Joseph Hodgson
Encyclopedia
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...
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He was born in Penrith, Cumberland the son of a Birmingham merchant and educated at King Edward VI School
King Edward's School, Birmingham
King Edward's School is an independent secondary school in Birmingham, England, founded by King Edward VI in 1552. It is part of the Foundation of the Schools of King Edward VI in Birmingham, and is widely regarded as one of the most academically successful schools in the country, according to...
, Birmingham, after which he was apprenticed to George Freer at Birmingham General Hospital. He then transferred to St. Bartholomew's Hospital, London.
He practised at King Street, Cheapside, and was editor of the London Medical Review. He also served at the York Military Hospital, Westminster. In 1918 he decided to return to Birmingham and was elected Surgeon to the Birmingham General Hospital in December, 1821. In the autumn of 1823 he organised a campaign for an Eye Infirmary in Birmingham which was successful, the Charity opening for the reception of patients on April 13th, 1824. He acted as sole Surgeon until May, 1828, when at his request he was replaced by Richard Middlemore. He was asked in 1840 to become Surgeon to the Middlesex Hospital and Professor of Surgery at King’s College, but declined both offers. In 1849, having made a considerable fortune in Birmingham, chiefly by lithotomy, he returned to London. In 1851 he was made president of the Medical and Chirurgical Society of London
Medical and Chirurgical Society of London
The Medical and Chirurgical Society of London was a learned society of physicians and surgeons which was founded in 1805 by 26 personalities in these fields who had left the Medical Society of London because of disagreement with the autocratic style of its president, James Sims...
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He was author of the treatise On Wounds and Diseases of Arteries and Veins. Hodgson is best known for his description of Hodgson's disease, an aneurysm
Aneurysm
An aneurysm or aneurism is a localized, blood-filled balloon-like bulge in the wall of a blood vessel. Aneurysms can commonly occur in arteries at the base of the brain and an aortic aneurysm occurs in the main artery carrying blood from the left ventricle of the heart...
al dilatation of the proximal part of the aorta
Aorta
The aorta is the largest artery in the body, originating from the left ventricle of the heart and extending down to the abdomen, where it branches off into two smaller arteries...
, often accompanied by dilatation or hypertrophy of the heart
Heart
The heart is a myogenic muscular organ found in all animals with a circulatory system , that is responsible for pumping blood throughout the blood vessels by repeated, rhythmic contractions...
. He was a well-known Quaker
Religious Society of Friends
The Religious Society of Friends, or Friends Church, is a Christian movement which stresses the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers. Members are known as Friends, or popularly as Quakers. It is made of independent organisations, which have split from one another due to doctrinal differences...
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He died on Feb. 7th, 1869, twenty-four hours after his wife, and left one daughter. He was buried at Highgate Cemetery
Highgate Cemetery
Highgate Cemetery is a cemetery located in north London, England. It is designated Grade I on the English Heritage Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England. It is divided into two parts, named the East and West cemetery....
, 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...
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