William Tilbury Fox

Who was William Tilbury Fox?

William Tilbury Fox, MD, FRCP was an English dermatologist.

He was born in Broughton, Hampshire the son of physician Luther Owen Fox and Mary Fox, and the brother of Thomas Colcott Fox, also a dermatologist. From 1853 Tilbury Fox attended the University College Hospital medical school. He graduated in 1857 and received his MD in 1858. His first job was at University College Hospital as house physician to Sir William Jenner who was in charge of the dermatology department. He later took jobs at the General Lying-in Hospital in Lambeth and at a general practice. He decided to specialise in obstetrics and took the position of physician-accoucheur at the Farringdon General Dispensary. He was also a senior physician at St John's Hospital for Skin Diseases. In 1863 he published Skin Diseases of Parasitic Origin, in which he was the first physician in the UK to create a thorough study of the pathology and causes of dermatophytosis. At this time, he decided to specialise in dermatology rather than obstetrics.

In 1864, Fox developed an interest in tropical dermatology with a trip to India with the Earl of Hopetoun.