A ‘worthy disciple of Galen’, ‘ardent sportsman’ and ‘expert swordsman’: Henry Kipping (1726–1785) apothecary and surgeon at Brighton, England

Abstract

Henry Kipping (1726–1785) was an apothecary and surgeon in Brighton, England. Here we present a series of contemporary references to Kipping from newspaper, book, archive and web-based resources. Some relate to his medical practice (resuscitating a ‘drowned’ elderly physician and a fisherman, bleeding a member of parliament who had fallen from his horse and praising a nostrum for the ‘gravel and stone’). Social references include a duel with an army officer whose sword Kipping confiscated. Kipping appears to have been popular, connected with members of Brighton’s high society and passionate about traditional past times, e.g. swordsmanship, horse riding and hunting on the Sussex downs. Indeed, Kipping’s horse ran in the earliest known horse race in Brighton (1770). He was consulted by notable local residents including the Thrale family of Brighton and Lady Wilhelmina Shelley (the latter evidenced by Kipping partaking in her funeral procession in 1772). Kipping lived and practised at 28 West street, a road most famous for its (now lost) George Inn where King Charles II stayed just prior to his escape to Normandy. Kipping comes across as a colourful and eccentric clinician.