Extra-Uterine Fœtus' (Trans. Royal Soc. vol, v.), and of a 'Case of Intussusception of the Bowels' (Trans. Medico-Chir. Soc. vol. i.)
[Gent. Mag. 1838.]
BLIZARD, Sir WILLIAM (1743–1835), surgeon, was born at Barn Elms in Surrey in 1743, and was the fourth child of William Blizard, an auctioneer. He received little school education, and after apprenticeship to a surgeon at Mortlake came to study at the London Hospital, also attending the lectures of Pott at St. Bartholomew's Hospital (Hunterian Oration, 1816). In 1780 he was appointed surgeon to the London Hospital, and in 1785, in conjunction with Dr. Maclaurin, founded the medical school there. The opening was celebrated by him in an ode, and on most of the important occasions of his life Blizard expressed himself in verse, which, had he been longer contemporary with Pope, would have certainly secured him a place in the 'Dunciad.' He lectured in the medical school on anatomy, physiology, and surgery. Abernethy attended his earlier lectures, and speaks of them with respect. As a hospital surgeon Blizard was famous for scrupulous attention to his duties in the wards, and he gave much time to the improvement of the London Hospital. He was often laughed at for the importance which he attached to learned diction and ceremonial observance (Lancet, 1824, iii. 19). The College of Surgeons had a house in Cock Lane, where the bodies of criminals just executed at Newgate were delivered to be anatomised. Sir William Blizard, when president of the College of Surgeons, attended at this house in full court dress to receive the bodies from the hangman; and the contrast between the president's elaborate costume and formal manner and the surly shabbiness of the executioner is described by an eyewitness (Sir R. Owen) as having made the ghastly scene almost ludicrous. Blizard was elected F.R.S. in 1787, and was twice president of the College of Surgeons. He published a paper on lachrymal fistula in the 'Philosophical Transactions' 1780, and several other medical papers (London Medical Journal, 1789-90); 'Experiments on the Danger of Copper and Bell Metal in Pharmaceutical Preparations,' 1780; 'Suggestions for the Improvement of Hospitals,' 1790. 'A Popular Lecture on the Situation of the large Blood-vessels and the Methods of making effectual Pressure on them,' 1780, is the most lucid of his works, and went through several editions. None of his writings are of permanent value. BLis practice was considerable, and he used for many years to attend regularly at Batson's Coffee House in Cornhill at a certain hour to await consultations, being probably the last survivor of this method of practice. In his youth he wrote on politics in a revolutionary spirit, under the nom de plume of Curtius, but he afterwards became an admirer of Mr. Pitt and adopted conservative opinions. Blizard was an example of hereditary longevity. His father and mother had both lived to eighty-six, and one of his grandmothers to ninety, while he himself died at the age of ninety-two on 27 Aug. 1836. He was buried in Brixton Church. There is a portrait of him by Opie at the Royal College of Surgeons.
[Blizard's Works; Cooke's Memoir, London, 1836.]
BLOET, BLUET, or BLOETT, ROBERT, bishop of Lincoln (d. 1123), a Norman by nation, and brother of Hugh, bishop of Bayeux, was chancellor of William the Conqueror. When the king lay on his death-bed at Rouen, he sent Bloet to England with a letter praying Archbishop Lanfranc to crown William Rufus. Bloet crossed the Channel in company with Rufus himself, and became the new king's chancellor. After the death of Remigius in 1092, the see of Lincoln was kept vacant for a year. Rufus, however, repented of his evil ways while he lay sick at Gloucester in the spring of 1093, and at the same time that he made Anselm archbishop he gave the bishopric of Lincoln to Robert Bloet. The consecration of the new bishop was delayed, for Thomas, archbishop of York, objected to the claim of the archbishop of Canterbury over the see of Lincoln. Anselm might, if he chose, consecrate a bishop to the ancient see of Dorchester, but Lindesey Thomas claimed as part of the northern province. Bloet was at length (12 Feb. 1094) consecrated at Hastings, in the chapel of the castle, on the day after the dedication of Battle Abbey, by Anselm and seven other bishops who had assembled to take part' in the ceremony at Battle. As the king appointed Bloet during his short-lived repentance, he received nothing for his grant of the bishopric. To make up for this loss, Bloet had to pay no less than 6,000l. for the decision in favour of the rights of Canterbury which enabled Anselm to perform the ceremony of his consecration. Although he resigned the chancellorship on his elevation to
the episcopate, he held the higher office of justiciary under Henry, and was his most trusted adviser. In 1102 he besieged Tickhill, the castle of Robert of Belesme, for the king. His manner of life was magnificent,
