Arthur Edmondston, M.D. (1776–1841) was a Scottish physician and writer in the

Shetland Isles Shetland, also called the Shetland Islands and formerly Zetland, is a subarctic archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands and Norway. It is the northernmost region of the United Kingdom. The islands lie about to the ...

Life

Edmondston, eldest son of Laurence Edmondston of Hascosay, surgeon in Lerwick, and Mary Sanderson of Buness, Shetland, was born about 1776 in Lerwick. The family of Edmondston is one of the oldest in Shetland. Edmondston's father for most of his long life was the only medical practitioner in the islands. Arthur adopted his father's profession, entered the army, and served under

Sir Ralph Abercromby Lieutenant General Sir Ralph Abercromby (7 October 173428 March 1801) was a British soldier and politician. He rose to the rank of lieutenant-general in the British Army, was appointed Governor of Trinidad, served as Commander-in-Chief, Ir ...

in Egypt. Returning to Lerwick he succeeded to his father's practice, and died unmarried in 1841. He was a skilful physician, giving special attention to diseases of the eye. Edmondston was the brother of Dr. Laurence Edmondston.

Works

Edmondston wrote two treatises on

ophthalmia Ophthalmia (also called ophthalmitis) is inflammation of the eye. It results in congestion of the eyeball, often eye-watering, redness and swelling, itching and burning, and a general feeling of irritation under the eyelids. Ophthalmia can have d ...

, published respectively in London, 1802, and Edinburgh, 1806. His major work was his ''View of the Ancient and Present State of the Zetland Islands'', published in 1809 in two volumes. The book discusses the political and natural history of Shetland, its agriculture, fisheries, commerce, antiquities, and customs.

References

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Edmondston, Arthur 1776 births 1841 deaths 18th-century Scottish writers 19th-century Scottish writers Shetland writers Scottish medical writers 18th-century Scottish medical doctors 19th-century Scottish medical doctors People from Lerwick