Christopher Johnson (1782-1866) of

Lancaster Lancaster may refer to: Lands and titles *The County Palatine of Lancaster, a synonym for Lancashire *Duchy of Lancaster, one of only two British royal duchies *Duke of Lancaster *Earl of Lancaster *House of Lancaster, a British royal dynasty ...

, UK was a surgeon and was appointed Mayor of Lancaster in 1832.

Personal life

Christopher Johnson (1782-1866) was born in

, UK in 1782 and by 1794 both his parents were dead. His father, James Johnson (1752 - 1794) had been a doctor. He married Mary Welch on 11 June 1812 and they had at least two sons, Christopher and James.

Career

In 1796 Johnson started as an apprentice to a surgeon-

apothecary ''Apothecary'' () is a mostly archaic term for a medical professional who formulates and dispenses '' materia medica'' (medicine) to physicians, surgeons, and patients. The modern chemist (British English) or pharmacist (British and North Amer ...

Preston Preston is a place name, surname and given name that may refer to: Places England *Preston, Lancashire, an urban settlement **The City of Preston, Lancashire, a borough and non-metropolitan district which contains the settlement **County Boro ...

. He followed this with a medical degree in

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and later had his first independent practice in

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. He became a member of the Royal Medical Society of Edinburgh. In 1809 he returned to Lancaster and was appointed as surgeon to the local Lonsdale Militia. By 1812 he was an honorary surgeon at the Dispensary, Castle Hill, Lancaster that provided free medical treatment to the poor. He was interested in forensic medicine and in 1813 he published an English translation entitled ''An Essay on the Signs of Murder in Newborn Children'' from a French book published by P. A. O. Mahon in Paris. In 1815 he organised the establishment of a local Board of Health that resulted in the foundation of Lancaster's House of Recovery for five patients, especially those with infectious diseases. Johnson was also one of the local surgeons who performed public dissections of those executed in Lancaster. As well as medicine, he was interested in science, especially microscopy, and disseminated his knowledge within the local community. He was a member of the Lancaster Medical Book Club (1823) and Leeds Mechanic Institute (1824). He produced microscope slides of fossils that were drawn for publication by Priscilla Bury. He was Mayor of Lancaster in 1832.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Christopher 1782 births 1866 deaths 18th-century English medical doctors Mayors of Lancaster, Lancashire