Sir William Henry Allchin (1846–1912) was born in Paris and educated at University College, London. He worked at the Victoria Hospital for Children, and was appointed registrar and demonstrator of practical physiology at Westminster Hospital in 1872. He wrote papers on 'Functional Disease' and 'Vital Diagnosis', and contributed to 'A Dictionary of Medicine' (1882–1894) and 'A System of Medicine by Many Authors' (1896–1899). In 1883 Allchin was appointed assistant registrar at the Royal College of Physicians, London, but resigned after two years because he opposed the RCP’s policy of applying to the Crown for permission to grant medical degrees. Despite this, he was knighted in 1907 and appointed physician-extraordinary to George V in 1910.