Thomas Hawkesworth Ledwich

Thomas Hawkesworth Ledwich (1823 to 1858) was an Irish anatomist and surgeon who died at the age of 35. He was born in Waterford, where his father practised law, and was a grandson of the controversial historian Edward Ledwich. He studied medicine in Dublin, became a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, and was a successful lecturer on anatomy who saw the need for better facilities to teach medicine. In 1849 he became lecturer at the Original School of Medicine in Peter Street, Dublin, which was renamed the Ledwich School in his honour after his death and was later absorbed into the College of Surgeons and then the Adelaide Hospital. He published The Anatomy of the Human Body in 1852 and succeeded Sir Philip Crampton as surgeon to the Meath Hospital.