James Roche Verling (27 February 1787 – 1 January 1858) was a

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

surgeon In medicine, a surgeon is a medical doctor who performs surgery. Even though there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon is a licensed physician and received the same medical training as physicians before spec ...

who became personal surgeon to

Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

St Helena Saint Helena (, ) is one of the three constituent parts of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, a remote British overseas territory. Saint Helena is a volcanic and tropical island, located in the South Atlantic Ocean, some 1,874 km ...

Life

Verling was born into an

Irish Catholic Irish Catholics () are an ethnoreligious group native to Ireland, defined by their adherence to Catholic Christianity and their shared Irish ethnic, linguistic, and cultural heritage.The term distinguishes Catholics of Irish descent, particul ...

family in the Cove of Cork (later renamed in 1849 as Queenstown and known since 1923 as

Cobh Cobh ( ,), known from 1849 until 1920 as Queenstown, is a seaport town on the south coast of County Cork, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. With a population of 14,148 inhabitants at the 2022 census of Ireland, 2022 census, Cobh is on the south si ...

), a then small town on

Great Island Great Island () is an island in Cork Harbour, at the mouth of the River Lee and close to the city of Cork, Ireland. The largest town on the island is Cobh (called Queenstown from 1849 to 1920). The island's economic and social history has hist ...

Cork Harbour Cork Harbour () is a natural harbour and river estuary at the mouth of the River Lee (Ireland), River Lee in County Cork, Ireland. It is one of several which lay claim to the title of "second largest natural harbour in the world by navigational ...

in the south-east of

County Cork County Cork () is the largest and the southernmost Counties of Ireland, county of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, named after the city of Cork (city), Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, on 27 February 1787. '' D.I.B.'': Verling, James Roche. https://www.dib.ie/biography/verling-james-roche-a8806 He graduated in medicine from 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 was commissioned Second Assistant Surgeon in the Ordnance Medical Department (which provided medical officers to the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

and

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 ...

) in 1810 during the

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1808–1814) was fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Kingdom of Portugal, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French ...

. After the defeat of Napoleon and his exile in St Helena after 1815 the British decided that Napoleon needed a personal physician. The first to fill that post was another Irishman,

Barry Edward O'Meara Barry Edward O'Meara (1786 – 1836) was an Irish surgeon and founding member of the Reform Club who accompanied Napoleon to Saint Helena and became his physician, having been surgeon on board when the emperor surrendered himself. He was a medi ...

, but he was dismissed as it was felt he was too close to Napoleon. Verling had already been a surgeon on board the ship HMS ''Northumberland'', which brought Napoleon to St Helena, and was chosen to replace O'Meara and to Spy on Napoleon by Hudson Lowe who was general of the Island at that time. He never treated Napoleon only saw him from a distance. He was never replaced, but Napoleon's mother Leatia brought over another doctor to treat Napoleon. After Napoleon's death in 1821, he helped in his autopsy, which carried out the verdict of death was stomach cancer. Verling returned home to the Cove of Cork (now

) in 1822, where he lived at Bella Vista (which is now The Bellavista Hotel) in Ballyvaloon until his death on

New Year's Day In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Day is the first day of the calendar year, January 1, 1 January. Most solar calendars, such as the Gregorian and Julian calendars, begin the year regularly at or near the December solstice, northern winter ...

, 1 January 1858. The Cove of Cork was renamed as Queenstown in 1849. He was promoted First Assistant Surgeon, Surgeon in 1827, and Senior Surgeon in 1843. He is buried in the Old Church Cemetery (also called Clonmel cemetery), Cobh.

References

* ''Napoleon and Doctor Verling on St Helena''. Ed. by J. David Markham. Barnsley, UK: Pen & Sword, 2005. 178 pages. . * ''Great Island Churches''. Published by Cobh Museum, The Islander Series No.1, 1998

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Verling, James Roche Irish surgeons Alumni of the University of Edinburgh British Army personnel of the Napoleonic Wars Royal Army Medical Corps officers People from Cobh 1787 births 1858 deaths Military personnel from County Cork Medical doctors from County Cork