Thomas, Hugh Owen (1834–1891)

Welsh manipulative surgeon who founded orthopaedic surgery in the UK.

He came from a family famous for generations as bone-setters. The methods he introduced for the treatment of orthopaedic conditions make him the true founder of orthopaedic surgery in Britain. He wrote little, and it was left to his nephew and apprentice (Sir) Robert Jones, afterwards an eminent orthopaedic surgeon, to preach Thomas's principles and make them, after many years, acceptable to the medical profession. He wrote Diseases of the Hip, Knee and Ankle Joints 1875, in which he described the Thomas splint, and Contributions to Surgery and Medicine 1883–90.

He was born in Bodedern, Anglesey. His father was unqualified, but gave Hugh the benefit of a medical training at Edinburgh and University College, London. He qualified MRCS 1857, and in the following year practised with his father and brother in Liverpool, but in 1859 set up on his own.