Drawing of human ears and associated parts of the skull, from John Hunter's drawing books, before 1793.
Talks on Tape
Hunterian talks and lectures: Audio, Video and Transcripts
The Museums Department records selected lectures and events held at the Hunterian Museum and archives the recordings here for the public. See below for all recorded lectures to date.
Due to the nature of recordings made live at events, there may be issues of audibility and sound quality.
Copyright of individual images prevents us from providing the visual presentations that accompanied these talks.
Most recordings made after 2011 also have downloadable transcriptions provided by StageText.
2018
Hunter 300: 'Blood Brothers' - a joint event with the Royal College of Physicians to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the birth of William Hunter
Talk by Wendy Moore
Tuesday 16 October 2018, 7pm.
Watch the Video (external link to YouTube)
This lecture was supported by Speech-to-text delivered by StageText. A full transcript of the talk is available to download.
This event was jointly delivered by the Royal College of Surgeons and the Royal College of Physicians for 'Hunter 300'
2017
Transplant before Transplant
Talk by Paul Craddock
Tuesday 25 April 2017, 1pm
This lecture was supported by Speech-to-text delivered by STAGETEXT. A full transcript of the talk is available to download.
Opening the Door to a Future: How the British Kidney Patient Association changed lives
Talk by Fiona Loud, Policy Director, Kidney Care UK
Tuesday 21 March 2017, 1pm
This lecture was supported by Speech-to-text delivered by STAGETEXT. A full transcript of the talk is available to download .
Empire of the Eye: Indian oculists, British surgeons and the trans-imperialist development of Victorian cataract surgery
Talk by Dr Kristin Hussey
Recorded Tuesday 28 February 2017, 1pm
This lecture was supported by Speech-to-text delivered by STAGETEXT. A full transcript of the talk is available to download.
A Change of Heart: The history and current status of heart transplant
Talk by Sir Terence English FRCS
Tuesday 6 December 2016, 1pm
(Regrettably due to a technical fault there is no recording available of this lecture.)
This lecture was supported by Speech-to-text delivered by STAGETEXT. A full transcript of the talk is available to download.
2016
An Anatomical Whodunnit: The tiger bronzes by Michelangelo
Talk by Professor Peter Abrahams
Tuesday 8 November 2016, 1pm
(At the request of the speaker this talk was not recorded.)
This lecture was supported by Speech-to-text delivered by STAGETEXT. A full transcript of the talk is available to download.
Healing Through Kindness: Commemorating the centenary of the Royal Masonic Hospital
Talk by Susan Snell, Archivist & Records Manager, Museum of Freemasonry
Tuesday 18 October 2016, 1pm
This lecture was supported by Speech-to-text delivered by STAGETEXT. A full transcript of the talk is available to download.
A Surprising Letter from Turkey: Lady Mary Wortley fights back against smallpox
Talk by Professor Gareth Williams
6 September 2016, 1pm
(Regrettably due to a technical fault there is no recording available of this lecture.)
This lecture was supported by Speech-to-text delivered by STAGETEXT. A full transcript of the talk is available to download.
Reframing Disability: Hidden histories from the the Royal College of Physicians
Talk by Peter Basham and Beth Wilkey,
Tuesday 7 June 2016, 1pm
This lecture was supported by Speech-to-text delivered by STAGETEXT. A full transcript of the talk is available to download.
The Sorcerer's Apprentice: Edward Jenner
Talk by Professor Gareth Edwards
Tuesday 17 May 2016, 1pm
This lecture was supported by Speech-to-text delivered by STAGETEXT. A full transcript of the talk is available to download.
An Institutional Childhood: the story of London's Foundling Hospital
Talk by Alison Duke, Curator, the Foundling Museum
Tuesday 5 April 2016, 1pm
This lecture was supported by Speech-to-text delivered by STAGETEXT. A full transcript of the talk is available to download.
Skeletons in the Closet: the Grant Museum
Lecture by Jack Ashby
Tuesday 1 March 2016, 1pm
(Regrettably due to technical issues there is no recording of this lecture.)
This lecture was supported by Speech-to-text delivered by STAGETEXT. A full transcript of the talk is available to download.
