Biography

Founded by J. Frost, a lecturer at St. Thomas's Hospital, who was the first director of the society (1821-1828). The society was perhaps most effective under the presidency (1828-1829) of James McGrigor who is perhaps best known for his contribution to medicine as Surgeon-General to Wellington's forces during the Peninsular Wars and in founding the Royal Army Medical Corps. It was during the presidency of the Earl of Stanhope (1829-1837) that Frost was expelled from the society (1830) for arrogant behaviour. Mathematician Charles Babbage (1791-1871), the 'father of computing', wrote scathingly of the incident in 1830 as symptomatic of the decline of science in England and observed that the society seemed more interested in recruiting the aristocracy of Europe. Many plant collections and publications were deposited in the herbarium and library of the society (MBSL) but thse were later disposed of with the dissolution of the society. Most of the original papers of the society are in the library of The Natural History Museum and at least some former contributors to MBSL have material which is now at BM.

Biography

Founded by J. Frost, a lecturer at St. Thomas's Hospital, who was the first director of the society (1821-1828). The society was perhaps most effective under the presidency (1828-1829) of James McGrigor who is perhaps best known for his contribution to medicine as Surgeon-General to Wellington's forces during the Peninsular Wars and in founding the Royal Army Medical Corps. It was during the presidency of the Earl of Stanhope (1829-1837) that Frost was expelled from the society (1830) for arrogant behaviour. Mathematician Charles Babbage (1791-1871), the 'father of computing', wrote scathingly of the incident in 1830 as symptomatic of the decline of science in England and observed that the society seemed more interested in recruiting the aristocracy of Europe. Many plant collections and publications were deposited in the herbarium and library of the society (MBSL) but thse were later disposed of with the dissolution of the society. Most of the original papers of the society are in the library of The Natural History Museum and at least some former contributors to MBSL have material which is now at BM.