Archibald Robertson (3 December 1789 in

Cockburnspath Cockburnspath ( ) is a village in Berwickshire in the Scottish Borders. It lies near the North Sea coast between Berwick-upon-Tweed and Dunbar. Cockburnspath is the eastern terminus of the Southern Upland Way as well as the northern terminus of ...

, near

Dunbar Dunbar () is a town on the North Sea coast in East Lothian in the south-east of Scotland, approximately east of Edinburgh and from the Anglo–Scottish border, English border north of Berwick-upon-Tweed. Dunbar is a former royal burgh, and ...

– 19 October 1864 in

Clifton, Bristol Clifton is an inner suburb of Bristol, England, and the name of one of the city's thirty-five Wards and electoral divisions of the United Kingdom, electoral wards. The Clifton ward also includes the areas of Cliftonwood and Hotwells. The easter ...

) was a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

and medical author who had a notable naval career, followed by a long private practice.

Biography

In 1808 Robertson became assistant surgeon at Mill Prison hospital for French prisoners at

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

. In 1809 he was in Lord Gambier's flagship in Basque roads, when Lord Dundonald tried to burn the French fleet. He then served in the

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, and afterwards in the

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

, in the and the , besides boat service in the attempt on New Orleans. At the peace of 1815 with the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

he went on half-pay, having received a medal with two clasps. In 1818 he settled in

Northampton Northampton ( ) is a town and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is the county town of Northamptonshire and the administrative centre of the Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority of West Northamptonshire. The town is sit ...

, 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 The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

, and in the same year became a member of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was establis ...

. In 1844 he served as president of the

British Medical Association The British Medical Association (BMA) is a registered trade union and professional body for physician, doctors in the United Kingdom. It does not regulate or certify doctors, a responsibility which lies with the General Medical Council. The BMA ...

Education

Robertson studied at Duns school, and thereafter with Mr. Strachan in

Berwickshire Berwickshire (; ) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area in south-eastern Scotland, on the English border. The county takes its name from Berwick-upon-Tweed, its original county town, which was part of Scotland at the ...

. He studied medicine at

Edinburgh University The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the town council under the authority of a royal charter from King James VI in 1582 and offi ...

, graduating MB ChB in 1808 and a doctorate ( MD) from

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in 1817. He wrote his thesis on the

dysentery Dysentery ( , ), historically known as the bloody flux, is a type of gastroenteritis that results in bloody diarrhea. Other symptoms may include fever, abdominal pain, and a feeling of incomplete defecation. Complications may include dehyd ...

of hot climates.

Family

He was married to Lucy. Their children included the Rev. George Samuel Robertson (1825–1874), M.A. of

Exeter College, Oxford Exeter College (in full: The Rector and Scholars of Exeter College in the University of Oxford) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England, and the fourth-oldest college of the university. The college was founde ...

, the father of Archibald Robertson (1853–1931),

bishop of Exeter The Bishop of Exeter is the Ordinary (officer), ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Exeter in the Province of Canterbury. The current bishop is Mike Harrison (bishop), Mike Harrison, since 2024. From the first bishop until the sixteent ...

Publications

Robertson wrote: * ''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); then 1832. * ''A Lecture on Civilisation'' (1839) He also contributed to John Forbes's ''

Cyclopædia of Practical Medicine The ''Cyclopædia of Practical Medicine'' was a British monthly medical journal, first published in 1832. It was divided into alphabetical articles, and came to four volumes, part-published and then completed by 1835. The volumes were: #Abd–Ele ...

'', 1833–5, 4 vols.

References

;Notes ;Bibliography {{DEFAULTSORT:Robertson, Archibald 1789 births 1864 deaths People from East Lothian Royal Navy Medical Service officers 19th-century Scottish medical doctors Royal Navy personnel of the War of 1812 Royal Navy personnel of the Napoleonic Wars Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Fellows of the Royal Society Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Scottish medical writers