until his death he remained closely identified with the Commons Preservation Society. In 1895, with Miss Octavia Hill [q.v.] and Canon Rawnsley, he founded the National Trust; and he took a leading part in many schemes for acquiring open spaces. Hunter lived at Haslemere, and was instrumental in preserving in that neighbourhood over 1,500 acres of commons, including Hindhead and the Devil's Punch Bowl. He died at Haslemere 6 November 1913, within a few months of his retirement from the Post Office. As a national memorial of his work a beautiful tract of woodland adjoining the Waggoner's Wells, near Haslemere, was purchased by public subscription.
Hunter was knighted in 1894; he was made C.B. in 1909 and promoted K.C.B. in 1911. He married twice: first, in 1869 Emily (died 1872), daughter of J. G. Browning; and secondly, in 1877 Ellen, daughter of S. Cann. He left three daughters by his second marriage.
[Sir Robert Hunter, The Preservation of Open Spaces, Footpaths and Other Rights of Way, 1896, and Gardens in Towns (published posthumously), 1915; The Movements for the Inclosure and Preservation of Open Lands (Royal Statistical Society), 1915.]
HUTCHINSON, Sir JONATHAN (1828–1913), surgeon, the second son of Jonathan Hutchinson, a middleman in the flax trade, by his wife, Elizabeth Massey, was born at Selby, Yorkshire, 23 July 1828. He belongs to a group of distinguished medical contemporaries of quaker origin, which includes Thomas Hodgkin, T. B. Peacock, Lord Lister, Wilson Fox, and D. H. Tuke. His ancestors had farmed for generations the same small estate near Boston in Lincolnshire, and amongst them were some of the early followers of George Fox. His youth was passed without demur in a strict quaker circle, but by middle life he had freed himself from the outward forms of quakerism, though its serious influence upon him was obvious throughout his career. A scientific training, the close study of nature, and the influence of Darwin left him at last far from orthodox, but—to quote the words which he directed to be engraved upon his tombstone—‘a man of hope and forward-looking mind’.
After being apprenticed to Dr. Caleb Williams, of York, in 1845, he spent four years at the small York school of medicine (1846–1850), and completed his training by attending lectures at St. Bartholomew's Hospital, London. Disliking at first the thought of private practice, he began his life in London by writing for medical journals, coaching, and making the elaborate clinical records for which he afterwards became famous. In 1856 he married Jane Pynsent West, and about this time began private practice at 14 Finsbury Square. He held minor hospital appointments until in 1859 he obtained a post as assistant surgeon at the London Hospital. Here, as well as at the Metropolitan Free Hospital and the special hospitals on the surgical staff of which he served (the Royal London Ophthalmic Hospital, the Blackfriars Hospital for Skin Diseases, and the Royal Lock Hospital), the greater part of his life's work was carried out. In 1862 he obtained the fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons, and in that year he was appointed lecturer on surgery at the London Hospital; in 1863, when he became full surgeon, he took on the additional subject of medical ophthalmology. In 1874, by which time he had made a great reputation, he moved to more fashionable quarters, 15 Cavendish Square, next door to his famous medical colleague, Sir Andrew Clark [q.v.]. He left the active staff of the London Hospital in 1883 with the title of emeritus professor of surgery, and the Hutchinson triennial prize essay was then instituted to commemorate his services. He served on the council of the Royal College of Surgeons from 1879 to 1895, and was president in 1889. He was Hunterian professor from 1879 to 1883 and in 1891 delivered the Hunterian oration. In 1882 he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society. He was also president in turn of most of the London medical societies, and he received many honours from abroad and in his own country. He served on the royal commissions on small-pox and fever cases in London hospitals (1881) and on vaccination (1890–1896), and was knighted in 1908. He died at Haslemere, Surrey, 26 June 1913. He had six sons, four of whom survived him, and four daughters.
Hutchinson was a specialist of great repute in at least three subjects. He was a leading authority on ophthalmology, dermatology, to some extent on neurology, but above all on syphilis; so that he has been described as the greatest general practitioner in Europe. He was extraordinarily diligent, a laborious and accurate observer, and an inveterate note-taker. His vast collection of pathological drawings was probably unequalled. He had a retentive memory, a logical mind, a love of discussion, and an enthusiasm
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