Caleb Hillier Parry

Biographical Timeline

• Born October 21, 1755 Cirencester, Gloucestershire, eldest son of Rev. Joshua Parry, a dissenting minister.
• 1770 – Entered Warrington Academy, a dissenters’ college
• 1773 – Commenced medical studies at University of Edinburgh, under William Cullen; later elected President of the Edinburgh Medical Society and secured its Royal Charter.
• 1775–1777 Clinical experience in London, living with Dr. Thomas Denman; attended lectures by John and William Hunter.
• 1778 – Graduated MD, Edinburgh, with thesis De Rabie Contagiosa.
• 1779 – General Practitioner; physician to the Puerperal Charity Hospital and Casualty Hospital, Bath
• 1788 – Co-founded Gloucestershire Medical Society, read early paper on angina pectoris; active in Bath Philosophical and Agricultural Societies. Licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians
• 1799 – Published An Inquiry into the Symptoms and Causes of Syncope Anginosa (angina pectoris) the first major English monograph devoted to the condition; correlated it with coronary artery calcification.
• 1800s – Conducted experimental work on the arterial pulse and haemodynamics; published studies on rabies and tetanus (1814) and on vascular physiology (1816).
• 1816 – Suffered a stroke in 1816 which left him with aphasia and right hemiplegia. With the assistance of his daughter, Parry edited his notes, cases and observations using his left hand to annotate.
• Died March 9, 1822 in Bath, aged 66; buried in Bath Abbey
• 1825 – Posthumous publication of Collections from the unpublished medical writings by his son, including first description of exophthalmic goitre.

The most dangerous state incidental to the human mind is a calm acquiescence in the accuracy and extent of its own attainments

Parry CH. 1825

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Medical Eponyms

Parry Disease (1825)

Parry was the first to document the association between goitre, palpitations, and exophthalmos, anticipating both Graves (1835) and Basedow (1840) by decades. His cases were recorded as early as 1786 and later published posthumously in 1825 under the title: “Enlargement of the Thyroid Gland in Connection with Enlargement or Palpitation of the Heart.”

He described eight patients, several with striking exophthalmos and vascular signs:

The part swelled was the thyroid gland; the eyes were protruded from their sockets, and the countenance exhibited an appearance of agitation and distress, especially on any muscular exertion, which I have rarely seen equalled.

Parry, 1825; II: 112

In 1898, Sir William Osler suggested the manifestations of hyperthyroidism, goitre and exophthalmos be named Parry’s disease

3. EXOPHTHALMIC GOITRE (Parry’s Disease). Historical Note. In the posthumous writings of Caleb Hillier Parry (1825) is a description of 8 cases of Enlargement of the Thyroid Gland in Connection with Enlargement or Palpitation of the Heart…If the name of any physician is to be associated with the disease, undoubtedly it should be that of Parry, the distinguished old Bath physician.

Osler 1898; 3e: 836-837

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Progressive Hemifacial Atrophy (Parry-Romberg syndrome) (1825, 1846)

Among Parry’s unpublished notes was a description of a young woman with gradual unilateral facial wasting. His detailed account was preserved in the 1825 posthumous volumes and predates Romberg’s 1846 report

Miss F., aged twenty-eight, tall, thin, and with a somewhat florid complexion, thirteen or fourteen years ago, when at school, was rather suddenly seized with some degree of hemiplegia of the left side, accompanied with transient confusion of intellects…the left side of the face began to grow more thin than the right, and the eye to become less prominent, and therefore to appearance smaller…when she protrudes her tongue, it turns to the left ; but there is no dropping of the eyelids, or corner of the mouth, nor any weakness or numbness of the limbs on the affected side.

Parry 1825; I: 478-480

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Hirschprung disease (1825, 1886)

In 1804, Parry described a case of idiopathic dilatation of the colon in a male adult with chronic digestive disturbances – a ‘Singular and fatal accumulation of faeces‘. Autopsy revealed an enormously distended colon with no evidence of obstruction in the alimentary canal [Parry CH, 1825; II: 380-386].

A singular and fatal accumulation of faeces…in the course of which the abdomen became enormously distended. Upon opening the body, the colon was found to be of extraordinary magnitude, though no obstruction in the alimentary canal could be detected.

Parry CH, 1825; II: 380-386

Parry’s description preceded that of Harald Hirschsprung (1830-1916) at the Berlin Congress for Children’s Diseases in 1886 by 60 years

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Key Medical Contributions

Angina Pectoris and Coronary Artery Disease

Parry’s 1799 monograph on angina pectoris An inquiry into the symptoms and causes of the syncope anginosa was the first major English work on the condition since Heberden. Based on decades of clinical notes and autopsy studies, Parry advanced the revolutionary idea that angina resulted from functional insufficiency of the coronary arteries, not generalised cardiac weakness:

There is an important connection between the rigid and obstructed state of these vessels and the disease in question.