The Art of the Image: Leonardo da Vinci and medical imaging
Talk by Professor Peter Abrahams
Tuesday 16 February 2016, 1pm
This lecture was supported by Speech-to-text delivered by STAGETEXT. A full transcript of the talk is available to download.
Symposium: Anatomy modelling
Saturday 30 January 2016
A programme for the day and the speaker abstracts and biographies are available to download.
Session 1 - Listen to recording
Session 2 - Listen to recording
Session 3 - Listen to recording
2015
Wax Anatomies
Lecture by Dr Sam Alberti
Tuesday 24 November 2015, 1pm
(Regrettably due to technical issues there is no recording of this lecture.)
This lecture was supported by Speech-to-text delivered by STAGETEXT. A full transcript of the talk is available to download.
'Past Caring': The history of Bethlem Hospital
Talk by Caroline Smith
Tuesday 6 October 2015, 1pm
This lecture was supported by Speech-to-text delivered by STAGETEXT. A full transcript of the talk is available to download.
Jamrach's Exotic Menagerie: The Noah's Ark of the East End
Talk by Elle Larsson
Tuesday 8 September 2015, 1pm
This lecture was supported by Speech-to-text delivered by STAGETEXT. A full transcript of the talk is available to download.
John Quekett: Victorian microscopist
Talk by Philip Greaves
Tuesday 11 August 2015, 1pm
This lecture was supported by Speech-to-text delivered by STAGETEXT. A full transcript of the talk is available to download.
Battlefield Medicine at Waterloo
Lecture by Mr Michael Crumplin FRCS
Tuesday 16 June 2015, 1pm
This lecture was supported by Speech-to-text delivered by STAGETEXT. A full transcript of the talk is available to download.
'From Womb to Tomb': Medical images in 18th century British art
Lecture by Dr Fiona Haslam
Tuesday 5 May 2015, 1pm
This lecture was supported by Speech-to-text delivered by STAGETEXT. A full transcript of the talk is available to download.
Royal Operations
Lecture by Professor Harold Ellis FRCS
Tuesday 12 April 2015, 1pm
(Regrettably due to technical issues there is no recording of this lecture.)
This lecture was supported by Speech-to-text delivered by STAGETEXT. A full transcript of the talk is available to download.
In the Saddle: Horse doctors at war
Lecture by Dr Paul Watkins MRCVS
Tuesday 17 March 2015, 1pm
(Regrettably due to technical issues there is no recording of this lecture.)
This lecture was supported by Speech-to-text delivered by STAGETEXT. A full transcript of the talk is available to download.
From the Western Front to Afghanistan: Transforming military medicine for a century
Lecture by Dr Emily Mayhew and Squadron Leader Edward Spurrier RAF
Tuesday 10 February 2015, 1pm
This lecture was supported by Speech-to-text delivered by STAGETEXT. A full transcript of the talk is available to download.
War, Art and Surgery: Andrew Graham-Dixon on Henry Tonks
2014
Conference: From Hunter to Helmand - Military medicine then and now
Conference: 250 years of military medicine and innovation
14-15 November 2014
A timetable for the day and the speaker abstracts and biographies are available to download.
Day 1: Session 1 - Listen to recording
Day 1: Session 2 - Listen to recording
Day 1: Session 3 - Listen to recording
Day 2: Session 1 - Listen to recording
Day 2: Session 2 - Listen to recording
Day 2: Session 3 - Listen to recording
Medical Innovations: Blood and bacteria
Recorded Tuesday 4 November, 1pm
Lecture by Dr Heidi Doughty and Dr Emma Hutley
This lecture was supported by Speech-to-text delivered by STAGETEXT. A full transcript of the talk is available to download.
Event in association with the Royal College of Pathologists
Between the Lines: Drawings of military medicine past and present
Recorded Tuesday 28 October 2018, 1pm
Lecture by Julia Midgley
This lecture was supported by Speech-to-text delivered by STAGETEXT. A full transcript of the talk is available to download.
Vesalius: 500 years on
Recorded Tuesday 16 September, 1pm
Lecture by Professor Vivian Nutton
This lecture was supported by Speech-to-text delivered by STAGETEXT. A full transcript of the talk is available to download.
