Walter Hadwen
Walter Robert Hadwen MD MRCS MRCP (3 August 1854, Woolwich – 27 December 1932) was a Gloucester general practitioner and pharmaceutical chemist, president of the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection (BUAV), and an anti-vaccination campaigner known for his denial of the germ theory of disease.
Walter Robert Hadwen | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 3 August 1854 |
| Died | 27 December 1932 (aged 78) |
| Occupation | Physician, pharmaceutical chemist, writer |
Biography
Hadwen began his career as a pharmacist in Clapham then Somerset, then subsequently trained as a doctor at Bristol University. After qualifying, he moved to Gloucester in 1896. Hadwen was recruited as a member of BUAV by its founder and then president Frances Power Cobbe who hired a private investigator to assess his credentials (he was a vegetarian and total abstainer, had a reputation as a "firebrand" orator and was held in "high local esteem"). She subsequently selected him as her successor.[1]
He joined the Plymouth Brethren as an adult. He was a frequent speaker for the National Anti-Vaccination League. He was also a member of the London Association for the Prevention of Premature Burial (founded in 1896).
Hadwen stated that the "modern germ theory is all bosh".[2]
Manslaughter trial
In 1924, having applied his rejection of the germ theory of disease, and his refusal to use diphtheria anti-serum produced by inoculation of animals to the treatment of Nellie Burnham, a young girl, she died and he was tried for manslaughter by criminal medical negligence.[3] He was acquitted of all charges.[4]
Selected publications
- The Case Against Vaccination, 1896
- Smallpox at Gloucester: A Reply to Dr. Coupland’s Report, 1902. Reprinted from "The Reformer," National Anti-Vaccination League: Gloucester.
- Vivisection: Its Follies and Cruelties, 1905
- A Debate on Should Vivisection be Abolished?, 1907
- Dr. Walter Robert Hadwen's Works, 1908
- A Vivisection Controversy, 1911
- Experiments on Living Animals, Useless and Cruel, 1914
- The Difficulties of Dr. Deguerre, 1926
References
- Mitchell, Sally. (2004). Frances Power Cobbe: Victorian Feminist, Journalist, Reformer. University of Virginia Press. p. 360. ISBN 0-8139-2271-2
- "Verdict of Manslaughter Against Dr. Hadwen by Coroner's Jury". Journal of the American Medical Association. 83 (14): 1090. 1924.
- The Times up to and including 30 October 1924.
- "Acquittal of Dr. Hadwen". Journal of the American Medical Association. 83 (20): 1601. 1924.
Further reading
- Who Was Dr Hadwen Biography at Dr Hadwen Trust.
- Bodily Matters: The Anti-Vaccination Movement in England, 1853-1907, Nadja Durbach, 2005, Duke University Press, ISBN 0-8223-3423-2
- Hadwen of Gloucester: Man, Medico, Martyr, by Beatrice E. Kidd and M. Edith Richards, 1933, John Murray, London.
- Obituary, The Times, Saturday, 25 February 1933 John Murray, London, 1933.
