Benjamin Gibson, 1774-1812.

Gibson was born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 1774 and was apprenticed to Mr Ingham, a surgeon of Newcastle. In 1796 he went to London and studied anatomy under Dr Baillie. He spent a year in Edinburgh before moving to Manchester in 1799 to become assistant to Charles White. He soon began lecturing on anatomy at Charles White's museum and also lectured on the gravid uterus. Gibson worked with White for nearly eight years and by the time he began to practice independently he had gained a considerable reputation, especially for treating eye diseases. In 1804 Gibson was appointed surgeon to MRI and was also assistant surgeon to the Royal Manchester and Salford Volunteer Regiment of Infantry. He wrote a number of articles about the eye and became famous as an ophthalmologist. Gibson died of phthisis at Ardwick, Manchester, at the age of thirty seven, on 6 March 1812.

See also MMC/1/GibsonB  and MMC/2/Mainwaring  for letter from E.F. Leach, 9 November 1903, about the burial register entry for Gibson.