Eccentric: The life of William Price
Recorded Tuesday 13 May, 1pm
Lecture by Dean Powell
(Regrettably due to technical issues there is no recording of this lecture.)
This lecture was supported by Speech-to-text delivered by STAGETEXT. A full transcript of the talk is available to download.
Gideon Mantell: Unfair dismissal?
Recorded Tuesday 1 April, 1pm
Lecture by Professor Joe Cain, University College London
(Regrettably due to technical issues there is no recording of this lecture.)
This lecture was supported by Speech-to-text delivered by STAGETEXT. A full transcript of the talk is available to download.
Sir James Paget: Surgeon, teacher and clinical observer
Recorded Tuesday 4 March, 1pm
Lecture by Professor Harold Ellis
This lecture was supported by Speech-to-text delivered by STAGETEXT. A full transcript of the talk is available to download.
Pathologists: Secret heroes of transplantation
Recorded Tuesday 4 February, 1pm
Lecture by Dr Deborah Sage, specialist in histocompatability
This lecture was supported by Speech-to-text delivered by STAGETEXT. A full transcript of the talk is available to download.
This event was held in association with the Royal College of Pathologists.
2013
Surgeons at Sea: The naval surgeon and health of seamen in the age of Nelson
Tuesday 22 October 2013, 1pm
Lecture by Kevin Brown, Alexander Fleming Laboratory Museum
(Regrettably due to technical issues there is no recording of this lecture.)
This lecture was supported by Speech-to-text delivered by STAGETEXT. A full transcript of the talk is available to download.
Spotting Mermaids: From William Clift to Sir Henry Wellcome and beyond
Recorded Tuesday 24 September, 1pm.
Lecture by Ross MacFarlane, Wellcome Library
This lecture was supported by Speech-to-text delivered by STAGETEXT. A full transcript of the talk is available to download.
"In paynted pots is hidden the deadliest poyson": English delftware drug jars
Recorded Tuesday 6 August, 1pm
Lecture by Briony Hudson, Medical Historian
This lecture was supported by Speech-to-text delivered by STAGETEXT. A full transcript of the talk is available to download.
The Hoax and the Hunterian: Sir Arthur Keith and the 'Piltdown Man'
Recorded Tuesday 23 July, 1pm
Lecture by Professor Christopher Dean, University College London
This lecture was supported by Speech-to-text delivered by STAGETEXT. A full transcript of the talk is available to download.
Everard Home - Hero or Villain?
Lecture by Simon Chaplin, Director of the Wellcome Library
(Regrettably due to technical issues there is no recording of this lecture.)
This lecture was supported by Speech-to-text delivered by STAGETEXT. A full transcript of the talk is available to download.
"The most unstable and unsubstantial thing possible": Building the Royal College of Surgeons
Recorded Tuesday 23 April, 1pm
Lecture by Stephen Astley, Curator, Sir John Soane's Museum
This lecture was supported by Speech-to-text delivered by STAGETEXT. A full transcript of the talk is available to download
From Barbers to Surgeons
Tuesday 12 February 2013, 1pm
Lecture by Vishy Mahadevan, Barbers' Company Professor of Anatomy
(Regrettably due to technical issues there is no recording of this lecture.)
This lecture was supported by Speech-to-text delivered by STAGETEXT. A full transcript of the talk is available to download.
2012
A question - and answer - of sport
Recorded Wednesday 19 September 2012, 7pm
Panel: Prof. Nicola Maffulli, Prof. Alison McGregor, Prof. Sanjay Sharma.
(Regrettably due to technical issues the early part of this recording is missing.)
Sports Medicine in Britain
Recorded Tuesday 19 June 2012, 1pm
Lecture by Vanessa Heggie
This lecture was supported by Speech-to-text delivered by STAGETEXT. A full transcript of the talk is available to download.
Lister as a Pathologist
Recorded Tuesday 24 April 2012, 1pm
Lecture by Professor Sir Roddy MacSween
This lecture was supported by Speech-to-text delivered by STAGETEXT. A full transcript of the talk is available to download.
Conference: Learning from Lister - Antisepsis, safer surgery and global health
A multidisciplinary, multidimensional conference
Thursday 22-Saturday 24 March 2012
Recorded at the Royal College of Surgeons: Friday 23 March 2012, 9.15am-5.15pm
A complete programme for the two-day conference is available to download.
