Joseph Nicol Scott M.D. (1703?–1769) was an English physician, dissenting minister and writer.

Life

He was the eldest son of Thomas Scott, an Independent minister at

Hitchin Hitchin () is a market town in the North Hertfordshire Districts of England, district of Hertfordshire, England. The town dates from at least the 7th century. It lies in the valley of the River Hiz at the north-eastern end of the Chiltern Hills ...

and then

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...

, the half-brother of Daniel Scott, and was born about 1703 at Hitchin in

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 ...

; Thomas Scott was his brother, and Elizabeth Scott his sister. He acted as his father's assistant at the Old Meeting in Norwich from about 1725, but his religious views became

Arian Arianism (, ) is a Christological doctrine which rejects the traditional notion of the Trinity and considers Jesus to be a creation of God, and therefore distinct from God. It is named after its major proponent, Arius (). It is considered he ...

, and he was dismissed in 1737 or 1738. Scott was then established by his Norwich friends in a Sunday lectureship at the French church, St Mary the Less. At first he drew good audiences, including members of the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

, but his lectures were discontinued by 1743. Scott studied medicine at Edinburgh, and graduated M.D. in 1744. For some years he practised in Norwich. John Reynolds, an admirer, left him an estate at

Felsted Felsted (sometimes spelt Felstead) is a village and civil parish in the Uttlesford district of Essex, England. The civil parish includes the hamlets of Bannister Green, Bartholomew Green, Causeway End, Coblers Green, Cock Green, Frenches Gre ...

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

; here he ended his days, dying on 23 December 1769. A monument to his memory was in the Old Meeting, Norwich. ''The Gracious Warning'', a monody on his death, by George Wright, was published in 1774.

Works

Scott published: * ''Sermons … in defence of all Religion … Natural or Revealed'', 1743, 2 vols. One is on "the Mahometan Revelation considered", and others affirm

annihilationism In Christianity, annihilationism (also known as extinctionism or destructionism) is the belief that after the Last Judgment, all damned humans and fallen angels including Satan will be totally destroyed and their consciousness extinguished. Annih ...

, anticipating the position of Samuel Bourn (1714–1796). * ''An Essay towards a Translation of Homer's Works in Blank Verse, with Notes'', 1755, a version of thirteen passages from the ''

Iliad The ''Iliad'' (; , ; ) is one of two major Ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Odyssey'', the poem is divided into 24 books and ...

''. He also revised the etymologies from classic and oriental languages for an issue (1755, folio) of the ''English Dictionary'' by

Nathan Bailey Nathan Bailey (died 27 June 1742), was an English philologist and lexicographer. He was the author of several dictionaries, including his '' Universal Etymological Dictionary'', which appeared in some 30 editions between 1721 and 1802. Bailey' ...

Family

Scott's widow, Martha Bell, died at

Aylsham Aylsham ( or ) is a historic market town and civil parish on the River Bure in north Norfolk, England, nearly north of Norwich. The river rises near Melton Constable, upstream from Aylsham and continues to Great Yarmouth and the North Sea ...

, Norfolk, in 1799, aged 87.

Notes

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Scott, Joseph Nicol 1703 births 1769 deaths English Dissenters 18th-century English medical doctors English lexicographers Alumni of the University of Edinburgh People from Hitchin People from Felsted 18th-century lexicographers