Dr Thomas Beddoes and the establishment of his Pneumatic Institution: a tale of three Presidents

Abstract

In 1793 Dr Thomas Beddoes (1760-1808) moved from Oxford to Bristol where he worked to found his Pneumatic Institution. Davies Giddy (Gilbert) (1767-1839), once his protege and subsequently President of the Royal Society, supported Beddoes in this enterprise. He recommended young Humphry Davy (1778-1829), another future P.R.S., as superintendent of the Institution’s Laboratory. Joseph Banks (1743-1820), P.R.S., firmly witheld his name and his purse from the Institution, which became a focus for political and medical controversy. The Watts and Wedgwoods campaigned for Beddoes. This note follows him to Bristol and traces the vicissitudes that he encountered there.