William Sandiver 1 (numbered like this to differentiate him from William Sandiver 2, his medical son) was baptised at St Mary’s church, Newmarket, on 9th January 1713, the son of John and Mary Sandiver. It seems likely that his parents were ‘John Sandiver Innholder and Mary his wife’ mentioned in the 1738 manorial records. There had been Sandivers in Newmarket going back as far as the mid-17th century (see The Sandivers for more details), but William Sandiver 1 became the first medic in the family as far as we know, apprenticed to Wotton Braham of Newmarket in the 1720s (see the page on Wotton Braham for an image of the tax record relating to his apprenticeship).
However, although William Sandiver 1 appears to have been the first Sandiver medic, William Raby the late 17th / early 18th century barber-surgeon was a close relative of the family. William Sandiver 1 appears to have had an older half-brother named Raby Sandiver who died at about 25 years of age in 1728, and a half sister Margaret Raby Sandiver who died shortly after being born in 1709 (before the birth of William Sandiver 1). It seems William’s father John had at least 12 children baptised at St Mary’s church in Newmarket between 1700 and 1720, although like Margaret Raby Sandiver not all survived childhood. Seven were by his first wife Dionysia (a close relative of William Raby); she died in 1710. John then re-married, to Mary Disbuyrow in 1711. Their first son was William Sandiver 1 and they went on to have four more children. So William Sandiver 1 was not a blood relative of the Rabys, but his father was related to the Rabys by his first marriage, and significantly also appears to have been involved in the administration of their estate (see the page on William Raby for details). It seems quite possible, perhaps likely even, that Wotton Braham continued the William Raby practice in some way (see the pages on William Raby and Wotton Braham for more details) and perhaps that’s why William Sandiver 1 became an apprentice to Wotton Braham in the 1720s, in his early/mid teens, the normal age to became an apprentice. It’s of note that at some point he obtained a bishop’s licence to practice (recorded in 1753), one of only four such licences known to have been granted to Newmarket medics (see The history of medical treatments, training, qualifications and regulation for more on bishop’s licences).
Wotton Braham died in 1735, as did Edward Harwell the only other medic describing himself as a surgeon in town at the time. This left just those described as apothecaries, Thomas Searancke 1 and the younger Simon Clements as the only other medics in town as far as we know, with William Sandiver 1 describing himself as a surgeon. It’s likely that after his apprenticeship, William Sandiver 1 worked with Wotton Braham until 1735, at which point he would have been in his early 20s, then continued the practice after his boss’s death. Remaining in Newmarket he would have continued seeing some of the patients he’d started seeing as Wotton Braham’s apprentice either way. In 1735 he might have picked up some from Edward Harwell as well (although Edward Harwell had connections with Simon Clements, who might have been part of the Searancke practice, so perhaps not). How much there was a demarcation of roles at this point between the ‘apothecaries’ and the ‘surgeons’ is not clear, but as the 18th century progressed, as is shown below, William Sandiver 1 clearly developed a generalist medical/surgical role, and the next generation of Searanckes (Thomas Searancke 2) was definitely both surgeon and apothecary. These, it seems, became the two dominant practices in 18th century Newmarket, the Sandivers and the Searanckes (again see The history of medical treatments, training, qualifications and regulation for more on the evolution of the surgeon-apothecary at this time.)
Memorial to Hannah Sandiver née Isaacson inside St Mary’s church, Burwell, mentioning her husband William Sandiver of Newmarket, surgeon (see below or click image for source and acknowledgements etc., ref. Image 1).
The year after Wotton Braham’s death, William Sandiver 1 married Hannah Isaacson of Burwell in 1736, at Landwade. She was the daughter of Stephen Isaacson, a wealthy Burwell landowner, which resulted in some interesting inheritances further down the family tree (see the page on William Sandiver 2 for more details). William Sandiver 1 and Hannah had two children who survived (an earlier William was buried in 1737), William Sandiver 2 was baptised in 1740, and they had a daughter Diana in 1742. Sadly Hannah died in 1743 ‘in the 29th year of her age’ as stated on her prominent memorial inside St Mary’s church, Burwell (see image on the right). This memorial mentions William Sandiver 1’s occupation of ‘surgeon’ – like Wotton Braham not surprisingly; however, later references to his occupation and medical activities are very interesting, including him being called ‘Dr. Sandiver’, subscribing to a book by an apothecary, providing ‘attendance in physick’ and more (see further details below).
