The unveiling of the Harvey statue, at Folkestone, August, 6th, 1881 : with portrait of Professor Owen, M.D., C.B., F.R.S., an engraving of the Harvey statue, and a sketch of the unveiling ceremony.

Date:
[1881]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The unveiling of the Harvey statue, at Folkestone, August, 6th, 1881 : with portrait of Professor Owen, M.D., C.B., F.R.S., an engraving of the Harvey statue, and a sketch of the unveiling ceremony. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    UNVEILING THE STATUE OF HARVEY AT FOLKESTONE. After a lapse of two hundred and twenty-four years frorn the date of his death, and three hundred and three years from the period of his birth, a statue has been erected to William Harvey, the discoverer of the Circulation of the Blood, at Folkestone, his native town._ , The interesting ceremony of unveiling this memorial took place on Saturday, August 6th, in the presence of a distinguished assembly of members of the medical and surgical profession from all parts of the world. The movement for thus honouring, at his birthplace, one of the greatest scientists in the healing art, took practical shape no less than ten years ago—on September 6th, 1871—when a meeting was convened by the then mayor of the borough (Mr. T, Caister), for the purpose of discussing the propriety of raising a fund for the due celebration, in 1878, of the three hundredth anniversary of the birth of Harvey. Resolutions were passed to the effect that funds should be raised, and that the memorial should take the form of a statue, to be erected on the Leas—the welL known promenade, which is one of the chief attractions of Folkestone. The funds collected, however, were not sufficient to carry out the intentions of the promoters in 1878, and hence a delay of three years had taken place. It is unnecessary to give even a brief biographical sketch of Harvey. At the meeting in question a most interesting paper on this subject was read by Mr. G. Eastes, M.B., F.R.C.S., w’ho has taken a most promi- nent part in bringing the original proposal to a successful issue. A valuable addition to the general information respecting Harvey, and bis claims as a discoverer, has also been contributed by the Rev. Canon Jenkins, Rector of Lyminge, Kent, who delivered a lecture on April 1st, 1878—the three hundredth anniversary of Harvey’s birth. Although living in troublous times, to quote Mr. Eastes’s words, the “great in intellect, the noble in nature, died on June 3rd, 1657, in the eightieth year of his age, and was buried at Hempstead, in Essex.” A special train for tbe guests from London was kindly provided by Sir E. Watkin, Bart., M.P., Chairman of the South Eastern Railway Company, and left Charing Cross shortly before two, arriving at Shorncliffe Station in good time. Amongst the visitors were Professor Owen, M.D., C.B., F.R.S., who had consented to officiate at the ceremony. Dr. D. Duckworth, Mr. Erichsen, Dr. Owen Rees, Dr. C. West, Dr. Sieveking, Dr. Coupland, Dr. Bastian, Dr. G. Paget (Cambridge), Mr. Barnard Holt, Dr. W. ,J. Little, Mr. R ,7. Pye-Smith (Sheffield), Dr. Broadbent, Dr. C. Dukes (Rugby), Dr. J. G. Glover, Mr. Mitchell Henry, M.P., Mr. Ernest Hart, Dr. J. T. Banks (Dublin), Dr. G. H. Philipson (Newcastle), Pro- fessor W. Moore (Dublin), Dr. Klein, Professor A. Gamgoe (Manchester), Professor Struthers 'Aberdeen), Professor T. Stoker (Dublin), Sir. E. W. Watkin, Bart., M.P., Dr. Talfourd Jones, Dr. S. Gordon (Dublin), Pro- fessor Mac Alistcr (Dublin), Mr. Sydney Jones, Mr. John Gay, Mr. H.