Clift , William , 1775-1849 , museum curator and scientific illustrator

Clift , William , 1775-1849 , museum curator and scientific illustrator

William Clift was born in Cornwall in 1775, and was educated locally. He became an apprentice anatomical assistant to the celebrated surgeon John Hunter (1728-1793) in 1792. He was appointed conservator of the Hunterian Museum after Hunter's death. He became a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1823, and was a member of the Society for Animal Chemistry. He died in 1849.

Philip Syng Physick was born in 1768. He was an American physician, who mainly studied in Philadelphia, but was also a pupil of John Hunter whilst in London. He became known as 'The Father of American Surgery.' He died in 1837.