Thomas Inman
Thomas Inman (1820–1876) was an English doctor who worked at the Liverpool Royal Infirmary and also loved myths and symbols. He published many medical papers and wrote practical advice on personal hygiene. He was also an amateur mythologist and wrote Ancient Pagan and Modern Christian Symbolism, first issued in 1869 and reissued in 1875. In this book he explained where many common symbols come from, including some that are medical.
Inman was born in Leicester on 27 January 1820. He was the son of Charles Inman, a partner in Pickfords who later became a director of the Bank of Liverpool; his younger brother was William Inman. He studied at Wakefield, then in 1836 was apprenticed to his uncle, Dr. Richard Inman, in Preston. He went on to King's College London, earning his MB in 1842 and his MD in 1844.
He declined a commission as an army surgeon and began work in Liverpool as a hospital doctor at the Royal Infirmary, where he built a good practice and served as physician for many years. In 1871 he retired to Clifton near Bristol and died there on 3 May 1876. He was known for his handsome appearance and friendly, popular nature.
Inman married Jennet Leighton in 1844, and they had eight children—six sons and two daughters—four of whom (two sons and two daughters) survived him. He contributed papers to the Liverpool Literary and Philosophical Society, mainly on archaeology, and he read widely, writing with clever ideas even if he was not a formal scholar. He based part of his myth ideas on the notion that phallic worship lies at the root of many myths, a view he introduced in a 1866 paper and explored in several works on Ancient Faiths published between 1868 and 1876.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 08:16 (CET).