Dr Robert Daun

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 letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This so ...

FRCS (1785 – 1871) was a prominent figure in 19th century Scotland with a colourful life, ranging from being with the Scots Greys at the

Battle of Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo (at that time in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium). A French army under the command of Napoleon was defeated by two of the armies of the Seventh C ...

to being elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh 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 established i ...

Life

The grave of Robert Daun, Dean Cemetery, Edinburgh

He was born in

Insch Insch ( gd, An Innis or Innis Mo Bheathain) is a village in the Garioch, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is located approximately from the city of Aberdeen. Etymology The name of the village may have come from the Scottish Gaelic ''innis'', m ...

Aberdeenshire Aberdeenshire ( sco, Aiberdeenshire; gd, Siorrachd Obar Dheathain) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the County of Aberdeen which has substantially different boundaries. The Aberdeenshire Council area incl ...

the eldest son of Rev George Daun (1750-1821), the local minister, on 16 April 1785. He went to

Elgin Elgin may refer to: Places Canada * Elgin County, Ontario * Elgin Settlement, a 19th-century community for freed slaves located in present-day North Buxton and South Buxton, Chatham-Kent, Ontario * Elgin, a village in Rideau Lakes, Ontario ...

Grammar School and then studied Medicine at

King's College, Aberdeen King's College in Old Aberdeen, Scotland, the full title of which is The University and King's College of Aberdeen (''Collegium Regium Abredonense''), is a formerly independent university founded in 1495 and now an integral part of the Univers ...

graduating MA in 1803. Having sat the relevant medical exams in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, in 1804 he received a commission as Assistant Surgeon (aged only 19) in the army and travelled to

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

to work there, aiding in the

Second Anglo-Maratha War } The Second Anglo-Maratha War (1803–1805) was the second conflict between the British East India Company and the Maratha Empire in India. Background The British had supported the "fugitive" Peshwa Raghunathrao in the First Anglo-Maratha W ...

. He served first with the 22nd Light Dragoons then the 59th Foot. He returned to Britain around 1812 and received his MD degree from

Aberdeen University , mottoeng = The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom , established = , type = Public research universityAncient university , endowment = £58.4 million (2021) , budget ...

in 1813. He was elected a Fellow of the

Royal College of Physicians The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) is a British professional membership body dedicated to improving the practice of medicine, chiefly through the accreditation of physicians by examination. Founded by royal charter from King Henry VIII in 1 ...

in 1814. He then joined the

Scots Greys The Royal Scots Greys was a cavalry regiment of the British Army from 1707 until 1971, when they amalgamated with the 3rd Carabiniers (Prince of Wales's Dragoon Guards) to form the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards. The regiment's history began in 167 ...

. This resulted in his being shipped with them to the Continent, and being with them at the

in June 1815. Whilst not on the front line, his position as Surgeon to the regiment would have rendered him an unenviable task, in this, one of history’s bloodiest battles. Thereafter he joined the occupying army in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

following Napoleon’s defeat. He thereafter resigned from the Scots Greys and returned to

in 1820 staying there until 1825. On return, he adopted a more sedate life, lecturing on both mathematics and theology. His great experience in the treatment of cholera led to him being employed as Deputy Inspector-General of Army Hospitals in Britain. In the cholera epidemic of 1831-2 he was sent to

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

to make studies and reports. He is noted as having saved at least two lives by the administration of saline injection: a then innovative idea in the treatment of cholera, conceived by Dr Thomas Latta of

Leith Leith (; gd, Lìte) is a port area in the north of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith. In 2021, it was ranked by ''Time Out'' as one of the top five neighbourhoods to live in the world. The earliest ...

. He was nomadic by nature living in London 1832 to 1835, St Andrews 1835 to 1839 and Aberdeen 1839 to 1861. In 1832 he was elected a Member of the Geological Society of London "but did not have any special devotion to geology" being a mathematician by nature. Whilst in

St Andrews St Andrews ( la, S. Andrea(s); sco, Saunt Aundraes; gd, Cill Rìmhinn) is a town on the east coast of Fife in Scotland, southeast of Dundee and northeast of Edinburgh. St Andrews had a recorded population of 16,800 , making it Fife's four ...

, together with

Robert Haldane Robert Haldane (28 February 1764 – 12 December 1842) was a religious writer and Scottish theologian. Author of ''Commentaire sur l'Épître aux Romains, On the Inspiration of Scripture'' and ''Exposition of the Epistle to the Romans.'' Early ...

and

David Brewster Sir David Brewster KH PRSE FRS FSA Scot FSSA MICE (11 December 178110 February 1868) was a British scientist, inventor, author, and academic administrator. In science he is principally remembered for his experimental work in physical optic ...

, he was a founder of the St Andrews Literary and Philosophical Society in 1838. He was elected a Fellow of the

in 1840, his proposer being Henry Marshall. He resigned in 1845 but (rarely) was re-elected in 1867. From 1861 onwards he lived in retirement at 6 Picardy Place at the head of

Leith Walk Leith Walk is one of the longest streets in Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchange ...

in Edinburgh. He died peacefully at home in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

on 14 June 1871, aged 86. He is buried in

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 west

. His wife, Helen Jamieson (d.1892), lies with him. The grave lies midway alomh the "Lords Row" section on the west side of the cemetery.

Family

Robert's brother, James Daun MA MD, also trained as a surgeon. He served as Rector of Westmoreland School in

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of Hispan ...

.''Bones of Empire'', by Brian J Orr

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Daun, Robert 1785 births 1871 deaths Alumni of the University of Aberdeen British surgeons Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Royal Scots Greys officers British Army personnel of the Napoleonic Wars People from Aberdeenshire British military personnel of the Second Anglo-Maratha War Burials at the Dean Cemetery