John William Turner MD

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". ...

(1790–19 November 1835) was a 19th-century Scottish physician who served as Professor of Surgery 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 ...

Life

He was born in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

in 1790. His family moved to

Newbattle Newbattle (from Old Scots ''Neubothle'', "new building") is a village and civil parish in Midlothian, Scotland. The village lies south of Dalkeith, about seven miles from Edinburgh. It is notable for containing Newbattle Abbey, a stately hom ...

south of

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 ...

around 1795. From around 1805 he studied Surgery under Professor James Russell and received his doctorate from the

in 1809, aged 19. He then became Assistant to Professor John Thomson, newly appointed as Professor of Military Surgery at the university. In 1816, he took over the running of the New Town Dispensary. In 1820 he was living at 14 George Street in central Edinburgh. In 1821, he was appointed Professor of Surgery at the University of Edinburgh. 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 1833. His proposers were Sir Thomas Dick Lauder, and Sir J T Gibson Craig. Although referred to little, Turner taught surgery through Edinburgh's golden age. His pupils included future major names in British surgery such as Samuel Alexander Pagan, Andrew Wood,

Robert Omond Robert Omond, Doctor of Medicine, MD Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, FRCSEd (1806–1881) was a 19th-century Scottish surgeon who served as president of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh 1857 to 1859. Life He was born on ...

Andrew 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 Royal ...

and

Patrick Newbigging Patrick Small Keir Newbigging FRSE Royal Scottish Society of Arts, FRSSA Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, FRCSE (1813–1864) was a Scottish surgeon and general practitioner. He was President of the Royal Medical Society and of the Royal ...

. He was Surgeon to

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 ...

from 1829, but continued as Professor of Surgery until 1831. From 1831 to 1833 he went to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

to improve his health, where he acted as a private physician to Henry, Lord Holland. His final Edinburgh address was 23 Castle Street in the

New Town New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz (South Korean band), The Boyz * New (album), ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** New (Paul McCartney song), "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * New (EP), ''New'' (EP), ...

just off

Princes Street Princes Street () is one of the major thoroughfares in central Edinburgh, Scotland and the main shopping street in the capital. It is the southernmost street of Edinburgh's New Town, Edinburgh, New Town, stretching around 1.2 km (three quar ...

. On the evening of 25/26 October 1835, he was called out during a heavy storm to tend to a patient at

on Drummond Street. He caught a severe cold and abandoned teaching on 12 November. The cold then developed into pneumonia.The Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal, Jan 1836 He died on 19 November 1835, aged 45. He is buried at

Churchyard in

Midlothian Midlothian (; ) is registration county, lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area and one of 32 council areas of Scotland used for local government. Midlothian lies in the east-central Lowlands, bordering the City of Edinburgh council ar ...

, where his family had a country mansion. His position at the university was filled by

Sir Charles Bell Sir Charles Bell (12 November 177428 April 1842) was a Scottish surgeon, anatomist, physiologist, neurologist, artist, and philosophical theologian. He is noted for discovering the difference between sensory nerves and motor nerves in the sp ...

Publications

*''Dislocations of the Shoulder Joint'' (1812) *''Observations on the Causes of the Sounds Produced by the Action of the Heart'' (1829) .

References

1790 births 1835 deaths Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Academics of the University of Edinburgh Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh {{Scotland-med-bio-stub