Background
He was the second of six children of George Skey, a Russian merchant in London, and was born at Upton-on-Severn on 1 December 1798.
He was the second of six children of George Skey, a Russian merchant in London, and was born at Upton-on-Severn on 1 December 1798.
He was educated chiefly at the private school of Michael Maurice, father of Frederick Denison Maurice, whose friendship he retained until his death. He was apprenticed to John Abernethy on 15 April 1816.
While he was an apprentice, Skey was entrusted with the care of some private patients. By Abernethy"s interest he was appointed demonstrator of anatomy at Saint Bartholomew"s Hospital about 1826, an office he resigned after Abernethy"s death in 1831, in consequence of a dispute with Sir William Lawrence. An outcome of Skey"s separation from the teaching staff of Saint Bartholomew"s Hospital was the revival of the Aldersgate Street school of medicine.
In the hands of James Hope, Robert Bentley Todd, Marshall Hall, and Jonathan Pereira, it became known as a private teaching establishment, and for many years rivalled the neighbouring school of Saint Bartholomew"s Hospital.
Skey taught surgery in the Aldersgate Street school for ten years, though he was elected an assistant-surgeon to Saint Bartholomew"s Hospital on 29 August 1827, and consulting surgeon to the London Charterhouse in the same year. Skey was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 1837, and he was appointed to lecture on anatomy in the medical school of Saint Bartholomew"s Hospital in 1843, an office he resigned in 1865.
He was then elected consulting surgeon, and was presented with a testimonial. Skey filled major positions in the Royal College of Surgeons.
He received a C.B. for his services in this capacity, and the direct outcome of the committee"s report was the framing of the Contagious Diseases Acting, which has since been repealed.
His health failed during the last two or three years of his life, and he died at his rooms in Mount Street, Grosvenor Square, on 15 August 1872.
Royal Society]
After studying at Saint Bartholomew"s Hospital, Skey was admitted a member of the Royal College of Surgeons of England on 5 April 1822. Elected a member of the council in 1848, he was appointed Hunterian orator in 1850, and in 1852 was made professor of human anatomy and surgery. He was elected a member of the court of examiners in 1855, and in 1863 he was chosen president