Parry 1799

He recognised exertional triggers, radiation of pain to the left arm, and risk of sudden death – core features that define the syndrome today.

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Pulse, Haemodynamics, and Experimental Physiology

Parry performed experiments on sheep and rabbits to explore arterial pulse mechanics, publishing his findings in An experimental inquiry into the nature, cause, and varieties of the arterial pulse (1816). He concluded that the pulse wave reflected left ventricular systolic impulse, not arterial elasticity alone.

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Friendship with Jenner and Scientific Networks

Parry’s lifelong friendship with Edward Jenner (1749–1823) shaped both men’s careers. Jenner dedicated his landmark vaccination treatise to Parry; Parry later reciprocated in his 1814 work on rabies and tetanus. Together, they participated in the Medico-Convivial Society, a vibrant network of provincial innovators who combined clinical practice with experimental inquiry.

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Major Publications

• Parry CH. An inquiry into the symptoms and causes of the syncope anginosa, commonly called angina pectoris : illustrated by dissections. 1799.
• Parry CH. An Inquiry into the Symptoms and Causes of the Syncope Anginosa, Commonly Called Angina Pectoris, Illustrated by Dissections. Ann Med (Edinb). 1800;5:53–78.
• Parry CH. On a Case of Nervous Affection Cured by Pressure of the Carotids; with Some Physiological Remarks. Med Phys J. 1811 Dec;26(154):458-461.
• Parry CH. Cases of tetanus, and rabies contagiosa, or canine hydrophobia. 1814
• Parry Caleb Hillier 1811. IV. On a case of nervous affection cured by pressure of the carotids; with some physiological remarks. Phil. Trans. R. Soc.10189–95.
• Parry CH. Elements of pathology and therapeutics. 1815 [Volume I] [ Incomplete Volume II posthumously presented 1825]
• Parry CH. An experimental inquiry into the nature, cause, and varieties of the arterial pulse. 1816
• Parry CH. Collections from the unpublished medical writings of the late Caleb Hillier Parry. 1825 [Volume I] [Volume II]

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References

Biography

• Macmichael W. Parry. In: Lives of British physicians. 1857: 275-304
• Rolleston H. Caleb Hillier Parry, M.D., F.R.S. Ann Med Hist. 1925 Fall;7(3):205-215. 
• Anderson HB. Caleb Hillier Parry and Something of His Contemporaries. Can Med Assoc J. 1926 Dec;16(12):1531-4.
• Biography: Caleb Hillier Parry. Medical Classics, 1940; 5: 8-30.
• Apley J. Caleb Parry of Bath: The Bi-Centenary of a Great West Country Physician. Med J Southwest. 1956 Jan;71(1):30-32.
• Jones B. Caleb Hillier Parry. West Engl Med J. 1991 Dec;106(4):101-2. 
• Hull G. Caleb Hillier Parry 1755-1822: a notable provincial physician. J R Soc Med. 1998 Jun; 91(6): 335–338.
• Fye WB. Caleb Hillier Parry. Clin Cardiol. 1992 Aug;15(8):619-21.
• Glaser S. The Spirit of Enquiry: Caleb Hillier Parry MD, FRS. 1996
• Larner AJ. Caleb Hillier Parry (1755-1822): clinician, scientist, friend of Edward Jenner (1749-1823). J Med Biogr. 2005; 13(4): 189-94
• Pearce JMS. Caleb Hillier Parry MD FRS. Hektoen International
• Biography: Caleb Hillier Parry Munk’s Roll: Volume II
• Bibliography. Caleb Hillier Parry (1755 – 1822). World Cat Identities

Eponymous terms

• Finney JMT. Congenital idiopathic dilatation of the colon. Surgery, gynecology & obstetrics. 1908; 6: 624-643
• Graves S. Congenital idiopathic dilatation of the colon or Hirschprung’s disease. Ann Surg. 1918 Jun; 67(6): 734–737
• Rolls R. Caleb Hillier Parry (1755-1822). JLL Bulletin: Commentaries on the history of treatment evaluation. 2003
• Marappan H, Am R. Parry-Romberg Syndrome: A Report of a Rare Case and a Comprehensive Review. Cureus. 2024 Aug 20;16(8):e67345.
• Cadogan M. Eponymythology: Diffuse Toxic Goitre. LITFL