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Biography
William Hey (23 August 1736 – 23 March 1819) was an English surgeon, born in Pudsey, West Yorkshire, the son of Richard Hey and his wife Mary Simpson; John Hey and Richard Hey were his brothers. He was a surgeon at Leeds General Infirmary from its opening in a temporary building in 1776, and senior surgeon from 1773 to 1812.
He gave his name to Hey's amputation (a tarso-metatarsal amputation), Hey's internal derangement (dislocation of the semilunar cartilages of the knee joint), Hey's ligament (the semilunar lateral margin (falciform margin) of the fossa ovalis), and Hey's saw, used in skull surgery.
Hey served as mayor of Leeds in 1787–88 and 1802–03. In 1783 he was President of the Leeds Philosophical and Literary Society. He also founded the Leeds Club. In March, 1775 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society.
Hey's son William Hey (1772–1844) was also a surgeon.