In 1742 tax records show that William Sandiver 1 had an apprentice of his own, called Thomas Bull of Mildenhall, son of another Thomas Bull. This also records William Sandiver 1’s occupation as a ‘surgeon’. Interestingly, Thomas Bull might be the same person as Thomas Ball a later surgeon of Mildenhall, who married Lydia Isaacson in 1748. Lydia appears to have been the sister of William Sandiver 1’s wife Hannah, since another sister, Diana Isaacson, mentions her nephew William Sandiver (i.e. William Sandiver 2) in her will of 1800, and also mentions her nephew Nathan Ball, son of her late sister Lydia Ball (it’s also interesting that the 19th century playwrite Edward FitzBall described William Sandiver 2 as his cousin, so perhaps therefore was a descendant of Lydia and Thomas – see the page on William Sandiver 2 regarding this as well).
Mr Sandiver the ‘surgeon’ mentioned alongside Mrs Holmes the nurse in 1743, the earliest mention of an apparent medical nurse in Newmarket (see below or click image for source and acknowledgements etc., ref. Image 2).
In 1743, William Sandiver 1 was again described as a ‘surgeon’ in an inventory made following the death of the interestingly named Golden Bridge, a Newmarket Groom. This was an inventory made of people paid from the estate of Golden Bridge during the administration of his will. ‘Mr Sandiver Surgeon’ was paid £1 one shilling, presumably for medical services during Golden Bridge’s final illness, and the next line records the same amount being paid to ‘Mrs Holmes the Nurse’ (see image above). The term nurse was not always medical at this time, but given the context it seems very likely that Mrs Holmes was a medical nurse and is in fact therefore the earliest recorded Newmarket nurse by some margin. I have not yet been able to find out anything more about her. Also, these are the earliest records in Newmarket of an amount paid for medical services, although what was wrong with Golden Bridge and what he died from is not known.
‘Dr’ Sandiver paid by St Mary’s parish for treating someone’s arm in 1744 (see below or click image for source and acknowledgements etc., ref. Image 3).
Later in the 1740s there are a series of references to William Sandiver 1 in the Newmarket St Mary’s church accounts (at this time medical help for the poor was administered via the church parish system, funded by a land tax levied on the richer landed classes – see the Newmarket Union page for more on how this system evolved). In 1744 (see image above) William Sandiver 1 was again paid, this time for treating ‘Betty Dockley’s arm’. What was wrong with her arm and what he did are not known. Another Newmarket first is that he’s referred to as Dr Sandiver in this record, even though he had no university education, let alone a PhD/MD – a so called ‘Dr by the breath of the people’ as they have been described. Then in 1745 he subscribed to a book by an apothecary named Simon Mason regarding ‘intermitting fever and ague’ and in the subscribers’ list there he’s given the title Mr (alongside some definite university based Drs). Conversely, again he was referred to as ‘Doctor Sandiver’ in 1749, but in 1748 was described as Mr Will Sandiver the surgeon. This all underlines the fact that at this time the term surgeon referred to a general medic, not so much what we would think of as a surgeon – more akin to our ‘Doctor in the surgery’ (again see The History of medical treatments, training, qualifications and regulation for more on this). In 1749 he was recorded as treating someone for ‘the French Disease’ – a contemporary term for syphilis. He likely used mercury for that, a standard remedy of the time. Another word for mercury was calomel, and William Sandiver allegedly referred to using calomel to treat someone for sexual misdemeanours (out loud in a pub) in the autumn of 1761. This resulted in a libel case against him in 1762 (although this could have been William Sandiver 2, aged about 21 at the time). Poor William Sandiver, whichever one it was (and his alleged patient, who shall remain nameless here so as not to replicate the same mistake; it might not have been true anyway, and also the outcome of the case is not known). No doubt whichever William Sandiver it was regretted this alleged indiscretion, if he said it – ‘We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check. When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal… Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts… All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, but no man can tame the tongue.’ (James 3:2-7, NIV).
In the same year as the libel case a William Sandiver (which could have been 1 or 2) is listed as declaring Newmarket free from smallpox, alongside some of his contemporaries (see image of this on the page about Newmarket and smallpox). This was probably William Sandiver 1, given that both were probably still in town at this point (see below) and presumably the father would be referred to, taking the senior role. On this public notice all of his medical contemporaries are referred to simply as ‘surgeons’, underlining the comments made above regarding terminology. Those listed are Thomas Searancke 2 (otherwise also referred to as an apothecary) and the little known Elijah Robinson (see the faint traces page).
