Administrative / Biographical History

Ainsworth was born in Manchester on 5 March 1783, the son of Jeremiah Ainsworth. He was educated at Manchester Grammar School and was apprenticed at MRI in about 1798. After his apprenticeship it is said he was house apothecary at MRI. Ainsworth later studied at Edinburgh University. In 1806 he was admitted as MRCS. He entered into a partnership with Thomas Henry in Manchester until 1814. In 1806 he was elected surgeon to the Infirmary; the youngest surgeon ever appointed to the MRI aged only 23. With John Atkinson Ransome, Ainsworth delivered a course of lectures on anatomy and physiology at the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society. He resigned his post at the MRI in 1847 and died on 28 October 1853. He had one son, Ralph Fawcett Ainsworth.