William James Clement was an English surgeon and a Liberal Party

Liberal Party (UK)

The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...

 politician who was active in local government and sat in the House of Commons from 1865 to 1870.

Clement was the son of William Clement who was a medical practitioner in Shrewsbury

Shrewsbury

Shrewsbury is the county town of Shropshire, in the West Midlands region of England. Lying on the River Severn, it is a civil parish home to some 70,000 inhabitants, and is the primary settlement and headquarters of Shropshire Council...

 for over sixty years. He was educated at Shrewsbury Grammar School and at the University of Edinburgh

University of Edinburgh

The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university...

. He was an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons, a Fellow of the Society of Apothecaries, surgeon to the 1st battalion of the Shropshire Rifle Volunteers, and in actual practice as a surgeon. He was mayor of Shrewsbury in 1863, 1864 and 1865 and a Deputy Lieutenant

Deputy Lieutenant

In the United Kingdom, a Deputy Lieutenant is one of several deputies to the Lord Lieutenant of a lieutenancy area; an English ceremonial county, Welsh preserved county, Scottish lieutenancy area, or Northern Irish county borough or county....

 and J.P.

Justice of the Peace

A justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...

 for Merionethshire and a J.P. for Shrewsbury. He authored Observations in Surgery and Pathology and was awarded the Fothergilian Gold Medal. In writing the now fascinating An Account of Two Cases of Intestinal Obstruction, in which the operation for the formation of an artificial anus was performed; one in the ascending, the other in the descending colon he claimed to have been the first surgeon in Great Britain who successfully opened the ascending colon for intestinal obstruction.

At the 1865 general election

United Kingdom general election, 1865

The 1865 United Kingdom general election saw the Liberals, led by Lord Palmerston, increase their large majority over the Earl of Derby's Conservatives to more than 80. The Whig Party changed its name to the Liberal Party between the previous election and this one.Palmerston died later in the same...

 Clement was elected Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 for Shrewsbury

Shrewsbury (UK Parliament constituency)

Shrewsbury was a parliamentary constituency in England, centred on the town of Shrewsbury in Shropshire.It was founded in 1290 as parliamentary borough, returning two members to the House of Commons of England until 1707, then of the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800, and of the...

. He held the seat until his death aged 66 in 1870.

Clement married Tryphosa Freme, daughter of W. P. Freme of Wepre Hall, Flintshire in 1845.

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