Background
Saunders was born at Huish, Devon, England.
Saunders was born at Huish, Devon, England.
10 October 1773 – 10 February 1810) was an English surgeon, known for his pioneering work on the surgery of cataracts. He founded the London Eye Infirmary "out of compassion for the pitiful state of many soldiers returning from the Egyptian campaign afflicted with military ophthalmoplegia and trachoma infections" Saunders remained the director of Moorfields, a famous teaching institution, from its founding in 1805 until his death. In 1809, he became one of the first people in England to use belladonna for its mydriatic properties to facilitate cataract extraction.
The church at Huish in Devon contains a memorial to him.