The Pathological Society of London was founded in 1846 for the "cultivation and promotion of Pathology by the exhibition and description of specimens, drawings, microscopic preparations, casts or models of morbid parts." Its first meeting was held in February 1847 at which C. J. B. Williams was elected as the society's first president and 106 members enrolled. Early members included Richard Bright, Golding Bird, William Gull, William Jenner, Henry Bence Jones and Richard Quain. The society published 58 volumes of the Transactions of the Pathological Society of London.