William Lambe | |
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| Born | 26 February 1765 Warwick, England |
| Died | 11 June 1847 (1847-06-12) (aged 82) Dilwyn, England |
| Alma mater | St John's College, Cambridge |
| Occupation(s) | Physician, writer |
William LambeFRCP (26 February 1765 – 11 June 1847) was an Englishphysician and earlyveganism activist. He has been described as a pioneer ofvegan nutrition.[1]
William Lambe was born inWarwick, the son of Lacon Lambe, aHereford attorney. He was educated atHereford Grammar School,[2] where he was head boy, andSt John's College, Cambridge, graduating B.D. (as fourth wrangler) in 1786, M.B. in 1789, and M.D. in 1802.[3] He was admitted a fellow of his college on 11 March 1788.
In 1790 Lambe took over the practice of a Warwick friend and in the same year published his 'Analyses of the Leamington Water'. The results of further minute chemical examination of these waters were published by him in the fifth volume of the 'Transactions' of the Philosophical Society of Manchester. Moving to London about 1800, Lambe was admitted a Fellow of theCollege of Physicians in 1804, becoming a censor (examiner) and delivering theCroonian Lecture on several occasions between 1806 and 1828 and theHarveian Oration in 1818.[3]
Lambe's London practice was in King's Road (nowTheobald's Road), Bedford Row, where he attended three times a week. Many of his patients were needy people, from whom he would accept no fees.[3] He retired from medical practice about 1840.
Lambe died on 11 June 1847 atDilwyn, Herefordshire, and is buried in the family vault in the churchyard there.[3] His son, William Lacon Lambe, also studied medicine and graduated M.B. in 1820 from Caius College, Cambridge.
Lambe was considered an eccentric by his contemporaries, mainly on the ground that he was a strict, but not fanatical, vegetarian and that his favourite prescription was filtered water.
Lambe suffered from a variety of chronic diseases so gave up animal food in 1806 and embraced a vegetable and distilled water diet.[4] His health improved so he continued the diet on a permanent basis. Lambe tried the diet on several of his patients and published the results in a book in 1815.[4] In 1816, there was an extensive review of Lambe's book inThe Medico-Chirurgical Journal and Review.[5] Lambe converted his patientJohn Frank Newton to vegetarianism.[6]
Lambe believed that a distilled water and vegetarian diet could cure almost every known disease, includingcancer.[7][8] Lambe ate a very simple diet. For breakfast he atebread withfruit orsalad.[9] His dinner consisted of vegetables, a pie, often an oniondumpling. For supper, he ate the same as his breakfast. Lambe did not drinkcoffee ortea and always walked, no matter the weather.[9] As Lambe did not consume dairy or meat products, he has been described as an "earlyvegan pioneer".[10]
Lambe's ideas were not popular amongst the medical community of his day. In 1843,Jonathan Pereira commented that Lambe "gained few, if any proselytes to his opinions and practice."[11]
Lambe influenced the vegetarian movement in the United Kingdom. InThe Ethics of Diet, 1833Howard Williams concluded that "Dr. Lambe occupies an eminent position in the medical literature of vegetarianism, and he divides with his predecessor, Dr. Cheyne, the honour of being the founder of scientific dietetics in this country."[12]
In 1873, Inspector-GeneralEdward Hare authored a biography of Lambe.[9]
He published a number of written works, including:
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Seccombe, Thomas (1892). "Lambe, William (1765-1847)". InLee, Sidney (ed.).Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 32. London: Smith, Elder & Co. p. 6.| International | |
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