Edward Coleman (veterinary surgeon)

Edward Coleman (1766 to 1839) was an English veterinary surgeon who trained first as a human surgeon. Born at Burmarsh near Dymchurch in Kent, he was apprenticed at Gravesend and in 1789 went to London to the Borough School of Medicine, living in the household of Henry Cline, surgeon to Guy's Hospital. His study of asphyxia won a Humane Society prize for an essay on resuscitation, published in 1791, the year he began practising as a surgeon in London. In 1793 he became professor at the London Veterinary College and held the post for many years. In 1796 he was appointed medical superintendent to the veterinary service of the Board of Ordnance and principal veterinary surgeon of the cavalry, which made him the founding head of the Army Veterinary Service, and he remained principal veterinary surgeon of the Army until his death. He wrote on suspended respiration and on the structure and shoeing of the horse's foot, became a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1831 and died in 1839.