William Hunter CB FRSE (1 June 1861 – 13 January 1937) was a British surgeon known primarily for his theories on oral sepsis, one of the inspirations for the Henry Cotton theory of focal sepsis which led to the increased number of tooth extractions and tonsillectomies in the 1910s and 20s (under the presumption that hidden sepsis could lead to a wider health decline in individuals). By the 1930s, this view had fallen out of favor, but not until after thousands of surgeries had been performed.