Sir James Ormiston Affleck

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". ...

(19 July 1840 – 24 September 1922) was a Scottish physician and medical author.

Life

Affleck was born in

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 ...

in 1840, but not to a medical family. He studied medicine at 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 ...

, graduating in 1867 with MB ChB. He completed his doctorate in 1869 and began practicing in the Stockbridge area of the city, operating from 12 Claremont Place. He also took on the role of public vaccinator at the New Town Dispensary. Sir

Douglas Maclagan Sir Andrew Douglas Maclagan PRSE FRCPE FRCSE FCS FRSSA (17 April 1812, in Ayr – 5 April 1900, in Edinburgh) was a Scottish surgeon, toxicologist and scholar of medical jurisprudence. He served as president of 5 learned societies: the Ro ...

grew aware of his talents and chose Affleck as his assistant in the University and at the

Edinburgh Royal Infirmary The Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh (RIE) was established in 1729, and is the oldest voluntary hospital in Scotland. The new buildings of 1879 were claimed to be the largest voluntary hospital in the United Kingdom, and later on, the Empire."In Comi ...

. In 1877 Affleck became the official Assistant Physician. He was promoted to official Physician to the infirmary in 1885. He retired from the Infirmary in 1900 and took on the role of Consulting Physician for the City Fever Hospital, and also worked at the Longmore Hospital for Incurables. In 1896 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 ...

. His proposers were Sir

, Sir William Turner,

Alexander Crum Brown Alexander Crum Brown Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, FRSE Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (26 March 1838 – 28 October 1922) was a Scottish Organic chemistry, organic chemist. Alexander Crum Brown Road in Edinburgh's King's Buildi ...

and Sir

Thomas Richard Fraser Sir Thomas Richard Fraser (5 February 1841 – 4 January 1920) was a British physician and pharmacologist. Together with Alexander Crum Brown he discovered the relationship between physiological activity and chemical constitution of the body ...

. In 1905 he served as President of the Edinburgh Medico-Chirurgical Society. In later life he lived at 38 Heriot Row, a Georgian townhouse in Edinburgh’s New Town. The University of Edinburgh gave him a further honorary doctorate (LLD) in 1908. He was knighted at

Holyrood Palace The Palace of Holyroodhouse ( or ), commonly known as Holyrood Palace, is the official residence of the British monarch in Scotland. Located at the bottom of the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, at the opposite end to Edinburgh Castle, Holyrood has s ...

in 1911 by

King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. George was born during the reign of his pa ...

for his services to medicine. He died at home on 24 September 1922, and is buried with his wife Agnes in the north-west section of the first north extension of

Dean Cemetery The Dean Cemetery is a historically important Victorian cemetery north of the Dean Village, west of Edinburgh city centre, in Scotland. It lies between Queensferry Road and the Water of Leith, bounded on its east side by Dean Path and o ...

in western Edinburgh.

Family

His son, also James Ormiston Affleck, was educated at

Edinburgh Academy The Edinburgh Academy is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private day school in Edinburgh, Scotland, which was opened in 1824. The original building, on Henderson Row in Stockbridge, Edinburgh, Stockbridge, is now part of the Senior Scho ...

and later served as a Major in the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...

during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

Publications

*''Functional Disorders of the Heart'' (1869) *''Practice of Physic'' (1883) co-written with

Byrom Bramwell Sir Byrom Bramwell FRSE FRCPE (18 December 1847 – 27 April 1931) was a British physician and medical author. He was a general physician, but became known for his work in neurology, diseases of the heart and blood, and disorders of the endoc ...

*''Skin Diseases'' (1887) *Article on ''Fever'' in

Encyclopaedia Britannica An encyclopedia is a reference work or compendium providing summaries of knowledge, either general or special, in a particular field or discipline. Encyclopedias are divided into article (publishing), articles or entries that are arranged Alp ...

(1902)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Affleck, James Ormiston 1840 births 1922 deaths Medical doctors from Edinburgh Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Medical School 19th-century Scottish medical doctors 20th-century Scottish medical doctors Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Knights Bachelor Scottish non-fiction writers Burials at the Dean Cemetery