Dr Handyside Edgar (sometimes written Handasyde Edgar)

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". ...

(1754–1806) was a Scottish physician who settled in Jamaica as both a medical doctor and plantation owner. On his death a famous Scottish legal case was heard debating the legal responsibilities of debts raised in one country being settled in another. He appears to have been a descendant of General Roger Handasyd an early governor of Jamaica. His more ancient ancestry can be traced back to Edgar of Wedderlie, who held lands from the Earls of Dunbar, during the reign of

Malcolm III of Scotland Malcolm III (; ; –13 November 1093) was List of Scottish monarchs, King of Alba from 1058 to 1093. He was later nicknamed "Canmore" (, , understood as "great chief"). Malcolm's long reign of 35 years preceded the beginning of the Scoto-Norma ...

Life

He was born on 27 March 1754 in

Hamilton, Lanarkshire Hamilton (; ) is a large town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland. It serves as the main administrative centre of the South Lanarkshire council area. It sits south-east of Glasgow, south-west of Edinburgh and north of Carlisle. It is situated on t ...

, the son of Alexander Edgar of Auchingrammont (1698–1777) and his wife Margaret Edgar (a cousin). His father also owned Hillhousefield in south

Leith Leith (; ) is a port area in the north of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith and is home to the Port of Leith. The earliest surviving historical references are in the royal charter authorising the construction of ...

and some records give this as his birthplace. He certainly spent a major part of his childhood in Leith. He trained as a physician 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 ...

graduating MA MD in 1776. He is noted as a college friend of Colin Lauder through which Lauder befriended his brother Alexander. He moved to Jamaica with his brother in the late 18th century to run the Wedderlie Estate (named after his family home and probably established by their father), and the Osborne Estate (created around 100 years earlier by a Dr Osborne). He appears to have already had kinsfolk in Jamaica including several half-brothers and sisters fathered by Alexander Edgar with negro slaves. Handyside Edgar acted as a physician in both Trelawney and

Montego Bay Montego Bay () is the capital of the Parishes of Jamaica, parish of Saint James Parish, Jamaica, St. James in Jamaica. The city is the fourth most populous urban area in the country, after Kingston, Jamaica, Kingston, Spanish Town, and Portmore ...

in Jamaica. 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 1786. His proposers were John Robison,

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 ...

, and

Andrew Dalzell Andrew Dalzell (sometimes shown as Andrew Dalzel or Andrew Dalziel) FRSE (1742–1806) was a Scottish scholar, Professor of Classics (Edinburgh), Professor of Greek at the University of Edinburgh, and prominent figure during the Scottish Enligh ...

. He died in Jamaica on 8 June 1806. He is buried there in St James Churchyard. A dispute over his will, between his brother Alexander Edgar and Sir Simon Haughton Clarke was heard by the Court of Session in Edinburgh under

Allan Maconochie, Lord Meadowbank The Hon Allan Maconochie, Lord Meadowbank FRSE FSA (Scot) (1748–1816) was a Scottish advocate, academic jurist, judge and agriculturalist. Life The only son of Alexander Maconochie of Meadowbank, Kirknewton, Midlothian, and his wife Isabell ...

in 1810. The case revolved around the legal responsibility of an English executor for a Scottish debt.

Family

He married Mary Simpson of Bounty Hall, Jamaica on 6 March 1792 in Trelawny, Jamaica. She returned to Britain after his death and died in London on 13 July 1819. His uncle, Peter Edgar, was father-in-law to Sir

Henry Raeburn Sir Henry Raeburn (; 4 March 1756 – 8 July 1823) was a Scottish portrait painter. He served as Portrait Painter to King George IV in Scotland. Biography Raeburn was born the son of a manufacturer in Stockbridge, on the Water of Leith: a f ...

, his cousin Ann Edgar, being Raeburn's wife, and the two families mixed at social occasions.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Edgar, Handyside 1754 births 1806 deaths People from Hamilton, South Lanarkshire 18th-century Jamaican physicians 18th-century Scottish medical doctors Scottish slave owners Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Alumni of the University of Glasgow