Level of Description: Fonds

Extent and Medium of the unit of description: 0.04 linear metres

Name of creator(s): Clift, William (1775-1849), naturalist

Administrative/Biographical History
William Clift was born at Bodmin in Cornwall in 1775 and came to live with the surgeon and anatomist John Hunter (1728-1793)in London when he was 17, only 20 months before Hunter’s death. His task was to write and make drawings, to dissect, and take part in the charge of Hunter’s museum. Clift found himself a member of a very large household which stretched from Leicester Square eastwards to Castle Street with a further property at Earl’s Court. There were about 50 people who depended on Hunter for sustenance and pay. On Hunter’s death in 1793 all the servants were dismissed except the housekeeper in Castle Street and William Clift who was needed to look after the museum. The care of the museum devolved on Hunter’s executors, Everard Home, Hunter’s brother in law, and Matthew Baillie, Hunter’s nephew. Clift copied volumes of Hunter’s manuscripts and thus saved nearly half of Hunter’s work, the rest being lost when Everard Home burnt them in 1823 “because they were unfit to meet the public eye”. The Royal College of Surgeons took care of the museum in 1800, appointing Clift as its conservator. A new building was erected to house the museum at Lincolns Inn Fields next door to the College, which opened to the public in 1813. Clift became a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1823.

Scope and content
Account book, 1792-1822; letters and notes to and from Clift, 1792-1841; note from Thomas O. Hunter, 1763; notebook describing a visit to Paris, 1819; manuscript copy of the chapter entitled ‘De Dolore Nephritico’ from Paul Barbettes Practice, 1841.

Conditions governing access
Access to some items may be restricted. Please contact the Archivist at the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow.

Conditions governing reproduction
Identification of copyright holders of unpublished material is often difficult. Permission to make any published use of any material from the collection must be sought in advance from the Archivist. We will try to assist in identifying copyright owners but the responsibility for copyright clearance before publication ultimately rests with the reader.

Language/scripts of material
English

Finding aids
Descriptive list available at the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow.

Archivist's Note
Compiled by Rachael Third, Scottish Archive Network Project, based on work undertaken by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow

Rules or Conventions
ISAD(G): General International Standard Archival Description, International Council on Archives (2nd edition, 2000).

Date(s) of Descriptions
March 2000