Samuel Musgrave, FRS (29 September 1732 – 5 July 1780) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

classical scholar and

physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

. He was born at Washfield,

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

, the son of Richard Musgrave. He matriculated at

Queen's College, Oxford The Queen's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford, England. The college was founded in 1341 by Robert de Eglesfield in honour of Philippa of Hainault, queen of England. It is distinguished by its predominantly neoclassi ...

in 1749; and graduated B.A. from Corpus Christi College in 1754. He was elected to a Radcliffe travelling fellowship, at

University College In a number of countries, a university college is a college institution that provides tertiary education but does not have full or independent university status. A university college is often part of a larger university. The precise usage varies f ...

. Musgrave spent about a decade abroad. At the period when the

Treaty of Paris (1763) The Treaty of Paris, also known as the Treaty of 1763, was signed on 10 February 1763 by the kingdoms of Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain, Kingdom of France, France and Spanish Empire, Spain, with Kingdom of Portugal, Portugal in agree ...

was signed, Musgrave was resident in Paris. He formed a theory that British representatives had sold out to the French, allowing a treaty unfavourable to British interests. He brought his theory to the attention of

Lord Halifax Edward Frederick Lindley Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax (16 April 1881 – 23 December 1959), known as the Lord Irwin from 1925 until 1934 and the Viscount Halifax from 1934 until 1944, was a British Conservative politician of the 1930s. He h ...

, and the Speaker of the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

, when he returned to England in 1765. In 1766 he settled at

Exeter Exeter ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and the county town of Devon in South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter w ...

, but moved to

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

to improve his career prospects. In an attempt to gain traction for his theory on the treaty, Musgrave published in 1769 a

pamphlet A pamphlet is an unbound book (that is, without a Hardcover, hard cover or Bookbinding, binding). Pamphlets may consist of a single sheet of paper that is printed on both sides and folded in half, in thirds, or in fourths, called a ''leaflet'' ...

in the form of an address to the people of Devon, accusing certain members of the British government of having been bribed by the French government. A further pamphlet involved Charles d'Eon de Beaumont, the French minister plenipotentiary to England. A controversy followed, and the House of Commons in 1770 decided that Musgrave's charges were unsubstantiated. Musgrave then earned a living in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

by writing until his death, in reduced circumstances. He wrote several medical works and his edition of

Euripides Euripides () was a Greek tragedy, tragedian of classical Athens. Along with Aeschylus and Sophocles, he is one of the three ancient Greek tragedians for whom any plays have survived in full. Some ancient scholars attributed ninety-five plays to ...

(1778) was considered an advance on that of

Joshua Barnes Joshua Barnes FRS (10 January 1654 – 3 August 1712), was an English scholar. His work '' Gerania; a New Discovery of a Little Sort of People, anciently discoursed of, called Pygmies'' (1675) was an Utopian romance.LeTellier (1997), p. 186. L ...

Bibliography

* See

William Munk William MunkFRCP(September 1816 – 20 December 1898) was an English physician, now remembered for his work as a medical historian and "Munk's Roll", a biographical reference work on the Royal College of Physicians. Life The eldest son of Wi ...

, ''Roll of the Royal College of Physicians'', ii (1878)

References

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Musgrave, Samuel 1732 births 1780 deaths Medical doctors from Devon English classical scholars Fellows of the Royal Society People from Tiverton, Devon