Abstract
Edwarp Rigby, who was born at Chowbent in Lancashire two hundred years ago on December 27, was a versatile man, distinguished alike in obstetrics, agriculture and civic administration. In medical literature his “Essay on the Uterine Haemorrhage” (1775) is regarded as a classic, for it clearly differentiated between premature separation of the normal placenta (accidental haemorrhage) and placenta prsevia (unavoidable haemorrhage). It was translated into French and German, and up to the hour of his last illness the author was employed in the preparation of a sixth edition. A scientific agriculturist, Rigby experimented on his own farm at Framingham Earl, near Norwich, and the reputation of his writings on that subject led to his election as honorary member of the Philadelphia Society. In 1805 he became mayor of Norwich, and he is said to have “supported the chair with dignity and hospitality”. He established in 1786 the Norfolk Benevolent Medical Society for the relief of the widows and orphans of medical men, introduced the flying shuttle to the manufacturers in Norwich, and in 1812 started vaccination in the city. Simple, placid and benevol-lent, Rigby was a delightful companion and a good conversationalist. He died on October 27, 1821, in his seventy-fourth year. His “Letters from France” constitute an animated and fascinating record of the stirring days at the outbreak of the French Revolution, besides forming a useful survey of the country's agriculture at the time. Rigby's son Edward (1804–60) was a well-known London obstetrician.
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Edward Rigby (1747–1821). Nature 160, 897 (1947). https://doi.org/10.1038/160897c0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/160897c0