Richard Smith: Bristol Surgeon and Medical Collector 1772-1843

Richard Smith lived in one of the great ages of culture, learning and debate in Bristol. He was a contemporary and colleague of the great Thomas Beddoes. Robert Southey was his neighbour, and Humphry Davy and Samuel Coleridge lectured in his time.

Smith himself was a very successful practising surgeon, a lecturer, a notable collector of medical records and statistics, a figure in civic affairs, a voice in the City Council and the press, a poet even.

Here Michal Whitfield (author of Dr Goodeve, of The Bristol Microscopists and Homoeopathy in Bristol) tells the story of a lively, extrovert, but representative figure.

About the Author

Michael Whitfield was Senior Lecturer in General Practice in the University of Bristol. In retirement he has devoted himself to the history of medical practice and practitioners in eighteenth- and nineteenth- century Bristol, and is the author of many ALHA books.