Thomas Wakley

Thomas Wakley (1795 to 1862) was an English surgeon who became famous as a social reformer campaigning against incompetence, privilege and nepotism in medicine. Born in Membury, Devon, he qualified as a Member of the Royal College of Surgeons in 1817 and set up in practice in Regent Street. In 1823 he started the medical weekly The Lancet and was its founding editor. A report in it accusing the surgeon Bransby Cooper of incompetence led to the libel case Cooper v Wakley in 1828, which raised the standing of both Wakley and his journal. He also sat as a radical Member of Parliament for the Liberal Party and was a celebrated coroner.