Archibald Robertson (physician)

Archibald Robertson FRS FRSE (3 December 1789 – 19 October 1864) was a Scottish physician and medical author who had a notable naval career, followed by a long private practice.[1]

Archibald Robertson
Born	(1789-12-03)3 December 1789 Cockburnspath, Scotland
Died	19 October 1864(1864-10-19) (aged 74) Clifton, Bristol, England
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	Royal Navy
Years of service	1808–1815
Rank	Ship's Surgeon
Battles/wars	Napoleonic Wars War of 1812
Other work	Physician and writer

Biography

Robertson was born at Cockburnspath, near Dunbar, on 3 December 1789, and educated at Duns school, and afterwards by Mr. Strachan in Berwickshire.

He studied Medicine at Edinburgh University, graduating MB ChB in 1908. He then obtained a post as an assistant surgeon in 1808, being appointed to Mill Prison hospital for French prisoners at Plymouth. In 1809 he was in Lord Gambier's flagship Caledonia in Basque roads, when Lord Dundonald tried to burn the French fleet. He then served in the Baltic, and afterwards in the West Indies, in the Persian and the Cydnus, besides boat service in the attempt on New Orleans. At the peace of 1815 with the United States he went on half-pay, having received a medal with two clasps.[1]

He gained his doctorate (MD) from Edinburgh in 1817, his thesis being on the dysentery of hot climates.

In 1818 he settled in Northampton, where he obtained a lucrative practice. In 1820 he was elected physician to the Northampton infirmary. In 1853 he retired to Clifton. On 11 February. 1836 he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society, and in the same year became a member of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.[1] In 1844 he served as President of the British Medical Association.[2]

He died at 11 West Mall, Clifton, Bristol, on 19 October 1864.

Family

He was married to Lucy.[3] Their children included the Rev. George Samuel Robertson (1825–1874), M.A. of Exeter College, Oxford, the father of Archibald Robertson (1853–1931), bishop of Exeter.[1]

Family

He was married to Lucy.[3] Their children included the Rev. George Samuel Robertson (1825–1874), M.A. of Exeter College, Oxford, the father of Archibald Robertson (1853–1931), bishop of Exeter.[1]

Publications

Robertson wrote:[1]

• De Dysenteria regionum calidarum (1817)
• Medical Topography of New Orleans, with an Account of the Principal Diseases that affected the Fleet and Army of the late unsuccessful Expedition against that City (1818)
• Conversations on anatomy, physiology, and surgery (1827);[4] then 1832.[5]
• A Lecture on Civilisation (1839)

He also contributed to John Forbes's Cyclopædia of Practical Medicine, 1833–5, 4 vols.

References

Notes

1. "Robertson, Archibald (1789-1864)" . Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
2. Biographical Index of Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783–2002 (PDF). The Royal Society of Edinburgh. July 2006. ISBN 0 902 198 84 X. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 28 March 2018.
3. "Rev. George Samuel Robertson". geni_family_tree.
4. Robertson, Archibald. "Conversations on anatomy, physiology, and surgery". Oxford Libraries Online. Retrieved 31 July 2015.
5. Robertson, Archibald (1832). Conversations on Anatomy, Physiology and Surgery (2nd ed.). Edinburgh: Maclachlan & Stewart. p. 456.

Bibliography

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Boase, George Clement (1896). "Robertson, Archibald (1789-1864)". In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. 48. London: Smith, Elder & Co.