David Pitcairn M.D. (1749–1809) was a Scottish physician.

Life

Born on 1 May 1749 in

Fife Fife ( , ; ; ) is a council areas of Scotland, council area and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in Scotland. A peninsula, it is bordered by the Firth of Tay to the north, the North Sea to the east, the Firth of Forth to the s ...

, he was eldest son of Major

John Pitcairn Major John Pitcairn (28 December 1722 – 17 June 1775) was a British military officer. Born in Dysart, Fife, he enlisted in the Chatham Marine Division of the British Naval Service at the age of 23. He served in North America during the Fr ...

, who was killed at the battle of Bunker's Hill; Robert Pitcairn (1752–) was his brother. He was sent to

Edinburgh High School The Royal High School (RHS) of Edinburgh is a co-educational school administered by the City of Edinburgh Council. The school was founded in 1128 and is one of the oldest schools in Scotland. It serves around 1,400 pupils drawn from four feeder pr ...

, the

university of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...

, and then to the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

. He went on in 1773 to

Corpus Christi College, Cambridge Corpus Christi College (full name: "The College of Corpus Christi and the Blessed Virgin Mary", often shortened to "Corpus") is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. From the late 14th c ...

, where he graduated M.B. in 1779 and M.D. in 1784. In 1779 Pitcairn began practice in London, and was elected a fellow of the

Royal College of Physicians The Royal College of Physicians of London, commonly referred to simply as the Royal College of Physicians (RCP), is a British professional membership body dedicated to improving the practice of medicine, chiefly through the accreditation of ph ...

on 15 Aug. 1785. He was five times censor, and in 1786 was also Gulstonian lecturer and Harveian orator. On the resignation of his uncle William Pitcairn, he was, on 10 February 1780, elected physician to

St Bartholomew's Hospital St Bartholomew's Hospital, commonly known as Barts, is a teaching hospital located in the City of London. It was founded in 1123 by Rahere, and is currently run by Barts Health NHS Trust. History Early history Barts was founded in 1123 by ...

, and held the post till 1793, when he resigned. He attained a large private practice. John Latham mentioned, in his treatise on gout and rheumatism, that David Pitcairn was the first to discover that valvular disease of the heart was a frequent result of

rheumatic fever Rheumatic fever (RF) is an inflammation#Disorders, inflammatory disease that can involve the heart, joints, skin, and brain. The disease typically develops two to four weeks after a Streptococcal pharyngitis, streptococcal throat infection. Si ...

, and that he made his discovery known in his teaching at St. Bartholomew's Hospital. On 11 April 1782 he was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

Last years and death

Pitcairn had frequent attacks of quinsy, and failing health, accompanied by hæmoptysis, in 1798, forced him to give up work and spend eighteen months in Portugal. He returned to England and continued to practise, but on 13 April 1809 had an attack of sore throat, followed by acute inflammation of the larynx, with consequent œdema of the glottis, of which he died on 17 April 1809, at Craig's Court,

Charing Cross Charing Cross ( ) is a junction in Westminster, London, England, where six routes meet. Since the early 19th century, Charing Cross has been the notional "centre of London" and became the point from which distances from London are measured. ...

. Matthew Baillie, a close friend for 30 years, attended him, and described his case, with the similar one of John Macnamara Hayes, who died of the same disease three months later. Pitcairn's body was examined by Benjamin Collins Brodie the elder, in the presence of Baillie, Everard Home, and William Charles Wells. Pitcairn was buried in the family vault in the church of

St Bartholomew the Less St Bartholomew the Less is an Anglican church in the City of London, associated with St Bartholomew's Hospital, within whose precincts it stands. Once a parish church, it has, since 1 June 2015, been a chapel of ease in the parish of St Bartholo ...

, without the walls of St. Bartholomew's Hospital, London. A tablet to his memory was erected in the church of Hadham Magna,

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

Family

Pitcairn married Elizabeth, daughter of William Almack.

Notes

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Pitcairn, David 1749 births 1809 deaths 18th-century English medical doctors 18th-century Scottish medical doctors 19th-century English medical doctors 19th-century Scottish medical doctors Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Fellows of the Royal Society People educated at the Royal High School, Edinburgh People from Fife