William Hewson (surgeon)
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William Hewson (14 November 1739 – 1 May 1774) was a British
surgeon In modern medicine, a surgeon is a medical professional who performs surgery. Although there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon usually is also a licensed physician or received the same medical training as ...
, anatomist and
physiologist Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemical a ...
who has been referred to as the "father of haematology".


Biography

Born in
Hexham Hexham ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Northumberland, England, on the south bank of the River Tyne, formed by the confluence of the North Tyne and the South Tyne at Warden, Northumberland, Warden nearby, and ...
,
Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land on ...
, Hewson initially studied in 1753 at the Newcastle Infirmary,
Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...
(which later became the Royal Victoria Infirmary) under its founder
Richard Lambert Sir Richard Peter Lambert (born 23 September 1944) is a British journalist and business executive. He served as director-general of the CBI, chancellor of the University of Warwick, editor of the ''Financial Times'' newspaper and chairman of t ...
and much later in the winter of 1761/1762 in
Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
and was a student, and later an assistant, of William Hunter. In 1768 he was elected to the
American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...
, he was awarded the
Copley Medal The Copley Medal is an award given by the Royal Society, for "outstanding achievements in research in any branch of science". It alternates between the physical sciences or mathematics and the biological sciences. Given every year, the medal is t ...
in 1769, and elected to the
Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...
in 1770. His major contribution was in isolating
fibrin Fibrin (also called Factor Ia) is a fibrous, non-globular protein involved in the clotting of blood. It is formed by the action of the protease thrombin on fibrinogen, which causes it to polymerize. The polymerized fibrin, together with platele ...
, a key
protein Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including catalysing metabolic reactions, DNA replication, respo ...
in the blood
coagulation Coagulation, also known as clotting, is the process by which blood changes from a liquid to a gel, forming a blood clot. It potentially results in hemostasis, the cessation of blood loss from a damaged vessel, followed by repair. The mechanism o ...
process. His Copley work came when he showed the existence of lymph vessels in animals and explained their function by hypothesizing the existence of a human
lymphatic system The lymphatic system, or lymphoid system, is an organ system in vertebrates that is part of the immune system, and complementary to the circulatory system. It consists of a large network of lymphatic vessels, lymph nodes, lymphatic or lymphoid o ...
. He also demonstrated that
red blood cell Red blood cells (RBCs), also referred to as red cells, red blood corpuscles (in humans or other animals not having nucleus in red blood cells), haematids, erythroid cells or erythrocytes (from Greek ''erythros'' for "red" and ''kytos'' for "holl ...
s were discoid, rather than spherical as had been previously supposed by Anton van Leeuwenhoek, but incorrectly identified the cells' dark centers as their nuclei. In 1773 he produced evidence for the concept of a
cell membrane The cell membrane (also known as the plasma membrane (PM) or cytoplasmic membrane, and historically referred to as the plasmalemma) is a biological membrane that separates and protects the interior of all cells from the outside environment ( ...
in red blood cells – however, this last work was largely ignored. On 10 July 1770 he married Mary Stevenson (better known as Polly), a
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
friend of
Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...
. From September 1772 he ran an anatomy school at 36
Craven Street Craven Street is a street in the City of Westminster, London, near Strand. A number of notable historical figures have lived in the street which was the home of Benjamin Franklin when he lived in London before the American Revolution. History T ...
, where Franklin lodged in London (which is now the Benjamin Franklin House museum). In 1998, workers restoring the London home (Benjamin Franklin House) dug up the remains of six children and four adults hidden below the home. ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
'' reported on 11 February 1998:
Initial estimates are that the bones are about 200 years old and were buried at the time Franklin was living in the house, which was his home from 1757 to 1762 and from 1764 to 1775. Most of the bones show signs of having been dissected, sawn or cut. One skull has been drilled with several holes. Paul Knapman, the Westminster Coroner, said yesterday: "I cannot totally discount the possibility of a crime. There is still a possibility that I may have to hold an inquest."
The Friends of Benjamin Franklin House (the organization responsible for the restoration of Franklin's house at 36 Craven Street in London) note that the bones were likely placed there by Hewson, who lived in the house for two years. They note that Franklin likely knew what Hewson was doing. Proof was demonstrated by archaeological evidence which showed liquid mercury associated with turtle bones and vermilion colouring associated with dog bones found in the deposit. Hewson had documented experimentation on the lymphatic system using both substances and animals. He died on 1 May 1774 as a result of
sepsis Sepsis, formerly known as septicemia (septicaemia in British English) or blood poisoning, is a life-threatening condition that arises when the body's response to infection causes injury to its own tissues and organs. This initial stage is follo ...
contracted whilst dissecting a
cadaver A cadaver or corpse is a dead human body that is used by medical students, physicians and other scientists to study anatomy, identify disease sites, determine causes of death, and provide tissue to repair a defect in a living human being. Stud ...
. Hewson's work was continued after his death by Magnus Falconar, who had married Hewson's sister Dorothy in September 1774. Falconar repeated Hewson's experiments on the
spleen The spleen is an organ found in almost all vertebrates. Similar in structure to a large lymph node, it acts primarily as a blood filter. The word spleen comes .
and
thymus The thymus is a specialized primary lymphoid organ of the immune system. Within the thymus, thymus cell lymphocytes or ''T cells'' mature. T cells are critical to the adaptive immune system, where the body adapts to specific foreign invaders. ...
and as a result re-published Hewson's work on red blood cells in 1777 together with his corroboration. As part of his last will and testament (1789), Benjamin Franklin made the following bequest:


References


Further reading

* * *'William Hewson (1739–74): the father of haematology', article in the British Journal of Haematology, May 2006


External links


'Bradford Collection' page of the American Philosophical Societyhttp://www.rcpe.ac.uk/library/exhibitions/blood_types/blood_types.phpArticle by William Demeshek about Hewson
(PDF).
Ben Franklin's Bones, a "Secrets of the Dead" PBS documentary, premiere date 28 January 2015
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hewson, William 1739 births 1774 deaths People from Hexham Deaths from sepsis Infectious disease deaths in England History of anatomy Recipients of the Copley Medal 18th-century English people Fellows of the Royal Society Alumni of the University of Edinburgh