author
C. Aston (Charles Aston) Key
1793–1849
A leading London surgeon of the early 19th century, he built a reputation at Guy’s Hospital for skilled operating and clear teaching. His name still survives in medical history through “Aston Key’s method” in surgery for bladder stones.
1 Audiobook
About the author
Born in Southwark on October 6, 1793, Charles Aston Key was the son of a medical practitioner and entered medicine through apprenticeship before continuing his studies in London. He became closely associated with Guy’s Hospital, where he rose to prominence as a surgeon and teacher, working in the same medical world shaped by figures such as Sir Astley Cooper.
Key was admired in his day as a decisive and dexterous operator. He wrote on hernia and other surgical subjects, and his name became attached to a lithotomy technique known as Aston Key’s method. He was also elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, reflecting the standing he achieved within British medicine.
He died on September 22, 1849. Remembered as one of the notable English surgeons of his generation, he belongs to the period when surgery was becoming more systematic, professional, and widely taught in the great London hospitals.