Thomas Wakley (1795-1862) qualified as a doctor in 1817 and set up a practice in London. He was the founder of the medical journal The Lancet (1823), which he used to campaign for medical reforms such as a united profession of apothecaries, physicians, and surgeons and a new system of medical qualifications to improve standards. He was elected as the Radical MP for Finsbury in 1835 and remained in the House of Commons for the next 17 years, where he was a vigorous advocate of parliamentary reform. Wakley was largely responsible for setting up the Royal College of Surgeons (1843) and the General Council of Medical Education and Registration (1858).
From the guide to the Magenis, Leslie S., 1941, (Senate House Library, University of London)
