From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
William Becket
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Born
| 1684
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Died
| 1738
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Nationality
| British
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William Becket
(1684?1738) was an English surgeon and
antiquary
.
Life
[
edit
]
Becket was born at
Abingdon
, Berkshire. In the early years of the eighteenth century he was well known in London as a surgeon and an enthusiastic antiquary. He was elected a
Fellow of the Royal Society
on 11 December 1718, and read three papers on
The Antiquity of the Venereal Disease
at its meetings during the same year (
Philosophical Transactions
. vi. 368, 467, 492), and one on another subject in 1724 (
Philosophical Transactions
vii. 25).
Becket was an original member of the
Society of Antiquaries
, which was effectively established in 1717, and was on close terms with
William Stukeley
,
William Bowyer
,
Browne Willis
, and other antiquaries. He was for some years surgeon to
St. Thomas's Hospital, Southwark
, but before 1736 he had retired to Abingdon, where he died 25 November 1738. Stukeley noted in his common-place book that Becket's papers were bought by
Edmund Curll
, who sold them to
Edward Milward
.
Works
[
edit
]
- New Discoveries relating to the Cure of Cancers
, 1711 and 1712.
- An Enquiry into the Antiquity and Efficacy of Touching for
the King's Evil
, with a Collection of Records
, 1722.
John Anstis the elder
gave Becket some assistance in this work.
- Practical Surgery, illustrated and improved, with remarks on the most remarkable Cases, Cures, and Discussions in St. Thomas's Hospital
, 1740.
- A Collection of Chirurgical Tracts
, 1740.
References
[
edit
]
DNB references
[
edit
]
These references are found in the DNB article referred to above.
- Attribution
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the
public domain
:
"
Becket, William
".
Dictionary of National Biography
. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885?1900.