Description
William IV (1830-1837), Fothergillian Prize Medal of the Medical Society of London. AV Medal c.
1835 (46mm; 94.51gm) by J. Vining. Draped bust r. of Fothergill, ANTONIUS FOTHERGILL MD LLD
&c. rev. Salus by a snake entwined altar, SALUTI AUGUSTI, in exergue SOC MED LOND INSITUTA
MDCCLXXIII.
Good Extremely Fine with rose coloured toning.
Anthony Fothergill was born in the early 1730s, in Sedbergh, Yorkshire. He was educated at Sedbergh School and went on to study medicine at the University of Edinburgh, where he graduated M.D. October 1763 and afterwards continued his studies at Leyden and Paris. He settled as a physician at Northampton and after some early difficulties, he was successful in practice, and was in 1774 appointed physician to the Northampton Infirmary. He was admitted licentiate of the College of Physicians 30 September 1779, and a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1778. On the death of John Fothergill, in 1780, Anthony moved to London, and established himself in the house in Harpur Street, Red Lion Square, formerly occupied by his namesake, in the hope of succeeding to his professional business. Not prospering in London he moved in 1784 to Bath, where he acquired a large and lucrative practice. In 1803 he retired from active life, and went to Philadelphia, where he lived for some years, and where he apparently intended to pass the rest of his days, but was recalled to England by the prospect of war in 1812, and died in London 11 May 1813. By his will he left a considerable part of his large fortune to charitable institutions in London, Bath, and Philadelphia. In particular his will made provision (£500.) for the awarding of an annual prize by the London Medical Society for the best essay on a given topic. The prize is known as the Fothergillian prize and is now awarded every three years – although not as the large gold medal as it was in the very early days!
