Dr John Janet Kirk Duncanson (usually referred to as J J Kirk Duncanson)

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". ...

FRCPE The Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (RCPE) is a medical royal college in Scotland. It is one of three organisations that set the specialty (medicine), specialty training standards for physicians in the United Kingdom. It was establish ...

(1846–1913) was a Scottish surgeon and botanist, running the Ear, Nose and Throat section of 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 ...

. The Kirk Duncanson Fellowship for Medical Research is named in his honour. Some documents give his name as John James Kirk Duncanson, but John Janet better explains his use of J J and appears on most official documents. He was a noted amateur botanist which led to his being made 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 ...

Life

He was born around 1846 near

Dunfermline Dunfermline (; , ) is a city, parish, and former royal burgh in Fife, Scotland, from the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. Dunfermline was the de facto capital of the Kingdom of Scotland between the 11th and 15th centuries. The earliest ...

the son of Thomas Duncanson (born 1809) and his wife, Euphemia Faulds. He had two sisters: Helen Frances and Mary. His sister Mary Duncanson married a botanist, Professor Saddler, possibly meeting Saddler through her brother's botanical interests. Kirk was educated at

Dollar Academy Dollar Academy is a 5–18 Private schools in the United Kingdom, private co-educational day and boarding school for boys and girls in Scotland. The open campus occupies a site in the centre of Dollar, Clackmannanshire, at the foot of the Ochil ...

and then the Edinburgh Institution (now known as

Stewart's Melville College Stewart's Melville College (SMC) is all-boys' Private schools in the United Kingdom, private day school in Edinburgh, Scotland. Classes are all boys in the 1st to 5th years and co-educational in Sixth (final) year. It has a roll of about 750 p ...

), originally training to be an engineer. But influenced by his close friend

David Ferrier Sir David Ferrier FRS (13 January 1843 – 19 March 1928) was a pioneering Scottish neurologist and psychologist. Ferrier conducted experiments on the brains of animals such as monkeys and in 1881 became the first scientist to be prosecuted ...

instead decoded to follow Medicine. His lecturers at

Edinburgh University The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the town council under the authority of a royal charter from King James VI in 1582 and offi ...

included Sir William Turner. Duncanson graduated in 1868. On graduating, again at Ferrier's encouragement he went to

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...

for further studies, and from there to

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

where he began to specialise in the ear. He returned to Edinburgh and gained his doctorate (MD) in 1871, becoming a Fellow of the

Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh The Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (RCPE) is a medical royal college in Scotland. It is one of three organisations that set the specialty training standards for physicians in the United Kingdom. It was established by royal charter i ...

in 1874. He began working at

and both Benjamin Bell and his son

Joseph Bell Joseph Bell FRCSE (2 December 1837 – 4 October 1911) was a Scottish surgeon and lecturer at the medical school of the University of Edinburgh in the 19th century. He is best known as an inspiration for the literary character, Sherlock Ho ...

, becoming Principal Surgeon in the Ear Nose and Throat Department (then on Cambridge Street). In 1873 Duncanson was elected a member of the

Harveian Society of Edinburgh The Harveian Society of Edinburgh was founded in April 1782 by Andrew Duncan (physician, born 1744), Andrew Duncan. The Society holds an annual Festival in honour of the life and works of William Harvey, the physician who first correctly des ...

and served as president in 1902. In 1878 he was elected a Fellow of the

. His proposers were Sir William Turner, Sir

Robert Christison Sir Robert Christison, 1st Baronet, (18 July 1797 – 27 January 1882) was a Scottish toxicologist and physician who served as president of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (1838–40 and 1846–8) and as president of the British ...

, 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 ...

, and William Rutherford. His fellowship appears based on his botanical presentations. In May 1878 he was appointed Acting Surgeon to the 1st Edinburgh Artillery Volunteer Corps. In 1880 he was living at 8 Torphicen Street in Edinburgh's West End. From 1885 he is living at 22 Drumsheugh Gardens, next door to Dr

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 ...

.Edinburgh and Leith Post Office Directory 1885 Ill-health forced him into early retiral. He chose

Gullane Gullane ( or ) is a town on the southern shore of the Firth of Forth in East Lothian on the east coast of Scotland. There has been a church in the village since the ninth century. The ruins of the Old Church of St. Andrew built in the twel ...

for this as he was a keen golfer. He died at

on 12 March 1913.

Family

He married Isabella Baird (b. Airdrie 1853) in 1875. They had no children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Duncanson, Kirk 1846 births 1913 deaths Scottish surgeons 19th-century Scottish botanists 20th-century Scottish botanists Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Alumni of the University of Edinburgh People educated at Dollar Academy People educated at Stewart's Melville College