Standing portrait of William Sands Cox. In one hand he holds a scrolled parchment, while the other rests on a glass case containing a human heart. The son of an established Birmingham surgeon, Sands Cox was initially articled to study at hospitals in Birmingham, London and Paris. He founded the University of Birmingham's Medical School, Queen's College, in 1828, and in 1840 opened the Queen's Hospital, where he was senior surgeon and later consulting surgeon. He was principal of Queen's College 1858-9, but after disputes over the management and development of the Medical Faculty and the death of his father he left Birmingham in 1863. He died at Glass House in Kenilworth in 1875. This painting was presented to Queen's Hospital by the artist, Henry Roome.