Daniel Ellis

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and Literature, letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". ...

(1771–1841) was an English physician, aerologist, botanist and writer. He spent most of his career in Scotland and was an important contributor to Edinburgh's ''

Encyclopædia Britannica The is a general knowledge, general-knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It has been published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. since 1768, although the company has changed ownership seven times. The 2010 version of the 15th edition, ...

'' (6th edition). He was president of the

Royal Medical Society The Royal Medical Society (RMS) is a society run by students at the University of Edinburgh Medical School, Scotland. It claims to be the oldest medical society in the United Kingdom although this claim is also made by the earlier London-based ...

in 1806. He appears to have also been a skilful

mezzotint Mezzotint is a monochrome printmaking process of the intaglio (printmaking), intaglio family. It was the first printing process that yielded half-tones without using line- or dot-based techniques like hatching, cross-hatching or stipple. Mezzo ...

artist.

Life

He was born in

Minsterworth Minsterworth is a village in Gloucestershire, England. It lies on the border of the City of Gloucester, on the north bank of the River Severn (effectively on the western side of the river) and on the A48 road between Gloucester and Chepstow. ...

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

on 17 October 1771. He studied medicine in London including Anatomy training under Sir

Astley Cooper Sir Astley Paston Cooper, 1st Baronet (23 August 176812 February 1841) was a British surgeon and anatomist, who made contributions to otology, vascular surgery, the anatomy and pathology of the mammary glands and testicles, and the pathology ...

. He received a commission in the Essex Cavalry as an Army Surgeon around 1796 but appears not to have served abroad and saw service only in Ireland and Scotland. The regiment moved to the west of Scotland to deal with an issue with the local militia and from there were sent to Ireland to quell the

Irish Rebellion of 1798 The Irish Rebellion of 1798 (; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ''The Turn out'', ''The Hurries'', 1798 Rebellion) was a popular insurrection against the British Crown in what was then the separate, but subordinate, Kingdom of Ireland. The m ...

. The regiment was disbanded on its return to England and Ellis then returned to Scotland in 1801 to study further, partly under Prof

James Jeffray James Jeffray (1759–1848) was a Scottish academic. He was professor of anatomy and botany at the University of Glasgow from 1790 until 1848. This 58 years of professorship is one of the longest in Scottish history. In around 1830 he is cred ...

. He qualified MD at

Glasgow University The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in post-nominals; ) is a public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ...

in 1804. Having failed to obtain a post in his desired destination of

Cheltenham Cheltenham () is a historic spa town and borough adjacent to the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort following the discovery of mineral springs in 1716, and claims to be the mo ...

he instead moved to Edinburgh. However his interests here quickly moved from medicine to botany, becoming a friend of the Edinburgh botanist Patrick Neill. He was elected a Fellow 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 1812, one of his proposers being

John Playfair John Playfair FRSE, FRS (10 March 1748 – 20 July 1819) was a Church of Scotland minister, remembered as a scientist and mathematician, and a professor of natural philosophy at the University of Edinburgh. He is best known for his book ''Illu ...

. His Edinburgh friends included Dr John Gordon (whose memoir he wrote), Dr John Murray,

Alexander Cowan Alexander Cowan (17 June 1775 – 13 February 1859) was a Scottish papermaker and philanthropist. He was the 13th child and third surviving son of Charles Cowan (8 June 1735 – 23 February 1805) and Marjory Cowan nee Fidler (16 July 1734 – 3 ...

and the engineer James Jardine. He died in his house at 13 Inverleith Row,

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

on 17 January 1841 following a ten-day illness, and is buried in St John's Episcopal Churchyard immediately south-west of the church undercroft. The grave is frequently obscured by tables and chairs from the church cafe.

Family

Ellis did not marry and had no children. In Edinburgh he lived with "two female relatives".

Publications

See *''An Inquiry into the Changes Induced on Atmospheric Air by the Germination of Seeds, the Vegetation of Plants, and the Respiration of Animals'' (1807) *''Further Inquiries into the Changes Induced on Atmospheric Air by the Germination of Seeds, the Vegetation of Plants, and the Respiration of Animals'' (1811) *''Memoir of the Life and Writing of John Gordon MD FRSE'' (1823) *6th Edition of

: Sections on ''Vegetable Anatomy'' and ''Vegetable Physiology'' *Description of a Plant Case, for Growing without Fresh supplies of Water and Air: ''Gardener’s Magazine'' vol 15 (1839)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ellis, Daniel 1771 births 1841 deaths People associated with Edinburgh Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Alumni of the University of Glasgow English botanists 19th-century English people People from Minsterworth Burials at St John's, Edinburgh English encyclopedists