Regius Professor of Physic (Dublin)

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The Regius Professor of Physic is a Regius Professorship for Medicine at the University of Dublin in Ireland, established in 1741 by George II . The chair itself was established in 1637 and is the oldest medical chair in Ireland.

In addition to this professorship, there are a number of other Regius professorships for medicine, two of which have also been or are also designated as Regius Professor of Physic , one at the University of Cambridge and one at the University of Oxford .

History of the professorship

William Stokes, Regius Professor of Physic 1840-1878

The 1598 college record shows a contracted government payment to the college of £ 40 per year for Physician's Pay. In this payment agreement you can see the origin of the Regius Chair of Physic today. The 1628 statutes of Bishop William Bedell stipulated that one of the college's fellows had to give lectures on medicine during each semester, which was confirmed by a letter from Charles I in 1637 . Here one of the fellows was asked to devote himself to studying and teaching medicine. As a result, the offices of Medicine Fellow and Regius Professor seem to have been held in union of offices until the appointment of John Stearne. In fact, only a few Fellows seem to have received the Regius Professorship, as only three Medicine Fellows have ever been honored with the Regius Professorship (see table section).

But there is no royal charter, or letters patent or other document that establishes a chair. This seems to have arisen more through the desire and necessity of teaching. The chair is also not referred to as Regius Professor in public documents prior to 1868. This happens for the first time in the letter from Queen Victoria , with which she established the Regius Professur of Surgery through Letters Patent. Previously, the professorship was simply referred to as "Professor of Physick in Trinity College" (in Letters Patent 2. Geo. I., AD 1719, Statute 15 Geo. II., AD 1741; Statute 25 Geo. III., Cap. 42, AD 1784; and Statute (School of Physic Act) 40 Geo. III., Cap. 84, AD 1800).

A chair for “Physics”, that is medicine, existed from 1662. Before that one of the fellows was chosen alternately as a medicus and taught medicine. In the minutes of June 3, 1662, however, the words:

“The same day Dr. John Stearne constituted and elected publique Professor of Medicine in the University of Dublin for and during his natural life. He was sworn by the Vice-Chancellor June 4. ”

"On the same day, Dr. John Stearne was appointed and elected Dublin University's publique Professor of Medicine for and during his natural life. He was sworn in by the Vice Chancellor on June 4th. "

- F. J. E. Hurst

On June 24, 1713, Sir Patrick Dun bequeathed part of his fortune to the university on condition that it establish a permanent professorship in medicine from the College of Physicians, known as the King's Professorship of Physic. In 1740, the Dun inheritance was decided in arbitration. Part of the estate was donated to Trinity College in Dublin. The Regius Professorship was financially better equipped from the initially meager income. King George II confirmed the professorship with a Letters patent. According to Robert Perceval in Account of the Bequest of Sir Patrick Dun, the certificate was issued in 1747. However, there is no corresponding document. A transcript was printed in 1867 by the University Press of Trinity College in the amended bylaws.

Since the legacy had grown so much in value in the meantime, three professorships could now be financed by the foundation. The statutes explicitly forbade candidates of “papist” faith at that time, presumably out of fear of Jacobites and their political supporters.

