Francis Sibson was a British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 physician

Physician

A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...

 and anatomist.

Early life

He was born at Crosscanonby

Crosscanonby

Crosscanonby is a civil parish in the Borough of Allerdale, Cumbria, England. The parish includes the villages of Birkby, Crosby, Crosby Villa and Crosscanonby. It is situated within the Solway Coast area of outstanding natural beauty ....

, near Maryport

Maryport

Maryport is a town and civil parish within the Allerdale borough of Cumbria, England, in the historic county of Cumberland. It is located on the A596 road north of Workington, and is the southernmost town on the Solway Firth. Maryport railway station is on the Cumbrian Coast Line. The town is in...

, Cumberland

Cumberland

Cumberland is a historic county of North West England, on the border with Scotland, from the 12th century until 1974. It formed an administrative county from 1889 to 1974 and now forms part of Cumbria....

 but grew up and was educated in Edinburgh

Edinburgh

Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...

, apprenticed to John Lizars

John Lizars

John Lizars was a Scottish surgeon and anatomist.Educated at the Royal High School and the University of Edinburgh, he worked as a naval surgeon under Admiral Sir Charles Napier, seeing action in the Peninsular Wars....

, surgeon and anatomist, receiving his diploma (LRCS) in 1831. He treated cholera patients during the 1831-32 epidemic.

He continued his studies at Guy's

Guy's Hospital

Guy's Hospital is a large NHS hospital in the borough of Southwark in south east London, England. It is administratively a part of Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust. It is a large teaching hospital and is home to the King's College London School of Medicine...

 and St Thomas's Hospital, London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, qualifying licentiate of the Society of Apothecaries (LSA) in 1835. He accepted the post as resident surgeon and apothecary to the Nottingham General Hospital. In 1848 he returned to London and graduated MB and MD in the same year. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1849.

Career

In 1851 he was appointed physician at St Mary's Hospital and lecturer at the medical school. Sibson was concerned to exhibit the internal organs of the human body in both healthy and diseased states: he was particularly interested in the physiology and pathology of the respiratory organs.

In 1862 he was appointed president of the Medical Society of London

Medical Society of London

The Medical Society of London is one of the oldest surviving medical societies in the United Kingdom ....

; from 1866-69 Sibson served as president of the British Medical Association

British Medical Association

The British Medical Association is the professional association and registered trade union for doctors in the United Kingdom. The association does not regulate or certify doctors, a responsibility which lies with the General Medical Council. The association’s headquarters are located in BMA House,...

 Council, and then later as vice-president for life.

He delivered the Goulstonian Lecture (1854), the Croonian Lecture

Croonian Lecture

The Croonian Lectures are prestigious lectureships given at the invitation of the Royal Society and the Royal College of Physicians.Among the papers of William Croone at his death in 1684, was a plan to endow one lectureship at both the Royal Society and the Royal College of Physicians...

 (1870) and the Lumleian Lectures

Lumleian Lectures

The Lumleian Lectures are a series of annual lectures run by the Royal College of Physicians of London, started in 1582 and now run by the Lumleian Trust. The name commemorates John Lumley, 1st Baron Lumley, who with Richard Caldwell of the College endowed the lectures, initially confined to...

 (1874) to the Royal College of Physicians

Royal College of Physicians

The Royal College of Physicians of London was founded in 1518 as the College of Physicians by royal charter of King Henry VIII in 1518 - the first medical institution in England to receive a royal charter...

Private life

He married Sarah Mary Ouvry (1822–1898) in 1858. He died suddenly whilst on holiday at Geneva.

Suprapleural membrane

Suprapleural membrane

The suprapleural membrane, eponymously known as Sibson's fascia, is a structure described in human anatomy.It is named for Francis Sibson.-Anatomy:It refers to a thickening of connective tissue that covers the apex of each human lung...

is also known as "Sibson's fascia".

Publications

• Medical Anatomy, or, Illustrations of the Relevant Position and Movements of the Internal Organs (London, 1869)
• The Nomenclature of Diseases, drawn up by a Joint Committee appointed by the Royal College of Physicians (London, 1869)
• Collected Works of Francis Sibson, W.M. Ord (ed.) (London, 1881)

External links

• Papers of Francis Sibson at the Royal College of Physicians