Apprenticed first at Wragby, Lincolnshire, to Dr William Walls, he entered in 1819 the united St Thomas's and Guy's Hospital, where he attended lectures by Astley Cooper and Henry Cline, junr, following at the same time demonstrations and dissections by Edward Grainger in his rooms in St Saviour's Churchyard. He was fond of horses, and attended Coleman's lectures, delivered at Guy's, on the anatomy of the horse, and later at Coleman's invitation became a frequent visitor to the Veterinary College. After qualification he became assistant to Mr Griffith in Leadenhall Street, who was then carrying on a lucrative practice, but he continued to attend the practice of the hospital and attached himself to Sir Astley Cooper, aiding him in his investigations. In 1824 Bainbridge bought a practice at 86 St Martin's Lane, where he remained until his death on April 16th, 1863. In 1835 on the introduction of the New Poor Law into the Parish of St Martin's-in-the-Fields he was elected Medical Officer of the Workhouse. He fulfilled his duties in this office with gentleness and generosity. He held many appointments. Bainbridge appears to have been keenly interested in clinical medicine and a careful observer of physical signs. In 1849, during the cholera epidemic, he treated 1669 cases. He believed in giving opium freely in the treatment of the disease, by which he seems to have acquired such fame that the Board of Guardians presented him with the sum of £200. He was a great traveller, visiting hospitals and museums in many European cities. He was a Governor of Charing Cross Hospital and of several schools, and a large contributor to many charitable institutions. [Amendments from the annotated edition of *Plarr's Lives* at the Royal College of Surgeons: Said to have published *A treatise on aneurism* not in RCS, Surgeon General…]