Thomas Copeland

William Copeland, curate of Byfield, Northamptonshire (1747–1787), was born in May 1781, studied under Mr. Denham at Chigwell in Essex, and in London under Edward Ford, his maternal uncle.

On his return to England and retirement from the army, finding that his uncle was declining practice, Copeland occupied his residence, 4 Golden Square, and having been appointed surgeon to the Westminster General Dispensary, he at once entered into a large connection, chiefly among the aristocracy.

He was the first to suggest the removal of the septum narium by means of an ingeniously contrived pair of forceps, in cases where its oblique position obstructed the passage of air through the nostrils.

He was also the author of Observations on the Symptoms and Treatment of the Diseased Spine, more particularly relating to the Incipient Stages, 1815; a second edition appeared in 1818 and the work was translated into several European languages.

Among his contributions to professional journals was a paper entitled History of a Case in which a Calculus was voided from a Tumour in the Groin (Trans.