Dr John Radcliffe: A Sketch of his Life, with an Account of his Fellows and Foundations

Abstract

DR. JOHN RADCLIFFE, a very successful Court physician at the time of William III. and Queen Anne, was one of the most generous of all the numerous benefactors of Oxford, for he left most of his large fortune to the University. He covenanted that a portion of it should be used to endow two travelling fellowships, to be held by Oxford medical graduates for the space of tea years, and he made a special proviso that at least half of this period should be spent by his fellows “in parts beyond the sea, for their better improvement.” Radcliffe's idea was an excellent one, for few medical men could fail to broaden their outlook and increase their experience by visiting the most noted medical schools in foreign countries. At the same time the period of ten years is too long for most men, and so from 1859 onwards the tenure of the fellowships was reduced to three years. The list of fellows includes many distinguished names, and of those elected under the new foundation nearly twenty at the present moment hold appointments on the staff of one or other of the London hospitals. The book under review gives only brief records of living fellows, but detailed biographies of the deceased fellows of the old foundation.

Dr. John Radcliffe: A Sketch of his Life, with an Account of his Fellows and Foundations.

By Dr. J. B. Nias. Pp. 147. (Oxford: At the Clarendon Press, 1918.) Price 12s. 6d. net.