William Cheselden (October 19, 1688 - April 10, 1752) was an English surgeon and teacher of anatomy and surgery. He studied anatomy in London under William Cowper, and began lecturing anatomy in 1710. He was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1712 and the following year saw the publishing of his Anatomy of the Human Body, which achieved great popularity becoming an essential study source for students, lasting through 13 editions. In 1718 he was appointed an assistant surgeon at St Thomas' Hospital in London, becoming full surgeon in 1720 where his specialization of the removal of bladder stones resulted in the increase in survival rates. He also improved eye surgery, developing new techniques, particularly in the removal of cataracts. In 1733 he published Osteographia or the Anatomy of Bones, the first full and accurate description of the anatomy of the human skeletal system. In 1744 he was elected to the position of Warden of the Company of Barber-Surgeons, and had a role in the separation of the surgeons from the barbers and to the creation of the independent Company of Surgeons in 1745, an organization that would become the Royal College of Surgeons of England. He died in 1752 at the age of 63.