John Radcliffe (physician)
John Radcliffe (1650 – 1 November 1714) was an English physician, academic and politician. A number of landmark buildings in Oxford, including the Radcliffe Camera (in Radcliffe Square), the Radcliffe Infirmary, the Radcliffe Science Library, Radcliffe Primary Care and the Radcliffe Observatory were named after him. The John Radcliffe Hospital, a large tertiary hospital in Headington, was also named after him. Life. Radcliffe was born the son of George Radcliffe and Anne Loader, in Wakefield, Yorkshire, where he was baptised on 23 January 1653. He was educated at Queen Elizabeth Grammar School and Northallerton Grammar School and graduated  from the University of Oxford, where he was an exhibitioner at University College tutored by Obadiah Walker, to become a Fellow of Lincoln College. He obtained his MD in 1682 and moved to London shortly afterwards. There he enjoyed great popularity and became royal physician to William III and Mary II. In 1690 he was elected Member of Parliament for Bramber, Sussex and in 1713 member for Buckingham. On his death in the following year, his property was bequeathed to various charitable causes, including St Bartholomew's Hospital and University College, Oxford, where the Radcliffe Quad is named after him . The charitable trust founded by his will of 13 September 1714 still operates as a registered charity. Anecdotes of Radcliffe. 1. Among the many singularities related of Radcliffe, it has been noticed that, when he was in a convivial party, he was unwilling to leave it, even though sent for by persons of the highest distinction. Whilst he was thus deeply engaged at a tavern, he was called on by a grenadier, who desired his immediate attendance on his "colonel"; but no entreaties could prevail on the physician to postpone his revelry. 2. To confer medical authority upon themselves, doctors  of the day often published their theories, clinical findings, and pharmacopoeia (collections of "receipts" or prescriptions). Radcliffe, however, not only wrote little but also took a certain iconoclastic pride in having read little, remarking once of some vials of herbs and a skeleton in his study: “This is Radcliffe’s library.” However, he bequeathed a substantial sum of money to Oxford for the founding of the Radcliffe Library, an endowment which, Samuel Garth quipped, was "about as logical as if a eunuch should found a seraglio." 3. Physician to King William III until 1699, when Radcliffe offended the King by  remarking "Why truly, I would not have your Majesty's two legs for your three kingdoms." Medical institutions named after Radcliffe. The John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford is named after John Radcliffe, as was the former Radcliffe Infirmary, now being redeveloped for academic use by Oxford University as the Radcliffe Observatory Quarter. References.