The Royal Medical and Chirurgical Society of London (RMCS), created in 1805 as the Medical and Chirurgical Society of London, was a learned society of physicians and surgeons, that received a Royal charter in 1834, and a supplement charter in 1907 to create the newly merged Royal Society of Medicine.[1][2]

Origins

Initial premises of the Society, 1805–1810, in 2 Verulam Buildings, Gray's Inn.

The RMCS was founded in 1805 as the Medical and Chirurgical Society of London, by 26 medical men who left the Medical Society of London (founded 1773) in reaction to the autocratic style of its president, James Sims.[3] Among its founders there were William Saunders (1743–1817), its first president; John Yelloly (1774–1842), Sir Astley Cooper (1768–1841), the first treasurer; Alexander Marcet (1770–1822) and Peter Mark Roget (1779–1869).[1]

According to its charter, the Medical and Chirurgical Society of London was founded "for the purpose of conversation on professional subjects, for the reception of communications and for the formation of a library" and served "several branches of the medical profession".[1] It first met on 22 May 1805 at Freemasons' Tavern on Great Queen Street.[1]

Royal Society of Medicine

In 1907 several specialist medical societies merged with the RMCS.[2] On 12 June 1907, a supplement charter was granted by King Edward VII and the new amalgamation became the RSM.[2] The 17 societies which merged with the Medical and Chirurgical Society to form the RSM were:[4][a]

Honorary fellows

Honorary Fellows of the society included Charles Darwin, Louis Pasteur, Edward Jenner and Sigmund Freud. Other presidents of note were the "three great from Guy's Hospital", Richard Bright (1837); Thomas Addison (1849) and Sir James Paget (1875), as well as Joseph Hodgson (1851) and Frederick William Pavy (1900).[citation needed]

Presidents

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Others list these as 15 societeies.[2][5]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Hunting, Penelope (2002). "2. The Medical and Chirurgical Society". The History of The Royal Society of Medicine. Royal Society of Medicine Press. pp. 23–66. ISBN 1-85315-497-0.
  2. ^ a b c d Goddard, Jonathan Charles (November 2021). "Collaboration and discovery: a history of the RSM". Trends in Urology & Men's Health. 12 (6): 28–31. doi:10.1002/tre.829. ISSN 2044-3730.
  3. ^ Hunting, P (2005). "The Royal Society of Medicine". Postgraduate Medical Journal. 81: 45–48. doi:10.1136/pgmj.2003.018424. PMC 1743179. PMID 15640428.
  4. ^ "Royal Society of Medicine Records". 1907–1975. Archived from the original on 24 June 2023. Retrieved 24 June 2023.
  5. ^ a b Hunting, Penelope (2002). "5. The Society at Hanover Square". The History of The Royal Society of Medicine. Royal Society of Medicine Press. pp. 157–176. ISBN 1-85315-497-0.
  6. ^ a b c d e Centenary, 1805–1905, Royal Medical and Chirurgical Society of London. 1906. p. 340.
  7. ^ "Solly, Samuel (1805 - 1871)". livesonline.rcseng.ac.uk. Retrieved 1 July 2023.

External links

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