Who are you looking for?

Install Famoose

Keep Famoose on your home screen or desktop for easy access.

Open this site in Chrome or Edge and look for Install app in the browser menu or address bar. If no install option appears, you can bookmark Famoose instead.

Famoose.co
Appearance
Text size
Page width
Colour
Discover›Medicine
Contents
John Belchier
Surgeon

John Belchier

Famoose for

Using madder dye to investigate bone growth.

Copley Medal

Born
c. 1706
Birthplace
Kingston upon Thames
Died
6 February 1785

More people

Florence NightingaleHelping establish modern professional nursing.Alexander FlemingDiscovering penicillin’s antibacterial effect.Edward JennerDeveloping smallpox vaccination using material from cowpox.

John Belchier

John Belchier was a British surgeon at Guy’s Hospital whose observations helped researchers study the developing skeleton.

Early life

Training

Attended Eton and apprenticed to William Cheselden at St Thomas’ Hospital.

Career

  1. 1732

    Royal Society

    Was elected a fellow.

  2. 1736–1768

    Guy’s Hospital

    Worked as a surgeon.

Contributions

Copley Medal

Was recognised for observing that madder coloured newly forming bone.

Beyond work

Arts friendships

Was a friend of Handel and knew Alexander Pope and sculptor Louis-François Roubiliac.

Sources & photo creditBiography and career ↗Biographical references ↗

Original photograph. Cropped and displayed in monochrome.

Photo: Artistic portrait; Ozias Humphry. Public domain · Original image. Cropped and displayed in monochrome.