A 1768 newspaper notice mentioning William Sandiver 1’s Mildenhall and Tuddenham houses, with interesting details regarding inoculation and his wider medical services – note especially both ‘Physick and Surgery’ mentioned at the end (see below or click image for source and acknowledgements etc., ref. Image 4).
In 1766 William Sandiver 1 appears to have moved to Mildenhall. He bought a property there in 1766 from a grocer named Robert Whiting (which was later inherited by William Sandiver 2, and referred to in a 1792 lease and release document, in which the late William Sandiver 1 was referred to as ‘of Mildenhall’). It seems that Diana went with him (in the 1760s still unmarried and in her mid 20s) since there’s an entry in the Newmarket Manor records from 1768 that refers to her as ‘late of Newmarket and now of Mildenhall’. A very interesting series of adverts/notices appeared in The Ipswich Journal in 1767 and 1768 referring to William Sandiver of Mildenhall setting up an inoculation house against smallpox in Tuddenham. The last advert, in June 1768 (see image on the right), is regarding the sale of his house in Mildenhall, but perhaps that didn’t happen, since William Sandiver 2 appears to have inherited the house according to the 1792 lease and release document. The text of the inoculation adverts is fascinating (all fully transcribed in the references below, and there’s also an image of one from 1767 on the page about Newmarket and smallpox). Key points of interest from the adverts collectively include:-
– The clearest indication of his generalised medical practice, ‘ready on all Occasions to give his Attendance in Physick and Surgery’ (see bottom line of the image above).
– The ‘ease and safety’ of his practice and ‘Patients who do me the Pleasure to put themselves under my Care may depend on the greatest Neatness, Decency, and Regularity, the tenderest Care and Attendance’.
– He had successfully inoculated hundreds (note inoculation is not vaccination, which was introduced later by Edward Jenner – see the page on smallpox for more on inoculation and vaccination etc.). [Note: it’s possible that the reason for inoculating outside of town was a concern regarding those recently inoculated potentially being infectious, but the adverts seem to imply that the patients just came and went, not staying (?), although Thomas Searancke’s adverts in 1763 and 4, also out of town, imply that his patients stayed.]
– He appears to be trying to attract passing trade from perhaps London and Cambridge on what is now the A11 to Norwich and A14 to Bury St Edmunds (and Ipswich)! – interesting considering the historical origins of Newmarket (see Henry Veeseys etc. – medical care before the 17th century).
– The offer to inoculate families or groups of families (presumably as a home/neighbourhood visit) or whole towns (!) by arrangement.
– The drop in price and variable provision of tea, wine and washing facilities, including the difference between kitchen and parlour patients.
William Sandiver 1’s memorial inside the base of the bell tower at St Mary’s church, Newmarket, shared with his daughter in law, Mary, wife of William Sandiver 2, described as ‘Jun. Surgeon’ (see below or click image for source and acknowledgements etc., ref. Image 5).
Finally William Sandiver 1 was laid to rest in 1769, back in his native Newmarket in the church where he was baptised 56 years earlier. It’s of note that he died just a few months after the last of the adverts above was published. His memorial in the bell tower of St Mary’s chruch (see image on the left) describes him as ‘Surgeon, Eminent in his profession And universally respected’, and is shared with his daughter in law Mary Sandiver, wife of his son the ‘junior surgeon’. This comment and his place of burial possibly suggests that their combined practice was regarded as a unit, a family business, based in Newmarket with branches in Mildenhall and Tuddenham – although that enterprise might have lasted less than 3 years if William Sandiver 2 did not keep it up (in 1792 he had a tenant living in the Mildenhall property).
[Note: this memorial, including its age of death records, combined with the St Mary’s baptismal records and looked at alongside the 1792 lease and release document and 1768 Newmarket manorial record, confirm that the William Sandiver, surgeon of Mildenhall, was one and the same with William Sandiver 1 of Newmarket. This is supported by the fact that there don’t appear to be any Sandivers mentioned in the Mildenhall parish registers between 1700 and 1769.]
Image 1: Photograph taken in 2013, by the author of talkingdust.net.
Image 2: The 1743 inventory of Golden Bridge, Groom of Newmarket, reference IC500/3/50(65) (cropped); image ©, reproduced with kind permission of the Suffolk Record Office, Bury St Edmunds.
Image 3: Newmarket St Mary’s parish vestry book 26th March 1744, reference FL610/1/1 (cropped); image ©, reproduced with kind permission of the Suffolk Record Office, Bury St Edmunds and Newmarket St Mary’s parish.
