| Authorised form of name | Needham; Walter (? 1631 - 1691); physician and anatomist |
| Dates | ? 1631 - 1691 |
| Nationality | British |
| Date of birth | 28 December 1632 |
| Date of death | 16 April 1691 |
| Dates and places | Baptism:
Bishops Castle, Shropshire, England, Europe (28 December 1632)
Burial:
Church of St Giles-in-the-Fields, near London, England, Europe |
| Occupation | Physician |
| Research field | Astronomy |
| Activity | Education:
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 category | Fellow |
| Date of election | 20/06/1667 |
| Proposer | John Wilkins |
| Royal Society activity | Royal Society roles:
Council: 1671, 1673-1675, 1677; VP 1674
Committee and panels:
Committee for auditing the accounts of the Treasurer (1672) |
| Other Royal Society activity | Admitted on 6 April 1671; Submitted some papers on human and animal anatomy to the Society (1667); Considered for curator of experiments (1667) |
| Relationships | Parents: Gervase Needham and Ann Needham |
| Published works | RCN: 56708 |
| General context | In 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. |
| Sources | Sources:
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 File | http://viaf.org/viaf/56953632 |
| Royal Society code | NA4965 |
Archives associated with this Fellow
| Reference number | Title | Date |
| EL/T/43 | Letter, from John Templer to Walter Needham | 16 June 1673 |
| RBO/5/5 | An account of serum of the blood and other anatomical matters by Walter Needham | 1675 |
| MS/390/27 | Bond of Walter Needham to the Treasurer of the Royal Society | 26 November 1674 |
| EL/T/40 | Letter, from John Templer to Walter Needham, dated at Braybrook | 1671 |
| EL/N1/29 | Note on Martin Lister's letter of 24 June 1673 by Walter Needham | 15 July 1673 |
| EL/T/41 | Letter, from John Templer to Walter Needham | 3 December 1671 |
| EL/T/42 | Letter, from John Templer to Walter Needham | 8 January 1671 |
| EL/N1/28 | Letter, from Walter Needham to Henry Oldenburg | 10 March 1667 |
| EL/N1/30 | Letter, from Walter Needham to Martin Lister | 1673 |
| CLP/14i/28 | Paper, 'De sero sanguinis' by Dr W [Walter] Needham | 25 November 1675 |
| CLP/22i/6 | Paper, Discussion of Jan Swammerdam's work by William Croone, Walter Needham and Edmund [Edmond] King | 17 August 1673 |
| RBO/1/23 | 'The China Vernish Brought in By Dr Needham' | 4 November 1661 |