Thomas Southwood Smith
Encyclopedia
Thomas Southwood Smith English
physician
and sanitary reformer, was born at Martock
, Somerset
shire.
While a medical student in Edinburgh
he took charge of a Unitarian
congregation. In 1816 he took his M.D. degree, and began to practice at Yeovil, Somerset
, also becoming minister at a chapel in that town, but removed in 1820 to London
, devoting himself principally to medicine.
In 1824 he was appointed physician to the London Fever Hospital
, and in 1830 published A Treatise on Fever, which was at once accepted as a standard authority on the subject. In this book he established the direct connection between the impoverishment of the poor and epidemic fever. He was frequently consulted in fever epidemics and on sanitary matters by public authorities, and his reports on quarantine
(1845), cholera
(1850), yellow fever
(1852), and on the results of sanitary improvement (1854) were of international importance. He died in Florence
and is interred there in the English Cemetery of Florence, his tombstone sculpted by Joel Tanner Hart
.
His granddaughters were Miranda
and Octavia Hill
.
Southwood Smith was a dedicated utilitarian, and a close friend of Jeremy Bentham
. He had a particular interest in applying his philosophical beliefs to the field of medical research. In 1827 he published The Use of the Dead to the Living, a pamphlet which argued that the current system of burial was a wasteful use of bodies that could otherwise be used for dissection by the medical profession.
On 9 June 1832, Southwood Smith carried out the highly controversial public dissection of Jeremy Bentham
(who had died 3 days earlier) at the Webb Street School of Anatomy in London. In a speech before the dissection, Southwood Smith argued that
Southwood Smith's lobbying helped lead to the 1832 Anatomy Act
, the controversial legislation which allowed the state to seize unclaimed corpses from workhouses and sell them to surgical schools. While this act is widely credited with ending the practice of grave robbery, it has also been condemned as highly discriminatory against the poor.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
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 sanitary reformer, was born at Martock
Martock
Martock is a large village and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated on the edge of the Somerset Levels north west of Yeovil in the South Somerset district. The parish includes Hurst, approximately one mile south of the village, and Bower Hinton, which is located at the western end of the...
, Somerset
Somerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
shire.
While a medical student 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...
he took charge of a Unitarian
Unitarianism
Unitarianism is a Christian theological movement, named for its understanding of God as one person, in direct contrast to Trinitarianism which defines God as three persons coexisting consubstantially as one in being....
congregation. In 1816 he took his M.D. degree, and began to practice at Yeovil, Somerset
Yeovil
Yeovil is a town and civil parish in south Somerset, England. The parish had a population of 27,949 at the 2001 census, although the wider urban area had a population of 42,140...
, also becoming minister at a chapel in that town, but removed in 1820 to 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...
, devoting himself principally to medicine.
In 1824 he was appointed physician to the London Fever Hospital
London Fever Hospital
The London Fever Hospital was a voluntary hospital founded in 1802 in London. Originally established in Gray's Inn Road, it moved to Liverpool Road, Islington in 1848. In 1948, the hospital was amalgamated with the Royal Free Hospital.-References:...
, and in 1830 published A Treatise on Fever, which was at once accepted as a standard authority on the subject. In this book he established the direct connection between the impoverishment of the poor and epidemic fever. He was frequently consulted in fever epidemics and on sanitary matters by public authorities, and his reports on quarantine
Quarantine
Quarantine is compulsory isolation, typically to contain the spread of something considered dangerous, often but not always disease. The word comes from the Italian quarantena, meaning forty-day period....
(1845), cholera
Cholera
Cholera is an infection of the small intestine that is caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. The main symptoms are profuse watery diarrhea and vomiting. Transmission occurs primarily by drinking or eating water or food that has been contaminated by the diarrhea of an infected person or the feces...
(1850), yellow fever
Yellow fever
Yellow fever is an acute viral hemorrhagic disease. The virus is a 40 to 50 nm enveloped RNA virus with positive sense of the Flaviviridae family....
(1852), and on the results of sanitary improvement (1854) were of international importance. He died in Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
and is interred there in the English Cemetery of Florence, his tombstone sculpted by Joel Tanner Hart
Joel Tanner Hart
Joel Tanner Hart was an American sculptor.-Life and work:Joel Tanner Hart was born near Winchester, Kentucky and was a sculptor of importance during America's antebellum years. As a young man, he worked as a stone-cutter, developing his skills as a sculptor...
.
His granddaughters were Miranda
Miranda Hill
Miranda Hill was an English social reformer. She worked closely, from 1891, with her more famous sister Octavia Hill on major housing reform projects in England. She was the daughter of James Hill, corn merchant and banker, and Caroline Southwood Smith, the daughter of Dr Thomas Southwood Smith,...
and Octavia Hill
Octavia Hill
Octavia Hill was an English social reformer, whose main concern was the welfare of the inhabitants of cities, especially London, in the second half of the nineteenth century. Born into a family with a strong commitment to alleviating poverty, she herself grew up in straitened circumstances owing...
.
Southwood Smith was a dedicated utilitarian, and a close friend of Jeremy Bentham
Jeremy Bentham
Jeremy Bentham was an English jurist, philosopher, and legal and social reformer. He became a leading theorist in Anglo-American philosophy of law, and a political radical whose ideas influenced the development of welfarism...
. He had a particular interest in applying his philosophical beliefs to the field of medical research. In 1827 he published The Use of the Dead to the Living, a pamphlet which argued that the current system of burial was a wasteful use of bodies that could otherwise be used for dissection by the medical profession.
On 9 June 1832, Southwood Smith carried out the highly controversial public dissection of Jeremy Bentham
Jeremy Bentham
Jeremy Bentham was an English jurist, philosopher, and legal and social reformer. He became a leading theorist in Anglo-American philosophy of law, and a political radical whose ideas influenced the development of welfarism...
(who had died 3 days earlier) at the Webb Street School of Anatomy in London. In a speech before the dissection, Southwood Smith argued that
- "If, by any appropriation of the dead, I can promote the happiness of the living, then it is my duty to conquer the reluctance I may feel to such a disposition of the dead, however well-founded or strong that reluctance may be".
Southwood Smith's lobbying helped lead to the 1832 Anatomy Act
Anatomy Act 1832
The Anatomy Act 1832 was a United Kingdom Act of Parliament that gave freer license to doctors, teachers of anatomy, and bona fide medical students to dissect donated bodies...
, the controversial legislation which allowed the state to seize unclaimed corpses from workhouses and sell them to surgical schools. While this act is widely credited with ending the practice of grave robbery, it has also been condemned as highly discriminatory against the poor.
Further reading
- Cook GC. Thomas Southwood Smith FRCP (1788–1861): leading exponent of diseases of poverty, and pioneer of sanitary reform in the mid-nineteenth century. J. Med. Biog. (2002) 10(4): 194–205