owner

Surname name suffix from to annotation
John Stearne
 MD, LL.D. 1656 1659 Stearne, or Sterne, was born on November 26th, 1624 in the estate of his great-uncle James Ussher , then Bishop of Meath. He left Ireland in 1643 to avoid the revolts there and studied medicine at the University of Cambridge . He was made a Fellow under the Commonwealth of England . He gave up the Fellowship at Trinity College at his wedding, but was reinstated as one of seven Fellows by royal letter in 1660. Stearne was the founder and director of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland . This office was never again taken up by an incumbent Regius professor. He was also the College's Medical Fellow, and thus one of only three Regius Professors who held both offices, apart from Stearne, Richard Helsham and Whitley Stokes (see below).
1662 1669
John Margetson
 MD 1670 1674 Percy and Kirkpatrick give Margetson's first name Thomas. FJE Hurst does the same, although it cannot be ruled out that he took the name from Percy and Kirkpatrick. The Dictionary of National Biography gives John as a first name. While it is recorded that Margetson was elected Stearne's successor, the date of the election was not recorded. He held the office until his death.
Ralph Howard
 MD Apr 2, 1674 1710 Howard remained in office until his death.
Richard Steevens
 MD 19 Sep 1710 Dec 15, 1710 Steevens made an enormous fortune over the course of his life, most of which he bequeathed to his sister Grizell. Even during her lifetime, Grizell tried to ensure that her brother's memory was honored and handed over the assets, minus a pension for herself, to a foundation. The hospital built in this way has since been referred to as Steevens' Hospital and is Dublin's first public hospital. The house is an architectural masterpiece and houses the little-known but interesting Worth Library. Steevens had the shortest tenure of all professors.
Thomas Molyneux
 MA, MB, MD, FRS Jan. 22, 1711 Oct. 19, 1733 The brother of the philosopher William Molyneux left Dublin in May 1683 on a trip to Europe. During the first week he met the Bishop of Chester, John Pearson, with whom he spent a week. In mid-May of the same year he arrived in London, where he met William Petty in Robert Boyle's house . They introduced him to Edward Browne and attended a meeting of the Royal Society the following week, where he met Isaac Newton , John Evelyn and Edward Tyson . On July 20, he traveled via Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Harlem and Üttrecht to Leyden, where he enrolled at the university. There he met John Locke , with whom he was to be a friend throughout his life. In April 1687 he returned to Dublin, where he was awarded the MD. In November of the same year he became a Fellow of the Royal Society. The unrest in Ireland caused him to move to Chester, where he opened a practice. After the Battle of the Boyne he returned to Dublin where he lived in his father's house and opened a very successful practice. Besides being a noble doctor, Molyneux also distinguished himself as a zoologist , botanist and archaeologist . He published articles on higher mathematics and philosophy. During his tenure, the first buildings for the medical faculty were built: a chemistry laboratory and a house for the anatomists. Professorships for anatomy , surgery , botany and chemistry were founded in 1711. He was a member of parliament and one of the first to describe the Giant's Causeway as a natural formation.
Richard Helsham
 MD Nov 10, 1733 Aug 1738 Helsham was a friend of Jonathan Swift's , who in a letter to Alderman Barber described him as the most important physician in this city and the kingdom . He taught mathematics (1723–30) and, in addition to the professorship in medicine, held the professorship for natural and experimental philosophy . His Lectures on Natural Philosophy was a standard work of philosophy for almost 100 years . Helsham is one of three people who both held the Regius Professorship and was a Medical Fellow of the college.
Henry Cope
 MD 1738 Jan. 1742 The date of Cope's election was not recorded.
Francis Foreside
 MD Feb. 2, 1742 1745
Bryan Robinson
 MB, MD June 12, 1745 Jan. 1754 Robinson was a well-known author of medical and mathematical works in his day. His most important work, the Treatise on the Animal Economy , was sharply criticized for its “mechanical approach”, but from today's perspective it shows a deep understanding of the connections.
