William Rant

1. Biography
2. Landowner
3. Gravestone
4. Footnotes

Biography

William Rant, MD, was the son of Humphrey Rant, of Norwich, notary public, by his wife Katharine, and was born in that city in 1604.
He was educated at Caius college, Cambridge, and as a member of that house, proceeded MB 1625, MD 1630. He was admitted a Candidate of the College of Physicians 30th September, 1633, and a Fellow 30th September, 1634.
He retired into the country shortly before his death, which took place from marasmus¹ on the 15th September, 1653.²

Landowner

The Court of the Manor of Shadwells otherwise Cockerells held on October 16^th 1654 (the year after his death) recorded that William Rant held 4½ acres of copyhold land in 4 pieces in Morley. It is very likely that in addition to the copyhold land there would have been freehold land which would not have been the concern of the manorial court.

Gravestone

William Rant was buried in the church at Thorpe Market. The inscription on his grave reads:

This stone covers the dust of WILLIAM RANT,
Doctor of Physick, and Fellow of the Colledge
of Physitians in London, who, after that he had
there exercised his art with much honour and
successe for full twenty years, upon the 15 day of
September, Anno Domini 1653, and in the 49 year
of his age, He finished the race of his life at
Norwich, where he first tooke breath to runne it.

Image: Findagrave

Footnotes

1. Marasmus is severe undernutrition — a deficiency in all the macronutrients that the body requires to function, including carbohydrates, protein and fats. Marasmus causes visible wasting of fat and muscle under the skin, giving bodies an emaciated appearance.
   Source: Cleveland Clinic ↩︎
2. This summary biography is based on information published by the Royal College of Physicians in 1878. ↩︎

Date	Change
9/2/26	Published