author
Francis Cornelius Webb
1826–1873
A Victorian physician who turned medical history into lively reading, he wrote about epidemics, public health, and the curious story of England’s sweating sickness. His work blends scientific training with a strong interest in the past.
1 Audiobook
The Sweating Sickness in England
by Francis Cornelius Webb
About the author
Born in London in 1826, Francis Cornelius Webb trained as a doctor at University College London and later took his M.D. at Edinburgh. He built a career as a physician, lecturer, and medical writer, and became known for bringing together medicine, public health, and historical research.
Webb wrote on epidemics, sanitation, and medical history at a time when Victorian Britain was deeply concerned with disease and urban health. One of his best-known works, The Sweating Sickness in England, examined a mysterious epidemic from earlier centuries and shows his talent for making serious medical subjects accessible and engaging.
He was also connected with several learned societies, reflecting the broad curiosity that shaped much nineteenth-century scholarship. Webb died in 1873, leaving behind a body of writing that speaks both to the history of medicine and to the wider Victorian appetite for inquiry and reform.