| Authorised form of name | Mead; Richard (1673 - 1754) |
| Dates | 1673 - 1754 |
| Nationality | British |
| Place of birth | Parish of Stepney, Middlesex, England |
| Date of birth | 11 August 1673 |
| Place of death | His house in Great Ormond Street, London |
| Date of death | 16 February 1754 |
| Dates and places | Burial:
The Temple Church, London |
| Occupation | Physician |
| Research field | Medicine |
| Antiquities |
| Activity | Education:
Educated by his father; Pupil of John Nesbitt; Thomas Singleton's school (1688); Utrecht (admitted 1689); Leyden (admitted 1693). Padua: MD, PhD (1695). Oxford: MD (by diploma 1707)
Career:
Fled to Holland with his father; fellow student with Herman Boerhaave (FRS 1730) of Archibald Pitcairne, Professor of Medicine, Leyden; Mead, a Whig, pleaded for the life of Pitcairn's Jacobite son who was imprisoned in the Tower of London (1715); travelled to Italy with Thomas Pellett (FRS 1712) (1695); practised in London (1696-death); Physician, St Thomas's Hospital, London (1703-1715); Anatomy Lecturer to the Barber-Surgeons' Company (1711-1715); Governor, St Thomas's Hospital (1715); Governor of St Bartholomew's, Bethlehem and Bridewell Hospitals, London (1720); Physician to George II (1727); persuaded Guy to bequeath his fortune to found Guy's Hospital; a wealthy man, he was known for his generosity to scholars, artists and the clergy; amassed a library of over 10,000 volumes and large collections of pictures, coins and antiquities, all of which were sold after his death
Memberships:
FRCP (1716); Hon FCPE (1745) |
| Membership category | Fellow |
| Date of election | 30/11/1703 |
| Proposer | Sir Hans Sloane |
| Royal Society activity | Royal Society roles:
Council (1705, 1707-1730); VP 1713- |
| Relationships | Son of Matthew Mead, Nonconformist Minister, of Stepney, Middlesex
Married: 1) Ruth, daughter of John Marsh, Merchant, of London; 2) Anne, daughter of Sir Rowland Alston of Odell, Buckinghamshire; father-in-law of Frank Nicholls (FRS 1728) and of Sir Edward Wilmot (FRS 1730) |
| Sources | Sources:
Bulloch's Roll; DNB
References:
Jonathan Andrews, 'A Respectable Mad-Doctor? Dr Richard Hale, FRS (1670-1728)' in NR 1990 vol 44 pp 169-203
H G Lyons, 'Two Hundred Years Ago: 1739' in NR 1939 vol 2 pp 34-42 |
| Virtual International Authority File | http://viaf.org/viaf/45083556 |
| Royal Society code | NA8349 |
| Reference number | Title | Date |
| IM/003042 | Mead, Richard | nd |
| L&P/1/45 | Letter, 'A post-mortem examination' from H Cotton to Richard Mead | 24 January 1741 |
| L&P/2/213 | Letter, 'The model machine made by Mr Salter to shew his pipes for extracting foul air out of ships' from Richard Mead to Martin Folkes | 13 June 1751 |
| L&P/1/340 | Letter, 'Of a giant boy, Thos Hale of Willingham' from Thomas Dawkes to Richard Mead | 3 October 1744 |
| LBO/18/28 | Copy letter from Joseph Wasse, Northamptonshire, to Richard Mead | 16 May 1724 |
| LBO/18/86 | Copy letter from John Walsh, Aynho, to Richard Mead | 13 July 1725 |
| L&P/1/124 | Letter, 'De motu particulari... [Of particular motions]' from Thomas Glass to Richard Mead | 20 August 1742 |
| L&P/1/59 | Letter, 'Concerning cases of stone treated by Mrs Stephen's remedies' from H Cotton to Richard Mead | 22 February 1741 |
| L&P/2/272 | Letter, 'Concerning the late plague at Constantinople' from Mordack MacKenzie to Richard Mead | 25 February 1752 |
| L&P/2/158 | Letter, 'Of an earthquake at Smyrna' from Mordach MacKenzie to Richard Mead | 23 May 1750 |
| L&P/1/443 | Letter, 'De Diaphragmate fisso [The split diaphragm]' from John Fothergill to Richard Mead [English translation] | 1745 |
| L&P/2/120 | Letter, 'Of an impostume formed in the stomach' from Daniel Peter Layard to Richard Mead | 17 February 1750 |
| L&P/2/466 | Letter, 'On the bust of a youth just found at Herculaneum' from Joseph Spence to Richard Mead | 7 December 1753 |
| DM/5/102 | A list of benefactors to the Museum, to the value of £5 or upwards at one time | c.1737 |
| EL/N1/64 | Copy of a letter, from Isaac Newton, Hans Sloane, Richard Mead, Edmond Halley, and Abraham Hill to John Flamsteed, dated at Crane Court | 1712 |
| L&P/1/442 | Letter, 'De Diaphragmate fisso [The split diaphragm]' from John Fothergill to Richard Mead | 1745 |
| MS/73 | Journal of travels in the Eastern Mediterranean by Francis Vernon | 1675-1676 |
| EL/O2/181 | Letter, from William Oliver to Richard Mead | 1723 |
| EL/W3/141 | Letter, from Reverend Joseph Wasse to Dr [Richard] Mead | 1725 |
| L&P/2/411 | Letter, 'An account of some antiquities dug up at Herculaneum' from Camillo Paderni to Richard Mead | 18 November 1752 |
| CLP/14i/66 | Paper, 'An account of three cases of the hydrophobia' by R [Richard] Mead | [1709] |