Robert Graham (3 December 1786 – 7 August 1845) was a Scottish physician and

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

Life

Graham was born in

Stirling Stirling (; ; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Central Belt, central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town#Scotland, market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the roya ...

the son of Dr Robert Graham, physician. After studying at Stirling Grammar School he continued first to the

University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...

and then to 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 ...

where he graduated around 1806, and completed his MD in 1808. He trained further at St Bartholomew's Hospital, London, where he qualified as a surgeon. He then returned to

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

to practice at Glasgow Royal Infirmary 1812-3 and 1816–19. In 1816 he began lecturing in

botany Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

at the

, taking over from Thomas Brown of Lanfine and Waterhaughs following his resignation. He was a major figure in the creation of Glasgow Botanic Gardens, and was the inaugural Chair of Botany at the

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

in 1818. In 1820 he moved to

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 ...

to take up the position of Professor of Botany and Medicine at the University of Edinburgh, a role he continued until 1845. He was also physician to the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, and the 6th

Regius Keeper of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh The Royal status of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) is intrinsically linked to the issue of a Royal Warrant to the first Intendant of the Gardens in 1699. Since that date, the appointment of each new Director of RBGE has required the as ...

(1820–1845). In 1820 he was elected a member of the Aesculapian Club. In 1821 Graham 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 ...

, his proposer being Thomas Charles Hope. In 1821 Graham was also elected a member of the Harveian Society of Edinburgh and served as President in 1825. In the 1830s he is listed as living at 62 Great King Street in Edinburgh's New Town. From 1840 to 1842 he served as President 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 ...

. He died at Coldoch in

Perthshire Perthshire (Scottish English, locally: ; ), officially the County of Perth, is a Shires of Scotland, historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore, Angus and Perth & Kinross, Strathmore ...

on 7 August 1845.

Memberships and positions held

*Member of the Highland Society, 1821–45 *Fellow of the

, 1821–1845 *President of the Royal College of Physicians, Edinburgh, 1840–42 *First President of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh, 1836 *President of the Medico-Chirugical Society, 1842

Botanical contributions

He wrote descriptions of new and rare plants cultivated in the gardens which were published in ''Edinburgh New Philosophical Magazine'', '' Curtis's Botanical Magazine'' and Hooker's ''Companion to the Botanical Magazine''. Among plants he described was the Australian shrub '' Lasiopetalum macrophyllum''.

In fiction

Robert Graham features as a character in Sara Sheridan's novel ''The Fair Botanists'' (2021).Sheridan, Sara (2021), ''The Fair Botanists'',

Hodder & Stoughton Hodder & Stoughton is a British publishing house, now an imprint of Hachette.H ...

References

External links