Image 4: The Ipswich Journal. Saturday Jun 18 1768: 4 (cropped); image © The British Library Board, all rights reserved, reproduced with kind permission of The British Newspaper Archive, www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk. [Note: clicking here leads to the specific page on their website, but requires logging in to it.]
Image 5: Photograph taken in 2013, by the author of talkingdust.net.
Note: see comments regarding images and copyright © etc. on the Usage &c. page as well.
1700, 3rd January: Dionisia daughter of Jno Sandiver baptised, St Mary’s Church, Newmarket. Reference: J552/9, microfilm of Newmarket St Mary’s parish register, (Suffolk County Record Office, Bury St Edmunds).
1701, 9th February: Dionysia daughter of Jno Sandiver buried, St Mary’s Church, Newmarket. Reference: J552/9, microfilm of Newmarket St Mary’s parish register, (Suffolk County Record Office, Bury St Edmunds).
1702, 21st January: Mary daughter of Jno and Dionysia Sandiver baptised, St Mary’s Church, Newmarket. Reference: J552/9, microfilm of Newmarket St Mary’s parish register, (Suffolk County Record Office, Bury St Edmunds).
1703, 5th February: Raby son of John and Dionysia Sandiver baptised, St Mary’s Church, Newmarket. Reference: J552/9, microfilm of Newmarket St Mary’s parish register, (Suffolk County Record Office, Bury St Edmunds).
1705, 11th January: Dionysia daughter of Jno and Dionysi Sandiver baptised, St Mary’s Church, Newmarket. Reference: J552/9, microfilm of Newmarket St Mary’s parish register, (Suffolk County Record Office, Bury St Edmunds). [Note: the ‘a’ does seem to be missing from the end of Dionysia in the register at this point, appearing not to have been written rather than eroded, perhaps reflecting the fact that she seems to have been known as Dennis elsewhere – see the page on William Raby and the next line below as well.]
1706, 14th August: Dionysia daughter of Jno and Dionis Sandiver buried, St Mary’s Church, Newmarket. Reference: J552/9, microfilm of Newmarket St Mary’s parish register, (Suffolk County Record Office, Bury St Edmunds).
1707, 31st January: Wm son of Jno and Dionysia Sandiver baptised, St Mary’s Church, Newmarket. Reference: J552/9, microfilm of Newmarket St Mary’s parish register, (Suffolk County Record Office, Bury St Edmunds).
1708, 26th February: Rich son of Jno and Dionysia Sandiver baptised, St Mary’s Church, Newmarket. Reference: J552/9, microfilm of Newmarket St Mary’s parish register, (Suffolk County Record Office, Bury St Edmunds).
1709, 18th February: Margaret Raby daughter of John and Dionysia Sandiver baptised, St Mary’s Church, Newmarket. Reference: J552/9, microfilm of Newmarket St Mary’s parish register, (Suffolk County Record Office, Bury St Edmunds). [Note: part of this entry is very poorly visible. The transcript J562/69 has it written as here, but with the help of that the original can just about be discerned. The contemporary ‘bishop’s transcript’ has ‘Margrett Raby’ daughter of ‘John and Dianisha Sandever’. Reference: J503/3, microfilm of archdeacon’s transcripts, (Suffolk County Record Office, Bury St Edmunds).]
1709, 9th March: Wm son of Jno and Dionysia Sandiver buried, St Mary’s Church, Newmarket. Reference: J552/9, microfilm of Newmarket St Mary’s parish register, (Suffolk County Record Office, Bury St Edmunds).
1709, 13th August: Margt Raby daughter of Jno and Dionysia Sandiver buried, St Mary’s Church, Newmarket. Reference: J552/9, microfilm of Newmarket St Mary’s parish register, (Suffolk County Record Office, Bury St Edmunds).
1710, 8th June: Dionysia wife of John Sandiver burried, St Mary’s Church, Newmarket. Reference: J562/69, microfilm transcript, (Suffolk County Record Office, Bury St Edmunds). [Note: the original register appears very damaged on the microfilm J552/9, which was taken after the J562/69 transcript was made, when it was apparently in better condition. The contemporary ‘bishop’s transcript’ is torn, but reads, ‘Dianisha ye wife of John Sa’. Reference: J520/41, microfilm of archdeacon’s transcripts, (Suffolk County Record Office, Bury St Edmunds).]
