Alexander Gillespie

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 soci ...

, FRCSEd (21 March 1776 – 2 September 1859) was a Scottish surgeon. He is one of the few persons to have served two non-consecutive periods as President of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. He was President from 1810 to 1812 and again from 1818 to 1820.

Early life and education

Alexander Gillespie was born in Ayr, the son of Dr Thomas Gillespie, an

Ayrshire Ayrshire ( gd, Siorrachd Inbhir Àir, ) is a historic county and registration county in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. Its principal towns include Ayr, Kilmarnock and Irvine and it borders the counties of Re ...

physician, and his wife Jean Gillespie (née Thomson). He became a Licentiate of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in 1794 and a Fellow in 1803. He obtained the degree of MD from the

University of St Andrews Medical School The University of St Andrews School of Medicine (formerly the Bute Medical School) is the school of medicine at the University of St Andrews in St Andrews, Fife, Scotland and the oldest medical school in Scotland. The medical school offers two ...

in 1822, some 28 years after he began to practise medicine. This was common practice at this time with the St Andrews degrees being conferred on the basis of a written testimonial and payment of a fee, without the need for the candidate visiting St Andrews Like many practitioners of his day he combined surgery with general practice. He had appointments as surgeon to a number of institutions including the Lock Hospital in Surgeons' Square, the Edinburgh Lunatic Asylum and Gillespie's Hospital for the Elderly. He was surgeon to Donaldson's Hospital, a school which had family connections. His sister Jane Gillespie (1770–1828) married James Donaldson (1751–1830), who bequeathed a large part of his estate to establish

Donaldson's Hospital Donaldson's School, in Linlithgow is Scotland's national residential and day school, providing education, therapy and care for pupils who are deaf or who have communication difficulties. History The School's foundation, 1851 Donaldson's School ...

, founded to maintain and educate poor children. There is an insight into Alexander Gillespie's practice in his son's obituary which observes that Alexander Gillespie 'worked his easy largely aristocratic practice with a light hand...'

Membership of societies

In 1803 he was elected a member of the Aesculapian Club. In 1806 he is listed as a member of the Royal Highland Agricultural Society. In 1812 he was 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 ...

. His proposers were Thomas Allan, James Russell and Ninian Imrie.

Later life and family

In 1818 he was living at 30 York Place in

Edinburgh's New Town The New Town is a central area of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. It was built in stages between 1767 and around 1850, and retains much of its original neo-classical and Georgian period architecture. Its best known street is Princes Street ...

, a handsome Georgian terraced townhouse. Post Office Directories continue to show him here for many years but his given occupation changes from surgeon to doctor in 1834, suggesting that he had given up surgery in favour of general practice. He died in Edinburgh on 2 September 1859 at 45 Castle Street and is buried in Dalry Cemetery. On 1 June 1812 he had married Eliza Mary Shirriff. Their son, James Donaldson Gillespie (1824-1891) graduated MD from the University of Edinburgh, gained the FRCSEd diploma, became a surgeon in the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh and was President of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh between 1869 and 1871.Obituary. Dr James Donaldson Gillespie. Edinburgh Medical Journal. January 1892 p674

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gillespie, Alexander 1776 births 1859 deaths Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Scottish surgeons Presidents of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh Alumni of the University of St Andrews 19th-century Scottish medical doctors