John Cunningham Saunders
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John Cunningham Saunders, M.D. (1773-1810). born at Huish in Devon, England. Famous for his pioneering work on the surgery of cataracts. He was founder of the Royal London Ophthalmic Hospital (Moorfields).
He founded the London Eye Infirmary "out of compassion for the pitiful state of many soldiers returning from the Egyptian campaign afflicted with military ophthalmoplegia and trachoma infections" Saunders remained the director of Moorfields, the world-famous teaching institution, from its founding in 1805 until his death.
In 1809 he became one of the first people in England to use belladonna for its mydriatic properties to facilitate cataract extraction.
His book; A Treatise on some Practical Points Relating to the Diseases of the Eye. was published posthumously in 1811. It was printed at the expense of the Governors of the Hospital, by subscription, to aid the author's widow.
The church at Huish in Devon contains a memorial to him.
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