John Freke | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 1688 |
| Died | 1756 |
| Occupation | Surgeon |
John Freke (1688–1756) was anEnglishsurgeon. Together withPercival Pott he was instrumental in separating the profession of surgeon from that ofbarber.
Freke was the son of a rural minister fromOckford Fitzpaine,Dorset. At the age of 17 he was apprenticed to a prominent London surgeon, Richard Blundell.[1]
He became an assistant surgeon atSt Bartholomew's Hospital (known as Barts) in 1726, and one year later was put in charge of the anatomical and surgical preparations.[2] In 1727 the Governors of Barts had decided that there was a requirement for some surgeons to be specialists, and Freke was appointed to deal with diseases of the eye, becoming the firstophthalmic surgeon.
He was a surgeon at Barts from 1729 to 1755 and was a Governor of the hospital from 1736 to 1756. He trainedEdward Nourse who in turn trained Percival Pott. In 1745 he established the Company of Surgeons. He designed several medical instruments including an improvedobstetricforceps.[3] He was the first to record the genetic error that causesfibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva,[4] and his 1748Essay on the Art of Healing identified points of interest ofbreast cancer and referred to the danger of not removing infectedlymphatic tissue.[5]
TheMurder Act 1752 allowed the bodies of convicted murderers to bedissected for the study ofanatomy, and in his role overseeing anatomical preparations, Freke was able to take advantage of the increase in the number of available specimens. The hospital hired a house inCock Lane to which the bodies were delivered.[2]
He had scientific interests outside medicine. He was elected as a Fellow of theRoyal Society in 1729 and contributed various articles to their journal,Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society. In 1746 he wrote a treatise on electricity,An Essay to shew the Cause of Electricity and why some things are Non-Electricable, in which is also considered its Influence in the Blasts on Human Bodies, in the Blights on Trees, in the Damps in Mines, and as it may affect the Sensitive Plants (republished in 1752 with the more concise titleTreatise on the Nature and Property of Fire),[5] expressing the belief thatlightning and electricity were the same.[6] He is mentioned inTom Jones and as a friend ofWilliam Hogarth may have been the model for the president of the College of Surgeons inReward of Cruelty, the final plate of his seriesThe Four Stages of Cruelty. His friendship withSamuel Richardson meant he was one of select group who were able to read the manuscript ofClarissa before it was published.[5]
