860. The scientific basis for this has researched Arthur Hill Hassall with the Wakley worked closely together.

Wakley was married to Elizabeth Goodchild († 1857). The couple had three sons, Thomas Henry, Henry Membury and James Goodchild, and a late adolescent daughter Mary Elizabeth.