Robert Liveing (1834–1919) was an English physician and pioneer of dermatology.

Biography

Robert Liveing matriculated in 1852 at

Christ's College, Cambridge Christ's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college includes the Master, the Fellows of the College, and about 450 undergraduate and 250 graduate students. The c ...

, graduating there BA in 1856, MA in 1860, MB in 1861, and MD in 1865. He received his medical education at

King's College, London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

and at Paris, before receiving his MB (''Medicinae Baccalaureus'') in 1861 from Cambridge. He qualified MRCP in 1866. In 1861–1862 he held two house appointments (''i.e.'' as assistant physician) at King's College Hospital before joining the staff of

Middlesex Hospital Middlesex Hospital was a teaching hospital located in the Fitzrovia area of London, England. First opened as the Middlesex Infirmary in 1745 on Windmill Street, it was moved in 1757 to Mortimer Street where it remained until it was finally clos ...

, Fitzrovia, London. At Middlesex Hospital he was lecturer on anatomy and physiology from 1862 to 1866, assistant physician from 1866 to 1872, and physician from 1872 to 1876. In 1876 he resigned there as physician (presumably to devote more time to his specialty of dermatology). At Middlesex Hospital he was physician to the skin department from 1879 to 1888, and retired in 1888 to become consulting physician to the skin department. In 1872, Liveing was elected FRCP (Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians). In 1873 he delivered the

Goulstonian Lecture The Goulstonian Lectures are an annual lecture series given on behalf of the Royal College of Physicians in London. They began in 1639. The lectures are named for Theodore Goulston (or Gulston, died 1632), who founded them with a bequest. By his ...

s on ''Elephantiasis Græcorum, or, True Leprosy''. His ''Handbook'' on skin diseases was a standard text of dermatology in the 1880s and 1890s. According to the dermatologist Henry Renwick Vickers (1911–1993), the first four appointments of dermatologists to teaching hospitals in the UK were:

Sir William Jenner Sir William Jenner, 1st Baronet (30 January 181511 December 1898) was a significant English physician primarily known for having discovered the distinction between typhus and typhoid. Biography Jenner was born at Chatham on 30 January 1815, a ...

in 1859, Tilbury Fox in 1860, Robert Liveing in 1879, and Sir Malcolm Morris in 1882. Liveing was a member of the Athenaeum Club and vice-president of the

Alpine Club Alpine clubs are typically large social clubs that revolve around climbing, hiking, and other outdoor activities. Many alpine clubs also take on aspects typically reserved for local sport associations, providing education and training courses, se ...

in 1869 and 1870.

Family

Robert Liveing had seven sisters and three brothers, two of whom were Edward Liveing (1832–1919) and

George Downing Liveing George Downing Liveing Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (21 December 1827 – 26 December 1924) was an English people, English chemist, spectroscopy, spectroscopist and university administrator. Early life He was born in Nayland, Suffolk, t ...

(1827–1924). On 15 August 1866 in

Blendworth Blendworth is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Horndean, in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It lies 0.4 miles (0.6 km) northeast of Horndean just east off the A3 road. The village has a populatio ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

, Robert Liveing married Adelaide Mary Dorothea Hawker (1832–1906), a daughter of Admiral

Edward Hawker Edward Hawker (7 November 1782 – 8 June 1860) was an officer of the Royal Navy who served during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Born as the son of a naval officer in 1782, Edward Hawker was first entered in the books of ...

and his first wife Joanna Naomi, née Poore. Robert and Adelaide Liveing had a son, Charles Hawker Liveing (1872–1934), and two daughters, Katherine Edith Liveing (1867–1942, who married Archibald Scott Napier in 1899) and Helen Adelaide Liveing (1870–1893).

Selected publications

Articles

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Books

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Liveing, Robert 1834 births 1919 deaths Alumni of Christ's College, Cambridge 19th-century English medical doctors British dermatologists English dermatologists Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians Physicians of the Middlesex Hospital English medical writers People from Nayland