1711, 9th May: ‘John Sandifor of ye other parish widdower and Mary Disbuyrow of this parish single woman marid’. Reference: Microfiche of Newmarket All Saints’ parish register (fiche 1), (Suffolk County Record Office, Bury St Edmunds).
1713, 9th January: William son of John and Mary Sandiver baptised, St Mary’s Church, Newmarket. Reference: J552/9, microfilm of Newmarket St Mary’s parish register, (Suffolk County Record Office, Bury St Edmunds). [Note: the microfilm of the original register (J552/9) is just about legible for this, on which William is abbreviated to ‘Wm’. The microfilm of the archdeacon’s transcript (J502/42) is legible and uses ‘Will’.]
1714, 29th January: John son of John and Mary Sandiver baptised, St Mary’s Church, Newmarket. Reference: J562/69, microfilm transcript, (Suffolk County Record Office, Bury St Edmunds). [Note: the original register appears too badly damaged on the microfilm made some time after this transcript was made, when it appears to have been in better condition. I have not found this entry on the ‘bishop’s’ (archdeacon’s) transcripts.]
1716, 22nd March: George son of John and Mary Sandiver baptised, St Mary’s Church, Newmarket. Reference: J552/9, microfilm of Newmarket St Mary’s parish register, (Suffolk County Record Office, Bury St Edmunds).
1718, 6th March: Elizabeth daughter of John and Mary Sandiver baptised, St Mary’s Church, Newmarket. Reference: J552/9, microfilm of Newmarket St Mary’s parish register, (Suffolk County Record Office, Bury St Edmunds).
1720, 18th March: Margt daughter of John and Mary Sandiver baptised, St Mary’s Church, Newmarket. Reference: J552/9, microfilm of Newmarket St Mary’s parish register, (Suffolk County Record Office, Bury St Edmunds).
1728, 17th January: Raby Sandiver buried, St Mary’s Church, Newmarket. Reference: J552/9, microfilm of Newmarket St Mary’s parish register, (Suffolk County Record Office, Bury St Edmunds).
1728, 30th May: Tax paid regarding Will son of Jno Sandiver’s apprenticeship to Wotton Braham of Newmarket, surgeon. Indenture date 23rd February 1726. Reference: Online image of apprenticeship tax records held at The National Archives, ancestry.co.uk (accessed 27th March 2015). [Note: see the page on Wotton Braham for an image also.]
1736, 17th June: William Sandiver married Hannah Isaacson, Landwade. Reference: An indexed transcription of the parish registers of Landwade. Cambridgeshire Family History Society; 2009, (Cambridgeshire County Record Office [called Cambridgeshire Archives], Cambridge – subsequently relocated to Ely).
1737, 19th August: William son of William and Hannah Sandiver buried, St Mary’s church, Newmarket. Reference: J552/9, microfilm of Newmarket St Mary’s parish register, (Suffolk County Record Office, Bury St Edmunds). [Note: the month is not legible and the word Sandiver is poorly legible but attested to by the transcript J562/69 made in the 1940s significantly before the microfilm was taken, so presumably the register was in a better state then.]
1738, 24th May: John Sandiver Innholder and Mary his wife. Newmarket manorial records. Reference: 359/12, pg 34-35, (Suffolk County Record Office, Bury St Edmunds). [Note: interestingly this record is about the surrender of some property in Newmarket on 31st June 1737 to ‘John Benwell of the Town of Cambridge in the County of Cambridge Apothecary’. William Sandiver 1, John’s likely son, would have been a Newmarket medic in his mid 20s at this point. It’s interesting to consider whether there was any family or professional connection. John Benwell’s will, written in 1739, defined him still as of Cambridge. Reference: The National Archives, Records of the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, PROB 11/731 – probate 1744; our 1743 – see New Year change. The only beneficiary mentioned in it is his wife Ann. Newmarket is not mentioned. Perhaps their Newmarket property was an investment, place to stay when at the Races, or both.]
1740, 20th June: William son of Wm and Hannah Sandiver baptised, St Mary’s Church, Newmarket. Reference: J552/9, microfilm of Newmarket St Mary’s parish, (Suffolk County Record Office, Bury St Edmunds).
1742, 24th March: Diana daughter of William and Hannah Sandiver baptised, St Mary’s Church, Newmarket. Reference: J552/9, microfilm of Newmarket St Mary’s parish register, (Suffolk County Record Office, Bury St Edmunds).
1742, 31st July: Tax paid regarding ‘Thos. son of Thos. Bull of Mildenhall’ apprenticeship to ‘Will Sandiver of Newmarkett Suffk. Surgeon’. Reference: Online image of apprenticeship tax records held at The National Archives, ancestry.co.uk (accessed 3rd April 2015).
