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: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national id ...

classical scholar and

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

. He was born at

Washfield Washfield is a village, parish and former manor in Devon, England, situated about 2 miles north-west of Tiverton. The parish church is dedicated to St Mary the Virgin. It was within the jurisdiction of the historic West Budleigh Hundred. History ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

, 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. It is distinguished by its predominantly neoclassical architecture, ...

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 ...

. 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 Great Britain, France and Spain, with Portugal in agreement, after Great Britain and Prussia's victory over France and Spain during the ...

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 senior British Conservative politician of the 193 ...

, and the Speaker of the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the 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 parliament. ...

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

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal c ...

, but moved to

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymout ...

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 hard cover or 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'' or it may consist of a f ...

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 Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was ...

, 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 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 ...

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

Euripides Euripides (; grc, Εὐριπίδης, Eurīpídēs, ; ) was a 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 ...

(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. Life ...

Bibliography

* See

William Munk William MunkFRCP (1824 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 ...

, ''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