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Charles Aston Key (1793–1849) was an English surgeon.


Life

Born in
Southwark Southwark ( ) is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed ...
on 6 October 1793, he was eldest son of Thomas Key, a medical practitioner, and Margaret Barry; Thomas Hewitt Key was a half-brother by a second marriage. He was educated at Buntingford grammar school, in
Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...
, and was apprenticed to his father in 1810. Key attended the lectures at the United Borough Hospitals in 1812, and became a pupil at Guy's Hospital in 1814. In 1815 his apprenticeship to his father was cancelled, and he became pupil of Astley Cooper, at a large cost, and in 1817–8 he lived with Cooper. Key became demonstrator of anatomy at
St. Thomas's Hospital St Thomas' Hospital is a large NHS teaching hospital in Central London, England. It is one of the institutions that compose the King's Health Partners, an academic health science centre. Administratively part of the Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Fo ...
, but resigned the post in February 1823, though he gave some of Cooper's surgical lectures for two sessions afterwards. he had qualified at the Royal College of Surgeons in 1821, and in the autumn of the same year was appointed the first assistant surgeon to Guy's, succeeding to a full surgeoncy in January 1824. In this year he introduced the operation for lithotomy with the straight staff, using only a single knife; the success of his operations established his reputation as a surgeon. He gained a large practice. In 1825, on the separation of Guy's from St. Thomas's medical schools, Key was appointed lecturer on surgery at Guy's; he resigned the lectureship in 1844. In 1845 he was one of the first elected fellows of the Royal College of Surgeons, and in the same year became a member of its council. In 1847 Key was appointed surgeon to
Albert, Prince Consort Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (Franz August Karl Albert Emanuel; 26 August 1819 – 14 December 1861) was the consort of Queen Victoria from their marriage on 10 February 1840 until his death in 1861. Albert was born in the Saxon duch ...
. He died of
cholera Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting and ...
on 23 August 1849.


Works

Key wrote: * ''A Short Treatise on the Section of the Prostate Gland in Lithotomy'', 4 plates, London, 1824. * ''A Memoir on the Advantages and Practicability of Dividing the Stricture in Strangulated Hernia on the outside of the Sac'', London, 1833; He contributed to the ''Guy's Hospital Reports'' papers on hernia, lithotomy, and other subjects; and he edited the second edition of Sir Astley Cooper's work on hernia, 1827.


Family

In 1818 Key married Cooper's niece, Anne Cooper. At his death he left nine children, including Astley Cooper Key.


Notes

Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Key, Charles Aston 1793 births 1849 deaths English surgeons People from Southwark