1743, 27th September: Inventory of Golden Bridge, Groom of Newmarket, includes payment of 1:1:0 to ‘Mr Sandiver Surgeon’. The same amount is paid on the next line to ‘Mrs Holmes the nurse’. Reference: IC500/3/50(65), (Suffolk County Record Office, Bury St Edmunds). [Note: see image above.]
1743, 29th October: Memorial to Hannah Sandiver. ‘Near this Place lies the Remains of HANNAH ye Wife of WILLIAM SANDIVER of Newmarket in ye County of Suffolk SURGEON, & Daughter of STEPHEN ISAACSON of this Parish Gent; and MARY his Wife. She Departed this Life Octbr; 29th; 1743. and in the 29th; Year of her Age’. Reference: Memorial inside St Mary’s church, Burwell, Cambridgeshire. [Note: see image above.]
1744, 26th March: ‘Dr Sandiver for Betty Dockleys arm – 1:11:6’ in Newmarket St Mary’s parish vestry book. Reference: FL610/1/1. (Suffolk County Record Office, Bury St Edmunds). [Note: see image above.]
1745: ‘Mr. Sandaver, Surgeon in Newmarket’ listed as a subscriber to: Reference: Mason S. The nature of an intermitting fever and ague considered. London: J. Hodges; 1745. [Note: Simon Mason gives an interesting justification for his work in his preface, ‘An Apothecary who engages in so great a Work, must unavoidably lay open to the Ridiclue of learned Wits; but while some have been at their Books, in search after the Nature of Distempers, and their Cures, I have been attending the Sick, observing strictly the Nature of the Disease, and the Indications of the various Symptoms and their Tendancies, waiting the Effects of Medicines’.]
1745, 14th April: ‘Wm. Sandiver Surgeon’s bill – 0:8:0’ in Newmarket St Mary’s parish vestry book. Reference: FL610/1/1. (Suffolk County Record Office, Bury St Edmunds).
1748, 20th March: ‘Thos. Balls, of Mildenhall, surgeon, & Lydia Isaacson, of Burwell, s.w., at Landwade or Burwell. Bn.: Wm. Isaacson, of Landwade. 20 Mar., 1748.’ Reference: Baunerman W, Bruce Baunerman GG. Allegations for Marriage Licences in the Archdeaconry of Sudbury in the County of Suffolk during the years 1684 to 1754. [Part 1]. London: The Harleian Society; 1918.
1748, 11th April: ‘Mr. Will: Sandiver Surgeons Bill – 3:3:0’ in Newmarket St Mary’s parish vestry book. Reference: FL610/1/1, (Suffolk County Record Office, Bury St Edmunds).
1749, 29th March: ‘Doctor Sandiver for curing young Floyds wife of the French Disease} 8:8:0’ in Newmarket St Mary’s parish vestry book. Reference: FL610/1/1, (Suffolk County Record Office, Bury St Edmunds).
1753: William Sandiver surgeon on a list by deanery and parish of curates, schoolmasters and surgeons licensed within the archdeaconry of Suffolk and Sudbury and diocese of Norwich. Reference: JC1/5(20), a microfilm of a number of volumes, this being defined as Volume 3 (1753), (Suffolk County Record Office, Ipswich). [Note: on this document all entries are dated either 1753 or not dated. It appears therefore possibly to have been a list compiled in 1753, perhaps as an exercise to list those already licensed and license those who were not yet licensed but already in practice (perhaps these are the ones dated?). Whether the medical licenses are for surgery, midwifery or phlebotomy is indicated by S M or Ph after each name (made clear by the abbreviations Surg Midw and Pheb on the first page). Under the parish of Newmarket St Marys only Wm Sandiver and Tho.s Searanke are listed, no dates given and each given the annotation s. for surgeon. Wallis and Wallis (see below) chose to interpret this as them being licensed before 1753, which is probably correct.]
1753: ‘Sandiver William. Son of William Sandiver of Newmarket, surgeon. Adm. to Bury school Sept 1753. Foreigner.’ (entry 33.). Reference: S.H.A.H. Biographical List of Boys Educated at King Edward VI Free Grammar School, Bury St. Edmunds. From 1550 to 1900. Bury St Edmunds: Paul & Matthew; 1908. [Note: foreigner refers to the fact he was not from Bury.]
