1. Thomas Pettigrew became well known in London social circles for his private parties in which he unrolled and autopsied mummies for the entertainment of his guests.
11 Facts About Thomas Pettigrew
1. 2.
Thomas Pettigrew's career began with an election as secretary to the Medical Society of London and, a year later, to the Royal Humane Society.
3.
Thomas Pettigrew went on to become a surgeon at the Dispensary for the Treatment of Diseases of Children, the Asylum for Female Orphans, and the Royal West London Infirmary Dispensary, later Charing Cross Hospital.
4.
Thomas Pettigrew was a professor of anatomy at the Charing Cross Hospital where he performed his earliest mummy unrollings before leaving the hospital in 1836 due to allegations of corruption.
5.
At the hospital Thomas Pettigrew gave lectures about anatomy, physiology, pathology, and the principles and practice of surgery.
6.
Thomas Pettigrew had wide-ranging interests in antiquity, natural philosophy and the history of medicine ever since he was an apprentice and he maintained them throughout his life.
7.
Thomas Pettigrew was a founding member of the British Archaeological Association and on the Association's first meeting at Canterbury in 1844, he unrolled a mummy as part of a programme of popular events.
8.
Thomas Pettigrew would go on to serve terms as the treasurer and vice-president of the Association until his death in 1865.
9.
Thomas Pettigrew was a prominent freemason for many years before his death.
10.
Thomas Pettigrew played an active role in intellectual Georgian and Victorian society, corresponding regularly with many well known surgeons, physicians, scientists, writers and artists, such as John Coakley Lettsom, Astley Cooper, Michael Faraday, George Cruikshank and Charles Dickens.
11.
Thomas Pettigrew died at the age of 74 in 1865 and is buried in Brompton Cemetery, London.