Record

Authorised form of nameNeedham; Walter (? 1631 - 1691); physician and anatomist
Dates? 1631 - 1691
NationalityBritish
Date of birth28 December 1632
Date of death16 April 1691
DatesAndPlacesBaptism:
Bishops Castle, Shropshire, England, Europe (28 December 1632)
Burial:
Church of St Giles-in-the-Fields, near London, England, Europe
OccupationPhysician
Research fieldAstronomy
ActivityEducation:
Westminster School; Trinity College, Cambridge (BA 1654); Queens' College, Cambridge (MA 1657; MD 1664)
Career:
Fellow of Queens' (1655-1660); practised in Shrewsbury, Shropshire (1659), Oxford and afterwards in London; Physician to the Charterhouse, London (1672); anatomical lecturer to the Company of Surgeons (1673-1675)
Memberships:
Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians (1664)
Membership categoryFellow
Date of election20/06/1667
ProposerJohn Wilkins
RSActivityRoyal Society roles:
Council: 1671, 1673-1675, 1677; VP 1674
Committee and panels:
Committee for auditing the accounts of the Treasurer (1672)
Other Royal Society activityAdmitted on 6 April 1671; Submitted some papers on human and animal anatomy to the Society (1667); Considered for curator of experiments (1667)
RelationshipsParents: Gervase Needham and Ann Needham
PublishedWorksRCN: 56708
OtherInfoIn some of his papers to the Society, Needham also reported on Robert Hooke's (FRS 1663) anatomical experiments. Whilst at Oxford, he became acquainted with the medical and anatomical researches of Thomas Willis (FRS 1663), Robert Boyle (FRS 1660), and Richard Lower (FRS 1667). His main work was titled 'Disquisitio anatomica de formato foetu' on the physiology of the human foetus and was dedicated to Robert Boyle.
SourceSources:
Bulloch's Roll; DNB; Venn; Hunter; Munk's Roll; ODNB
Notes:
Possible alternate death date of 5 April 1691 (from DNB and OW).
Virtual International Authority Filehttp://viaf.org/viaf/56953632
CodeNA4965
Archives associated with this Fellow
RefNoTitleDate
EL/T/43Letter, from John Templer to Walter Needham16 June 1673
RBO/5/5An account of serum of the blood and other anatomical matters by Walter Needham1675
MS/390/27Bond of Walter Needham to the Treasurer of the Royal Society26 November 1674
EL/T/40Letter, from John Templer to Walter Needham, dated at Braybrook1671
EL/N1/29Note on Martin Lister's letter of 24 June 1673 by Walter Needham15 July 1673
EL/T/41Letter, from John Templer to Walter Needham3 December 1671
EL/T/42Letter, from John Templer to Walter Needham8 January 1671
EL/N1/28Letter, from Walter Needham to Henry Oldenburg10 March 1667
EL/N1/30Letter, from Walter Needham to Martin Lister1673
CLP/14i/28Paper, 'De sero sanguinis' by Dr W [Walter] Needham25 November 1675
CLP/22i/6Paper, Discussion of Jan Swammerdam's work by William Croone, Walter Needham and Edmund [Edmond] King17 August 1673
RBO/1/23'The China Vernish Brought in By Dr Needham'4 November 1661
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