1762: Libel Case against William Sandiver, surgeon of Newmarket. Reference: IC500/3/51(74-79), (Suffolk County Record Office, Bury St Edmunds).
1762, 9th August: ‘Wm. Sandriver [sic]’ alongside ‘E. Robinson’ and ‘Tho. Searancke’, ‘Sur-geons’, and the curate, churchwardens, overseers and other inhabitants listed (including interestingly ‘Marcon Braham’ son of Wotton Braham), ‘We the Minister, Churchwardens, Overseers of the poor, and others, principal Inhabitants of the Town of NEW-MARKET, whose Names are underwritten, having this Day made the strict-est Enquiry relative to the SMALL-POX, do hereby certify, that the said Town is now entirely free from that Distemper.’ Reference: The Ipswich Journal. Saturday Aug 14 1762: 3. [Note: see the page about Newmarket and smallpox for an image.]
1767, 26th September: ‘WM. SANDIVER, Surgeon, of MILDENHALL in the County of Suffolk, being desired by many of his Friends to reassume [sic] the Practice of INOCULATION, (having inoculated Hundreds with the greatest Success) is now fitting up a House that will be ready to receive Patients at the latter End of October next, in a most delightful, clean, and pleasant Situation, and for the Excellency of Air, is scarcely to be equalled in England, being situated between the two great Roads of Norwich and Bury, and also between Newmarket and Mildenhall [note: this is a good description of Tuddenham – see the 1768 advert below]. As I shall make no boisterous Encomiums on the Ease and Safety of my Practice, as I can have Hundreds to certify for it, if occasioned, these Patients who do me the Pleasure to put themselves under my Care may depend on the greatest Neatness, Decency, and Regularity, the tenderest Care and Attendance, and to be received on the following Terms: To pay Five Guineas, Four Guineas, and Three Guineas, and to be paid at the Time of Inoculation, to find themselves with Tea, Wine, and Washing. / I shall be ready to prepare, attend and inoculate any private Family or Families, and also any Town, on the most reasonable Terms.’ Reference: The Ipswich Journal. Saturday Sept 26 1767: 4. [Note: see the page about Newmarket and smallpox for an image]
1768, 13th February: ‘INOCULATION / WILLIAM SANDIVER, Surgeon, of MILDENHALL in the County of Suffolk, begs Leave to acquaint the Public, that he has fitted up a House at TUDDENHAM, in a very pleasant Situation, for the Reception of Patients, having inoculated Hundreds with the greatest success, and at the following Expence [sic]; Five Guineas, Four Guineas, and Three Guineas. The Money to be paid at the Time of Inoculation, and every necessary Article to be found, except Washing, Tea, Sugar, and Wine.’ The Ipswich Journal. Saturday Feb 13 1768: 3.
1768, 25th May: ‘Diana Sandiver late of Newmarket and now of Mildenhall in the County of Suffolk spinster’. Newmarket Manorial records. Reference: 359/13, (Suffolk County Record Office, Bury St Edmunds).
1768, 18th June: ‘To be SOLD / ALL that Freehold CAPITAL MESSUAGE, or Tenement, with a good Yard, and all convenient Outhouses and Appurtenances to the same belonging, situate and being in MILDENHALL in the County of Suffolk, and now in the Occupation of William Sandiver, Surgeon. / For further Particulars enquire of William Isaacson, Attorney, at Mildenhall aforesaid. / N.B. The said Mr. SANDIVER intends wholly to remove from thence to TUDDENHAM, a village in the Neighbourhood, about 4 Miles distant from Mildenhall, for the Benefit of Inoculation; where he has fitted up a very good House for the Reception of Patients, and has already inoculated many with greatest Success, on the following Terms, viz. Three Guineas Parlour Patients & Two Guineas Kitchen Patients; they finding their own Washing, Tea and Wine: And will at the same time be ready on all Occasions to give his Attendance in Physick and Surgery upon the earliest Notice.’ Reference: The Ipswich Journal. Saturday Jun 18 1768: 4. [Note: see image above.]
1769. 4th February: William Sandiver buried, St Mary’s church, Newmarket. Reference: J552/9, microfilm of St Mary’s parish register, (Suffolk County Record Office, Bury St Edmunds).
1769, 4th February: Memorial to William Sandiver (and his daughter in law Mary). ‘Near this place are deposited the Remains of WILLIAM SANDIVER Surgeon, Eminent in his profession And universally respected He died 4th. Febry. 1769. In the 57th. Year of his age. Also of MARY the Wife of WILL. SANDIVER Junr. Surgeon who died 4.Febry. 1786. Aged 52 Years.’ Reference: Memorial in the base of the bell tower, St Mary’s church, Newmarket. [Note: he was buried the same day that he died and also note interestingly that they both died on 4th February!], [Note also, see image above.]
