WILLIAM BAYNHAM, M. D., F. R. S. L.
Doctor William Baynham was born in Caroline county
about 1750. His father was an eminent physician and was also
prominent in the church and political life of the county, serving
as magistrate and vestryman for many years.
William Baynham studied medicine under his father several
years, after which he went to England and studied under the
celebrated Doctor William Hunter. He became an eminent
anatomist and made several important discoveries in this department
of medicine. He was chosen assistant to the celebrated
Doctor Calignon, of Cambridge, and afterward assistant at St.
Thomas' Hospital and in both of these positions sustained his
splendid reputation. On the retirement of Doctor Else, he would
have been appointed Chief Surgeon of St. Thomas' Hospital,
but Dr. Else died suddenly and thus Doctor Baynham was deprived
of the support which had been promised him, and in the
election of Dr. Else's successor Baynham was defeated by one
vote. During his sojourn in England he became Fellow of the
Royal College of Surgeons of London. He returned to Virginia
in 1785 and settled near the Caroline-Essex line where he died in
1814. He preached frequentedly.
