Born at Wexford, the son of Peter Begley, William Begley entered Trinity College, Dublin, in 1820 and graduated as B.A. in 1824. It is likely that a few years elapsed before he decided to study medicine, as he did not obtain his first qualification, the M.R.C.S. diploma, till 1830, and his first medical degree, the Dublin M.B, till 1840. His degree of M.D. followed eleven years later. For some thirty-five years, he held the post of superintendent of the male department of the Lunatic Asylum at Hanwell, whose Annual Reports he edited.

G H Brown

[Al.Dubl., 55]