Edward Barry
 MD Jan. 28, 1754 Feb 12, 1761 Barry retired from office in 1761. In the same year he was given permission to practice by the University of Oxford , a right he used in London. In 1775 he was made a baron.
William Clements
 MD Feb 21, 1761 Nov 15, 1781 In November 1781 William Clements retired from office.
Edward Hill
 MD Nov 15, 1781 Oct. 31, 1830 Hill passed away in office.
Whitley Stokes
 MD Nov 13, 1830 Oct 12, 1840 Whitley Stokes is one of three people who both held the Regius Professorship and was a Medical Fellow of the college. He retired from office in favor of his son William.
William Stokes
 MD, FRS Oct 12, 1845 (1840) Jan. 6, 1878 William was Whitley's son. He was one of the first in Great Britain to describe the use of stethoscopes . Together with Robert James Graves , he reformed clinical teaching in Dublin. He quickly became known as an excellent teacher who was also able to demonstrate his practical skills during the typhus epidemic of 1826. In 1828 he published his textbook on diagnosing lung diseases with the help of the stethoscope. From 1843 he also took over the duties of Regius Professor from his father and was officially confirmed in office in 1845. In 1868 George Edward Paget described him as the greatest medicin in Europe. In November 1877 he suffered a stroke and died on January 10, 1878 in office.
Alfred Hudson
 MD Feb 16, 1878 29 Sep 1880
John Thomas Banks
 BA, MB, MD, KCB, D.Sc., LL.D. Nov 13, 1880 Oct 15, 1898 After successfully completing his studies, Banks held various professional positions in which he always excelled. His practice was accordingly large and his professional and social position made him a leading figure in Irish medicine. However, he never met the expectation of scientific discoveries aroused by his promising early work. After all, his work on typhoid had long been considered authoritative in Quain's Dictionary of Medicine and he was a recognized expert on mental illnesses, which he also made part of the curriculum.
James Little
 MD Oct 16, 1898 1916
John Mallet Purser
 MD 1917 1925 Purser was Professor of the Institute of Medicine from 1879 to 1901. Sixteen years after he had left the chair in which he had established histology and physiology as a subject, he took over the Regius professorship. In memory of Purser, the John Mallet Purser Memorial Lecture was introduced after his death .
Thomas Gillman Moorhead
 BA, MB, B.Ch., MD, DPH, LL.D., FRCP 1925 1956 Moorhead had taught as a demonstrator of anatomy at the university, and worked in various hospitals in Dublin. From 1921 to 1925 he was King's Professor of Materia Medica ( pharmacy ). In 1925 he became completely blind due to a retinal detachment . His enormous memory made it possible for him to read medical journals to himself and to keep abreast of medical research.
Victor Millington Synge
 BA, MB, B.Ch., BAO, DHP, MD, MRCP, FRCPI, FRCP 1956 1972 Synge was a nephew of the Irish poet and playwright John Millington Synge . As a student, he won many awards and quickly qualified as a surgeon. As an academic, he held a number of professorships, including professor of disease prevention , forensic medicine and general medicine . In 1955 he was appointed to the first full-time professorship for clinical medicine and in the following year to the regius professorship. He was a past chairman and honorary member of the Association of Physicians of Great Britain and Ireland.
Peter Bronte Gatenby MB, MD, FRCPI, FRCP London, FRCP Edinburgh, FACP, FTCD 1975 1977 Gatenby was the first to teach clinical medicine in Ireland and was involved in a reorganization of the Dublin clinics. This reorganization was the forerunner of today's medical administration system in Ireland. A 2002 award was named after Gatenby for the student who has contributed most to the welfare, academic and social development of the medical school.
Donald George Weir
 MB, B.Ch., BAO, MD, FTCD, FRCPI, FRCP, FACP 1977 2014 Together with John Scott, a biochemist at Trinity College, Weir was able to demonstrate the 75% reduction in neural tube defects when given folic acid . In 1998, preventive folic acid therapy was introduced in the USA and later implemented worldwide. 2014 Weir was from Trinity College with the inclusion of his name in the donor honor roll honored the University (Benefactors through the Centuries), as Weir has donated in the course of his life more than 1.5 million euros for the university.
