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Royal College of Surgeons of England

Greenhill, William Alexander (1814-1894)


IDENTITY STATEMENT

Reference code(s): GB 0114 MS0123

Held at: Royal College of Surgeons of England

Title: Greenhill, William Alexander (1814-1894)

Date(s): 19th century

Level of description: Collection (fonds)

Extent: 2 boxes

Name of creator(s): Greenhill | William Alexander | 1814-1894 | physician

CONTEXT

Administrative/Biographical history:

William Alexander Greenhill was born in 1814. He was educated at Edmonton and Rugby, and then matriculated at Trinity College, Oxford in 1832. He studied medicine at the Radcliffe Infirmary, Oxford, and went to Paris to study the practice in hospitals. He graduated MB in 1839 and MD in 1840. He was appointed physician to the Radcliffe Infirmary in 1839 and held this position until 1851. He began to practice in Oxford. He worked on sanitary matters when there was an outbreak of cholera in Oxford in 1849. He was a parishioner and churchwarden of St Mary's, Oxford, and corresponded with the vicar, John Henry Newman. Also, he was a member of Dr Pusey's theological society. Whilst living in Oxford he studied the Greek and Arabic Medical writers, and he produced translations of texts. He relocated to Hastings in 1851. He was a physician for the local infirmary and worked for various public charities. He produced many publications on public health and sanitary conditions in the area. He died on 1894.

CONTENT

Scope and content/abstract:

Papers of William Alexander Greenhill, 19th century, comprising a lexicon of Greek medical terms. To compile the lexicon, Greenhill has used scrap paper, such as old correspondence, flyers, bills, and envelopes, which reveal much information about his social and professional life.

ACCESS AND USE

Language/scripts of material: Greek and English

System of arrangement:

The lexicon is arranged into 8 bundles of papers numbered 1 to 8. These are in Greek alphabetical order.

Conditions governing access:

By written appointment only.

Conditions governing reproduction:

At the discretion of the librarian.

Physical characteristics:

Finding aids:

Catalogue of Manuscripts in the Library of the Royal College of Surgeons of England (1928) by Victor G Plarr.

ARCHIVAL INFORMATION

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information:

Accruals:

Archival history:

Immediate source of acquisition:

Donated by Sir John Tweedy, according to the Catalogue of Manuscripts in the Library of the Royal College of Surgeons of England (1928) by Victor G Plarr. However, the Library report in the Calendar of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, 1895, states that "the manuscript material for a Greek Medical Lexicon prepared by the late Dr Greenhill, was presented to the Library in the past year by Miss Greenhill."

ALLIED MATERIALS

Existence and location of originals:

Existence and location of copies:

Related material:

Greenhill's correspondence and papers are held at the Royal College of Physicians (MS 263-291); Bodleian Library at Oxford University (MS Autograph d6 and e4-5); and Trinity College, Oxford (1967 List). Letters to J H Newman are held at Oriel College Oxford; Letters to Dr Pusey are at the Pusey House Library; and letters to the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge are held in the University College London Manuscripts Room.

Publication note:

DESCRIPTION NOTES

Note:

Archivist's note: Compiled by Anya Turner.
Source: Dictionary of National Biography, Supplement Volume II, 1901

Rules or conventions: Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

Date(s) of descriptions: Sep 2008


INDEX ENTRIES
Subjects
Greek (classical) | Indo-european languages
Greek history | European history | National history
Terminology | Lexicography
Medical sciences

Personal names
Greenhill | William Alexander | 1814-1894 | physician

Corporate names

Places