Joseph Thomas Clover

Who was Joseph Thomas Clover?

Joseph Thomas Clover was an English doctor and pioneer of anaesthesia. He invented a variety of pieces of apparatus to deliver anaesthetics including ether and chloroform safely and controllably. By 1871 he had administered anaesthetics 13,000 times without a fatality.

Clover assisted at surgery of public figures including Napoleon III of France, Princess Alexandra of Denmark and her husband King Edward VIII, Sir Robert Peel, and Florence Nightingale.

His inventions included the bulky 'Clover's chloroform apparatus', with which he was often photographed; and the compact 'Clover's portable regulating ether inhaler', which remained in used well into the 20th century.

With fellow pioneer John Snow, Clover is one of the supporters on the crest of the Royal College of Anaesthetists.