Parallel session A: Surgical & obstetric antisepsis
(No recording available)
Parallel session B: Modernities
Parallel session B: Surgical & obstetric antisepsis
Parallel session A: Lister, bacteria, artefacts
Carbolic, Casebook and Controversy
Recorded Tuesday 6 March 2012, 1pm
Lecture by Sir Barry Jackson FRCS
This lecture was supported by Speech-to-text delivered by STAGETEXT. A full transcript of the talk is available to download.
Lord Lister: The early years
Recorded Tuesday 21 February 2012, 1pm
Lecture by Professor Harold Ellis, Guy's Hospital
Regrettably due to technical issues the early part of this recording is missing.
This lecture was supported by Speech-to-text delivered by STAGETEXT. A full transcript of the talk is available to download.
2011
A Tall Story: Unravelling the genetics behind Charles Byrne
Delivered Wednesday 23 November 2011, 1pm
Lecture by Professor Márta Korbonits and Brendan Holland.
(This event was not recorded)
This lecture was supported by Speech-to-text delivered by STAGETEXT. A full transcript of the talk is available to download.
Event generously supported by the Physiological Society
Disability, Medicine and Museums
Tuesday 18 October, 7pm
Discussion Panel:
Ju Gosling, artist; Jocelyn Dodd and Professor Richard Sandell, University of Leicester; Professor Gus McGrouther, plastic and reconstructive surgeon; Dr Ruth Richardson, Medical Historian.
This lecture was supported by Speech-to-text delivered by STAGETEXT. A full transcript of the talk is available to download.
Abnormal Conversation
Recorded Saturday 8 October, 1pm
In conversation with artist Ju Gosling (aka ju90) and Museum Director Dr. Sam Alberti
This lecture was supported by Speech-to-text delivered by STAGETEXT. A full transcript of the talk is available to download.
Study Day: Lost Museums
Recorded Saturday 21 May 2011, 10.30am-5pm
- The Rise and Fall (and Rise) of the Medical Museum
Dr Samuel Alberti (Royal College of Surgeons)
- London’s Lost Anatomy Shows
Dr Alan Bates (University College London)
- The Phantom Museum: Sir Henry Wellcome and his collection
Dr Frances Larson (Durham University)
- Lost in the Urban Jungle: Menageries and museums in Georgian London
Dr Chris Plumb (University of Manchester)
- “Useful and curious”? Making meaning of the Kew Museums of Economic Botany
Caroline Cornish (Royal Holloway)
- Ruskin at Walkley: Reconstructing the St George's Museum
Dr Marcus Waithe (University of Cambridge)
- Cottingham's Museum of Medieval Art
Dr Tim Knox (Sir John Soane’s Museum)
Labyrinth of Living Exhibits
Video recorded Thursday 12 May 2011, 7pm
Panel: Richard Hollingham (Chair), Katherine Araniello, Aaron Williamson, Brian Hurwitz and Sam Alberti
Following the performance event 'Labyrinth of Living Exhibits' in the museum. Artists Aaron Williamson and Katherine Araniello joined a panel discussion with Sam Alberti, Director of the Hunterian. The panel, chaired by the BBC's science correspondent Richard Hollingham, discussed the historical representation of disability and contemporary approaches taken by the medical community. It also focused on how today's medical training views and engages with disabled people.
Event jointly created and curated by The Arts Catalyst and Shape Arts, and held in partnership with Hunterian Museum, London.
Funded by a Wellcome Trust People Award.
Watch recording (external YouTube link)
Victorian Medicine's Lost Property: Dissecting London's poor
Recorded Tuesday 26 April 2011, 1pm
Lecture by Dr Elizabeth T. Hurren, Oxford Brookes University
Lost in Time and Space: Unrolling Egypt's ancient dead
How to Lose a Museum
Recorded Tuesday 8 March 2011, 1pm
Lecture by Dr Samuel Alberti, Royal College of Surgeons
Dr Thomas Willis FRS: Pioneer of the anatomy and physiology of the brain
2010
Wellington's Combat Surgeon: George Guthrie
Recorded Tuesday 2 November 2010, 1pm
Lecture by Michael Crumplin FRCS
George Guthrie was a polymath and also a robust and extremely talented military surgeon, successfully treating many thousands of wounded and sick soldiers during the Peninsula war (1808-1814).
