John Ranby
Encyclopedia
Life
The son of Joseph Ranby of St. Giles-in-the-Fields in MiddlesexMiddlesex
Middlesex is one of the historic counties of England and the second smallest by area. The low-lying county contained the wealthy and politically independent City of London on its southern boundary and was dominated by it from a very early time...
, an innholder, he put himself apprentice to Edward Barnard, foreign brother of the Company of Barber-Surgeons, on 5 April 1715. On 5 October 1722 he was examined on his skill in surgery. His answers were approved, and he was ordered the seal of the Barber Surgeons Company as a foreign brother.
He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society on 30 November 1724. He was appointed surgeon-in-ordinary to the king's household in 1738, and in 1740 he was promoted sergeant-surgeon to George II. He became principal sergeant-surgeon in May 1743, and in this capacity accompanied the king in the German campaign of that year. He was present at the battle of Dettingen
Battle of Dettingen
The Battle of Dettingen took place on 27 June 1743 at Dettingen in Bavaria during the War of the Austrian Succession. It was the last time that a British monarch personally led his troops into battle...
, and there had as a patient Prince William, Duke of Cumberland, the king's second son.
In 1745 Ranby's interest with the king and the government of the day helped the passing of the act of parliament constituting a corporation of surgeons distinct from that of the barbers. He was the nominated as the first master of the newly founded surgeons' company, though he had held no office in the old and united company of Barber-Surgeons. Joseph Sandford, the senior warden of the old company, and William Cheselden
William Cheselden
William Cheselden was an English surgeon and teacher of anatomy and surgery, who was influential in establishing surgery as a scientific medical profession.-Life:...
, the junior warden, took office under him as the first wardens. He was re-elected master of the company in 1751, when the company entered into occupation of their new theatre in the Old Bailey, and for a third time in 1752. Ranby was appointed surgeon to the Chelsea Hospital on 13 May 1752 in succession to Cheselden.
He died on 28 August 1773, after a few hours' illness, at his apartments in Chelsea Hospital, and was buried in the south-west portion of the burying-ground attached to the hospital, in a square sandstone tomb with a simple inscription.
Reputation
Ranby had a large surgical practice, and Henry FieldingHenry Fielding
Henry Fielding was an English novelist and dramatist known for his rich earthy humour and satirical prowess, and as the author of the novel Tom Jones....
introduced him into Tom Jones. He was a man of strong passions, harsh voice, and inelegant manners. Queen Caroline of Ansbach
Caroline of Ansbach
Caroline of Brandenburg-Ansbach was the queen consort of King George II of Great Britain.Her father, John Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach, was the ruler of a small German state...
called him ‘the blockhead’ before submitting to the operation for hernia
Hernia
A hernia is the protrusion of an organ or the fascia of an organ through the wall of the cavity that normally contains it. A hiatal hernia occurs when the stomach protrudes into the mediastinum through the esophageal opening in the diaphragm....
of which she died.
Works
His works are:- ‘The Method of Treating Gunshot Wounds,’ London, 1744, 2nd edit. 1760; 3rd edit. 1781; an account of some of the surgical cases which came under Ranby's care when he served under Lord Stair in the German campaign up to the battle of Dettingen. He extols the use of Peruvian bark in the suppuration following upon gunshot wounds, and makes observes that its virtue is increased if the elixir of vitriol be given with it; he thus anticipates the use of quinineQuinineQuinine is a natural white crystalline alkaloid having antipyretic , antimalarial, analgesic , anti-inflammatory properties and a bitter taste. It is a stereoisomer of quinidine which, unlike quinine, is an anti-arrhythmic...
. He also gives a detailed account of a wound in the leg sustained by the Duke of Cumberland; and relates cases of death from tetanusTetanusTetanus is a medical condition characterized by a prolonged contraction of skeletal muscle fibers. The primary symptoms are caused by tetanospasmin, a neurotoxin produced by the Gram-positive, rod-shaped, obligate anaerobic bacterium Clostridium tetani...
occurring after gunshot wounds. - ‘A Narrative of the last illness of the Earl of Orford, from May 1744 to the day of his decease, 18 March following,’ London, 1745; 2nd edit. 1745. This pamphlet, relating to the last illness of Sir Robert Walpole, gave offence to the physicians, for in it Ranby utterly condemned the use of the lithontryptic lixivium in the treatment of the stoneThe StoneThe Stone is a not-for-profit experimental music performance space located in the Alphabet City neighborhood in New York City. It was founded in April 2005 by musician John Zorn, who serves as the artistic director.-Location:...
. - ‘The True Account of all the Transactions before the Right Honourable the Lords and others Commissioners for the affairs of Chelsea Hospital as far as relates to the Admission and Dismission of Sam. Lee, Surgeon,’ London, 1754. This work mentions the methods adopted by a hernia-curing quackQuackA quack is a person who pretends, professionally or publicly, to have skill, knowledge, or qualifications he or she does not possess.Quack may also refer to:* Quack , an independent-comics series published by Star Reach in the 1970s...
to whom the government of the day had paid large sums of money. - ‘Three Curious Dissections by John Ranby, esq., Surgeon to His Majesty's Household and F.R.S. 1728,’ printed in William Beckett's ‘Collection of Chirurgical Tracts,’ London, 1740.
- Paper in the Philosophical Transactions, 1731, vol. xxxvii.