1792, January: Lease and release of property in Mildenhall from William Sandiver surgeon of Newmarket, son and heir of the late William Sandiver surgeon of Mildenhall, to William Bryant of Newmarket on the understanding that he would surrender the copyright of a property ‘holden of the manor of Newmarket’ to William Sandiver. The property is described as ‘now [in 1792] in the tenure or occupation of Henry Star his undertenant’ and ‘which premises was conveyed unto the said William Sandiver deceased [i.e. William Sandiver 1] in ffee by Robert Whiting late of Mildenhall aforesaid grocer deceased as by indentures… in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and sixty six’. Reference: HD1133 (bundle relating to a building in Mildenhall High Street called The Ram, later The Crown, later The Mildenhall and District Conservative Club, and at the time of conducting this research in 2014 The Istanbul Turkish restaurant / kebab house), (Suffolk County Record Office, Bury St Edmunds).
1800, 25th January: The will of Diana Isaacson of Burwell (probate 1803 to William Sandiver nephew [i.e. William Sandiver 2]). Reference: The National Archives, Records of the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, PROB 11/1390/126.
1803, 10th February: Memorial to Diana Isaacson (next to the 1743 Hannah Sandiver memorial above). ‘Near this Place Rest the Remains of DIANA ISAACSON Spinster Daughter of STEPHEN & MARY ISAACSON who Departed this life Febry, 10th, 1803, AGED 78 YEARS’. Reference: Memorial inside St Mary’s church, Burwell, Cambridgeshire.
1813, 29th June: Memorial to William Sandiver (and his daughter Elizabeth). ‘Near this place are deposited the Remains of ELIZ:SANDIVER. Spinster Only Daughter of WILLIAM SANDIVER Esqr. and MARY his wife. who died October 26: 1808 Aged 39 Years. Also of WILLIAM SANDIVER Esqr. who died June 29:1813 Aged 74 Years.’ Reference: Memorial in the base of the bell tower, St Mary’s church, Newmarket. [Note: this is the memorial of William Sandiver 2, in the bell tower as with his father’s memorial above – see the page on William Sandiver 2 for an image.]
Note: many of the parish register entries above (a disproportionate number of which are from January to March) are on the page that essentially relates to the year before: see New Year change.
Microfilm transcripts of St Mary’s and All Saints’ parish records, Newmarket: Reference: J562/69, (Suffolk County Record Office, Bury St Edmunds).
Microfilm transcripts of the Mildenhall Parish records 1700-1769: Reference: J562/65 and J562/66, (Suffolk County Record Office, Bury St Edmunds).
Suffolk Medical Biographies. Profile for Sandiver, William [I]. http://www.suffolkmedicalbiographies.co.uk/Profile.asp?Key=2522 (originally accessed pre October 2013). [Note: when first accessed this website had references to only one William Sandiver, amalgamating data from the two. Also, information regarding the memorials and some of the other information was supplied to the editor by the author of talkingdust.net. See further comments regarding this website on the Francis Greene page.]
May P. The changing face of Newmarket 1600 – 1760. Peter May Publications; 1984. [Note: see comments on The Sandivers page.]
Roberts RS. The personnel and practice of medicine in Tudor and Stuart England. Part 1. The provinces. Medical History 1962;6:363-382.
The Scripture quotation from the NIV translation is from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Anglicisation copyright © 1979, 1984, 1989. Used by permission of Hodder and Stoughton Limited. [Note: the quotation above however ought to be regarded as fair use/dealing in this context anyway – see the Usage &c. page.]
Wallis PJ, Wallis RV. Eighteenth century medics. [2nd ed.]. Newcastle Upon Tyne: Project for Historical Biobibliography; 1988.
Note: For published material referenced on this website see the ‘Acknowledgements for resources of published material’ section on the ‘Usage &c.’ page. The sources used for original unpublished documents are noted after each individual reference. Any census records are referenced directly to The National Archives, since images of these are so ubiquitous on microfilm and as digital images that they almost function like published works. Census records are covered by the ‘Open Government Licence’ as should be other such public records (see the ‘Copyright and related issues’ section on the ‘Usage &c.’ page for which references constitute public records, and any other copyright issues more generally such as fair dealing/use etc.).