An Unsung Hero? Joseph Naples, resurrectionist
Recorded Tuesday 19 October 2010, 1pm
Lecture by Kirsty Chilton
The story of the life of bodysnatcher and diarist Joseph Naples and the circumstances which made it necessary to rob graves for the progression of medical science.
(Regrettably due to technical issues the early part of this recording is missing.)
Story of London: Surgical Futures
Video recorded Tuesday 5 October 2010
Event chair: BBC Science Correspondent, Richard Hollingham,
Panel: Matthew Gardiner, Siobhan McKay and Joseph Shalhoub
Find out what the future holds for patients undergoing surgery in the next decade. Three experts in their field present the cutting edge research that they are doing to solve some of the most common health issues that will affect us as we age: stroke, cancer and osteoarthritis.
Watch video (external YouTube link)
Exhibition Lecture: Curious
Recorded Tuesday 8 June 2010, 1pm
Lecture by: Susanna Edwards
Artist Susanna Edwards discusses her influences and the research behind her current exhibition ‘Curious: the craft of microscopy’ that combines contemporary photography with historical slides and microscopes.
"Would you ever have thought such a thing possible?": Alexander Fleming and the FRS
Recorded 12 May 2010, 1pm
Lecture by: Kevin Brown
Today, Alexander Fleming is famous for the discovery of penicillin. But Kevin Brown, curator of the Alexander Fleming Laboratory Museum, exposes the professional rivalries that threatened the career of one of the greatest medical microbiologists of all time.
Microscopes: A key role in transplant surgery
Recorded 11 May 2010, 1pm
Lecture by: Professor Sir Peter Morris AC FRS FRCS
In the last 40 years microscopy has been crucial to advances in surgery that have transformed our ability to treat disease. Sir Peter Morris draws on his own experience to explore the role of the microscope in transplant surgery.
Joseph Lister: Surgeon and microscopist
Recorded 28 April 2010, 1pm
Lecture by: Professor Harold Ellis CBE FRCS
Harold Ellis charts the story of Joseph Lister FRS, who followed in the footsteps of his father, a wine merchant and distinguished amateur microscopist, to develop the skills that led to a new understanding of wound infection and to the introduction of antiseptic surgery.
Blood Under the Microscope: William Hewson, an 18th Century anatomist
Recorded 20 April 2010, 1pm
Lecture by: Tania Kausmally
Join Tania Kausmally, historian and archaeologist as she lays bare the history of 18th-century anatomist and microscopist William Hewson, the father of modern haematology.
2009
The Scandalous Worsleys: Sex and celebrity divorce in the 18th century
Making Sex Electric: Dr James Graham and his 'Celestial Bed'
Study Day: Darwin's London
Recorded on 16 May 2009
Lectures:
- Introduction: Why Darwin Matters
Professor Steve Jones (University College London)
- What was Darwin doing in London?
Dr John van Wyhe (University of Cambridge)
- Darwin in London - Homes and Haunts
Dr Joe Cain (University College London)
- Darwin’s London Friends and Foes
Dr Jim Endersby (University of Sussex)
- Mapping social evolution: Social Darwinism and London
Professor Greta Jones (University of Ulster)
Romantic Surgery, Radical Politics and Revolutionary Bodysnatching
The Surgeon, The Countess, Her Husband and His Lover
Medicine with a Mission: Suffragettes as army surgeons
Recorded on 5 March 2009, 1pm
Lecture by: Jennian F Geddes
Please note that only part of this recording is available
Image: An Operation at the Military Hospital, Endell Street: Dr L Garrett, Dr Flora Murray, Dr W Buckley © IWM ART 4084
2008
Sir Bernard Spilsbury - Hero or Villain
Disease and Everyday Life in Ancient Egypt: The contribution of modern science
The Dread Table: Public dissection at Barber Surgeon's Hall
The Artist and the Anatomist
Criminals, Bishops and Other (in)Famous Bodies in the Hunterian Museum
2007
Gray's Anatomy and those who created it
Lecture by: Dr Ruth Richardson
Recorded on 3 April 2008