The Obstetrical Society of London was formed in 1858 and merged in 1907 with the

Royal Medical and Chirurgical Society of London The Royal Medical and Chirurgical Society of London (RMCS), created in 1805 as the Medical and Chirurgical Society of London, was a learned society of physicians and surgery, surgeons, that received a Royal charter in 1834, and a supplement chart ...

to form the

Royal Society of Medicine The Royal Society of Medicine (RSM) is a medical society based at 1 Wimpole Street, London, UK. It is a registered charity, with admission through membership. Its Chief Executive is Michele Acton. History The Royal Society of Medicine (R ...

(RSM).

History

The Society was set up in 1858, the successor to an Obstetric Society dating from 1825, and in the aftermath of the

Medical Act 1858 The Medical Act ( 21 & 22 Vict. c. 90), ''An Act to Regulate the Qualifications of Practitioners in Medicine and Surgery'', also referred to as the Medical Act 1858, was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which created the General ...

. The founding group included James Hobson Aveling, Robert Barnes, Graily Hewitt, Henry Oldham,

Edward Rigby Edward Coke MC (5 February 1879 – 5 April 1951), known professionally as Edward Rigby, was a British character actor. Early life Rigby was born at Ashford, Kent, England, the second son of Dr William Harriott Coke and his wife, Mary Elizabe ...

William Tyler Smith William Tyler Smith (1815–1873) was an English obstetrician, medical writer and journalist, with outside interests in insurance and the development of Seaford, East Sussex, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, U.K. Early life Smith ...

, Thomas Hawkes Tanner, John Edward Tilt, Sir Charles Locock and Sir George Duncan Gibb. Over its first 15 years the membership of the Society rose to about 600. The Act's proposals included regulation of medical practitioners, taken at the time to include

midwifery Midwifery is the health science and health profession that deals with pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period (including care of the newborn), in addition to the sexual and reproductive health of women throughout their lives. In many cou ...

; and the Society turned in time to certifying midwives. The diploma introduced in 1872 recognised the role of the midwife, in supervising "normal labour" and commonly appeared in advertisements or curricula vitae as ''Cert., L.O.S.'' Training was provided at London hospitals such as City of London Lying-in Hospital.'''' A dispute over

ovariotomy Oophorectomy (; from Greek , , 'egg-bearing' and , , 'a cutting out of'), historically also called ''ovariotomy'', is the surgical removal of an ovary or ovaries. The surgery is also called ovariectomy, but this term is mostly used in reference to ...

, which other members opposed, led Barnes to leave and found the British Gynaecological Society in 1884. In the election for the presidency at the end of that year, matters came to a head when Alfred Meadows, supported by Aveling and Barnes, failed to be chosen by the Council. In 1907 both societies merged into the

Presidents

Presidents of the Society served a two-year term.''Transactions of the Obstetrical Society of London'' Vol. XLIX, (1900) p. ix
archive.org.
/ref> *1859

*1861

*1863 Henry Oldham *1865 Robert Barnes *1867 John Hall Davis *1869 Graily Hewitt *1871

John Braxton Hicks John Braxton Hicks (23 February 1823 – 28 August 1897) was a 19th-century English medical doctor who specialised in obstetrics. Early life and education He was born to banker Edward Hicks (b. 1785 - d. 1861) in Rye, Sussex. He was edu ...

*1873 Edward John Tilt *1875 William Overend Priestley *1877 Charles West *1879

William Smoult Playfair Dr William Smoult Playfair FRCP (27 July 1836 – 13 August 1903) was a leading Scottish obstetric physician and academic. In 1896 a trial, Kitson v. Playfair, found against him for a breach of medical confidentiality. Biography Playfair was ...

*1881 James Matthews Duncan *1883 Henry Gervis *1885 John Baptiste Potter *1887

John Williams John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932)Nylund, Rob (November 15, 2022)Classic Connection review, ''WBOI'' ("For the second time this year, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic honored American composer, conductor, and arranger John Williams, who w ...

*1889 Alfred Lewis Galabin *1891 James Watt Black *1893 George Ernest Herman *1895

Francis Henry Champneys Sir Francis Henry Champneys, 1st Baronet, FRCP (25 March 1848 in London – 30 July 1930 in Nutley, Sussex, England) was an eminent obstetrician known for raising the status of midwives in the early twentieth century, by his campaigning for th ...

*1897

Charles James Cullingworth Charles James Cullingworth (1841–1908) was an English gynaecologist and obstetrician. Early life The son of Griffith Cullingworth, a bookseller, and his wife Sarah Gledhill of Eddercliff, he was born on 3 June 1841 in Leeds. Of Wesleyan stock, ...

*1899 Alban Doran *1901 Peter Horrocks *1903 Edward Malins *1905 William Radford Dakin *1907 Herbert Ritchie Spencer, who became President of the Obstetrical and Gynaecological Section of the Royal Society of Medicine after the merger.

Notes

{{authority control Scientific societies based in the United Kingdom Medical and health organisations based in London 1858 establishments in England 1907 disestablishments in England Medical associations based in the United Kingdom Scientific organizations established in 1858 Science and technology in London Obstetrics and gynaecology organizations 1858 in London Midwifery in the United Kingdom Nursing in the United Kingdom