In June 1831 seven physicians and practicing surgeons met and resolved that "it is desirable that a School (of Medicine) be established in Leeds for the purposes of giving such courses of lectures on subjects connected with Medicine and Surgery as will qualify for examination at the College of Surgeons and Apothecaries' Hall."
These men were:
Dr James Williamson
b1797, lived at 4 Park Square.
Physician at the Infirmary and at the Dispensary from 1824, he taught Principles and Practice of Physic and was President of the School 1831-1834 and 1838-9. He had been a founder of the Leeds Philosophical and Literary Society in 1818 and was Mayor of Leeds in 1836-7.
Dr Adam Hunter
b1794, lived at 48 Park Square.
Joint Secretary with Thackrah to the Leeds Philosophical and Literary Society from 1819 to 1822. Physician at the Infirmary and Dispensary from 1824. He taught Materia Medica and Therapeutics and was President in 1835-6 and in 1840-1.
Mr Samuel Smith
b1790, lived at 8 Park Row.
Elected surgeon to the Infirmary in 1819, he was active in the factory reform movement, a concern he shared with Thackrah. He taught Operative Surgery and Midwifery and Diseases of Children. President of the School in 1834-6, 1839-40, 1853-4 and 1863-4, he remained on the staff of the Infirmary and continued teaching until the age of 77. As a surgeon he had a formidable reputation, reportedly performing nineteen successful lithotomies (removal of bladder stones) in succession.
Mr William Hey III
b1796, the grandson of the founder of the Infirmary, William Hey I, lived at 36 Albion Street and was elected surgeon to the Infirmary in 1830. He taught Principles and Practice of Surgery and was President of the School 1836-7 and 1845-6. He was President of the British Medical Association 1843-4.
Mr Thomas Pridgin Teale
b1801, lived at 22 Albion Street.
Educated at Leeds Grammar School, he became surgeon to the Dispensary in 1824 and the Infirmary in 1833. He delivered the School’s opening address and lectured on Anatomy and Physiology for over 25 years. He was Secretary to the School 1831-1839 and was President 1841-42. He was appointed a member of the General Medical Council in 1858.
Dr Joseph Prince Garlick
b1793, lived at 21 Park Row.
He had been Apothecary to the Infirmary until 1822 and appointed surgeon to the Dispensary in 1824. He taught Anatomy and Physiology. He was Treasurer of the School 1831-1853.
Dr Charles Turner Thackrah
b.1795. Following qualification, he secured the post of Town Surgeon in 1817. Joint Secretary with Adam Hunter of the Leeds Philosophical and Literary Society from 1819-22, he published numerous scientific papers. He established his own School of Anatomy at his own home in 1826. A fierce advocate of factory reform, his studies of ill-health in the trades of Leeds led to his publishing in 1831 of The Effects of Arts Trades and Professions on Health and Longevity, for which he is regarded as the father of Occupational Medicine in the English speaking world. The Effects were referred to in Parliament in the debates leading to the passing of the Factory Act in 1833. He contributed lectures on Anatomy, Pathology and Physiology in the first year of the School but ill-health dogged his career and he died at the early age of 38.
