Overview
The William Heberden papers, 1790-1837 (inclusive), consist of reports by Heberden (1767-1845) on the health of King George III of Great Britain to the Committee Appointed to Examine the Physicians who have Attended His Majesty during His Illness, and reports generated by that committee; manuscripts and article drafts by Heberden on management of the sick, classification of skin diseases, nervous disorders, the weather, and education; and a thesis on medical history and dropsy.
Dates
- Creation: 1790-1837 (inclusive)
Creator
- Heberden, William, 1767-1845 (Person)
Language of Materials
Papers are in English and French.
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research.
Access requires advance notice. Contact Public Services for further information.
Conditions Governing Use
Public Domain.
Extent
0.25 cubic feet (1 flat document box)The William Heberden papers, 1790-1837 (inclusive), consist of his reports on the health of King George III of Great Britain to the Committee Appointed to Examine the Physicians who have Attended His Majesty during His Illness, and reports generated by that committee; manuscripts and article drafts by Heberden on management of the sick, classification of skin diseases, nervous disorders, the weather, and education; and a thesis on medical history and dropsy.
As one of George III's physicians, Heberden was tasked with observing and writing reports about the king's condition, and responding to the committee appointed by Parliament to review the state of his mental health and the work of the physicians who were attending him. The collection includes copies of these examinations of Heberden and other physicians attending the king, including Henry Halford and Matthew Baillie, and Heberden's recommendations regarding treatment.
There are also Heberden's writings on assorted topics, including remarks on skin diseases and contagion, the history of medicine, and therapeutic approaches; his essay on weather was published in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London in 1825.
Papers are in English and French.
Biographical Note
William Heberden (1767-1845), M.D., 1795, St. John's College, Oxford, was a London physician. For most of his life he was physician in attendance to the king and queen of England, and he was chief consultant to George III in his last illness.
William Heberden was born in London on March 23, 1767, to Mary Wollaston and William Heberden (1710-1801), also a physician. He was educated at Charterhouse and St. John's College at the University of Oxford, where earned his B.A. in 1788 and M.D. in 1795. He also studied medicine in London at St. George's Hospital and was a physician there from 1793 to 1803.
Heberden was one of the physicians attending George III in 1811-1812, and he reported his observations on the king's mental illness and treatment to the British Parliament's Committee Appointed to Examine the Physicians who have attended His Majesty during His Illness. He retired from active public practice in 1812 after the death of his wife, which left him widowed with nine children.
He was a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians (1796) and belonged to the Royal Society. Heberden's published works include Observations on the increase and decrease of different diseases, particularly of the plague (1801), An epitome of the diseases incident to children (1807), and On education. A dialogue after the manner of Cicero's Philosophical Disquisitions (1818).
Heberden died in London on February 19, 1845.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Immediate source of acquisition is unknown.
Processing Information
Processed by Brooke McManus, 2018 April.
Processing staff in the Center for the History of Medicine analyzed, arranged, and described the papers, and created a finding aid to improve access.
Genre / Form
Geographic
Occupation
Topical
Creator
- Heberden, William, 1767-1845 (Person)
Subject
- Heberden, William, 1767-1845 (Person)
- George III, King of Great Britain, 1738-1820 (Person)
- Faculté de médecine de Paris (Organization)
- Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Committee Appointed to Examine the Physicians who have Attended His Majesty during His Illness (Organization)
- Great Britain. Privy Council (Organization)
- Title
- Heberden, William, 1767-1845. Papers, 1790-1837 (inclusive): Finding Aid.
- Author
- Brooke McManus
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- und
- Sponsor
- Preservation and description of the William Heberden papers was supported by the Colonial North America at Harvard Library Project.
- EAD ID
- med00525
Repository Details
Part of the Center for the History of Medicine (Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine) Repository
The Center for the History of Medicine in the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine is one of the world's leading resources for the study of the history of health and medicine. Our mission is to enable the history of medicine and public health to inform healthcare, the health sciences, and the societies in which they are embedded.