1822 - apprenticed to Mr D. Macrae, a medical practitioner at Lenham, near Maidstone, Kent. 1823 - was entered as a student at the united hospitals of Guy's and St Thomas's, London where he took a particular interest in chemistry. 1828 - became a licentiate of the Society of Apothecaries of London. 1830 - became a member of the Royal College of Surgeons. 1831 - appointed to the newly created post of lecturer of medical jurisprudence at Guy's Hospital. 1836 - published the first volume of Elements of Medical Jurisprudence. 1844 - Elements of Medical Jurisprudence was revised as A Manual of Medical Jurisprudence and published. 1845 - became FRS. 1848 - became MRCP. 1852 - received the honorary degree of MD from the University of St Andrews. 1853 - became FRCP. 1856 - appeared as an expert witness in the William Palmer poisoning case. 1859 - was awarded the Swiney prize by the Society of Arts in recognition of his writings on medical jurisprudence. 1865 - published Principles and Practice of Medical Jurisprudence.