Owen Patrick Smith
 CBE 2014 The hematologist was named Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in 2015 for his services in the treatment of children with cancer .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah T. Percy, C. Kirkpatrick: History of the Medical Teaching in Trinity College Dublin and of the School of Physic in Ireland. Hanna and Neale, Dublin 1912; Collection 90100
  2. ^ The Dublin University Calendar for the Year 1916-1917 . (PDF) Longmans, Green, and Co., London / New York / Bombay 1917.
  3. ↑ a b c d e Trinity Community Mourns the Death of Peter Gatenby, Hon FTCD . Notice from Trinity College Dublin, August 26, 2015.
  4. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah Dublin University Calender for the Year 1900. (PDF) Dublin University Press.
  5. ↑ List of professorships (PDF) Trinity College Dublin; accessed on May 1, 2016.
  6. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai FJE Hurst: The Chair of Physic in Trinity College, Dublin, 1662 to 1962 . British Medical Journal, December 8, 1962, pp. 1532-1534.
  7. ↑ a b c d Cæsar Litton Falkiner:  Sterne, John (1624–1669) . In: Sidney Lee (Ed.): Dictionary of National Biography . Volume 54:  Stanhope - Stovin. , MacMillan & Co, Smith, Elder & Co., New York City / London 1898 (English).
  8. ^ A b William Alexander Reynell:  Howard, Ralph . In: Sidney Lee (Ed.): Dictionary of National Biography . Volume 28:  Howard - Inglethorpe. , MacMillan & Co, Smith, Elder & Co., New York City / London 1891 (English).
  9. ↑ a b c d Cæsar Litton Falkiner:  Steevens, Richard . In: Sidney Lee (Ed.): Dictionary of National Biography . Volume 54:  Stanhope - Stovin. , MacMillan & Co, Smith, Elder & Co., New York City / London 1898 (English).
  10. ↑ Thomas Molyneux. History Ireland; accessed on June 1, 2017.
  11. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k Norman Moore:  Molyneux, Thomas (1661-1733) . In: Sidney Lee (Ed.): Dictionary of National Biography . Volume 38:  Milman - More. , MacMillan & Co, Smith, Elder & Co., New York City / London 1894 (English).
  12. ^ Seamus Dubhghaill: Birth of Sir Thomas Molyneux, 1st Baronet FRS . accessed on June 1, 2017.
  13. ^ A b c William Alexander Reynell:  Helsham, Richard . In: Leslie Stephen, Sidney Lee (Eds.): Dictionary of National Biography . Volume 25:  Harris - Henry I. , MacMillan & Co, Smith, Elder & Co., New York City / London 1891 (English).
  14. ^ A b c Gerald le Grys Norgate:  Robinson, Bryan (1680–1754) . In: Sidney Lee (Ed.): Dictionary of National Biography . Volume 49:  Robinson - Russell. , MacMillan & Co, Smith, Elder & Co., New York City / London 1897 (English).
  15. ^ A b c Preston Bruce Austin:  Barry, Edward (1696–1776) . In: Leslie Stephen (Ed.): Dictionary of National Biography . Volume 3:  Baker - Beadon. , MacMillan & Co, Smith, Elder & Co., New York City / London 1885 (English).
  16. ↑ a b c d e f g h Norman Moore:  Stokes, William . In: Sidney Lee (Ed.): Dictionary of National Biography . Volume 54:  Stanhope - Stovin. , MacMillan & Co, Smith, Elder & Co., New York City / London 1898 (English).
  17. ↑ a b c Yolanda Kennedy: Owen Patrick Smith becomes new Regius Professor of Physic (1637) . Press release from Trinity College, Dublin, July 22, 2014; on the appointment of Owen Patrick Smith.
  18. ^ A b c d e Robert James Rowlette:  Banks, John Thomas . In: Sidney Lee (Ed.): Dictionary of National Biography . Suppl. 2, Volume 2:  Faed - Muybridge. , MacMillan & Co, Smith, Elder & Co., New York City / London 1912 (English).
  19. ^ Obituary John Mallet Purser (1839-1929) ; on docslide.net; accessed on May 30, 2017.
  20. ^ A b c Ronan G. O'Regan, Philip Nolan, Daniel S. McQueen, David J. Paterson (eds.): Arterial Chemoreceptors: Cell to System . In: Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology , Volume 360; Springer Science & Business Media, 2012.
  21. ↑ a b c d e Obituary for Thomas Gillman Moorhead on the Royal College of Physicians website; first publication: In: British Medical Journal , 1960/2, pp. 542-543.
  22. ↑ a b c d e Victor Millington Synge on the Royal College of Physicians website; accessed on May 31, 2017.
  23. ↑ a b c d Donald G. Weir Honored as a Benefactor through the Centuries . Press release from Trinity College, Dublin, December 4th 2014.
  24. ^ Irish Professor honored by HM the Queen for his services to Child & Adolescent Cancer . CMRF website; accessed on June 1, 2017.