Charles Foster Barham, M.D. (9 March 1804 – 20 October 1884) was an English physician and the fourth son of
Thomas Foster Barham.
Early life and education
Barham was born in
Truro
Truro (; kw, Truru) is a cathedral city and civil parish in Cornwall, England. It is Cornwall's county town, sole city and centre for administration, leisure and retail trading. Its population was 18,766 in the 2011 census. People of Truro ...
. His family's wealth came from slavery and sugar estates in western
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 His ...
.
He was privately educated at several places in
Cornwall
Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...
and at
Saffron Walden
Saffron Walden is a market town in the Uttlesford district of Essex, England, north of Bishop's Stortford, south of Cambridge and north of London. It retains a rural appearance and some buildings of the medieval period. The population was 15, ...
, proceeding from the latter town to
Downing College, Cambridge, where he matriculated in October 1821. Within a few months he had migrated to
Queens' College
Queens' College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Queens' is one of the oldest colleges of the university, founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou. The college spans the River Cam, colloquially referred to as the "light s ...
, where he became a foundation scholar in May 1823.
The bent of his family was for medicine, and after studying at
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...
, as well as at Paris and in Italy, Barham took the degree of M.B. at Cambridge in 1827, qualifying for the higher degree of M.D. in 1860. For a few years he practised at
Tavistock
Tavistock ( ) is an ancient stannary and market town within West Devon, England. It is situated on the River Tavy from which its name derives. At the 2011 census the three electoral wards (North, South and South West) had a population of 13 ...
, but in August 1837 he settled at Truro, and remained there until his death.
Career
In the following year he was appointed senior physician to the
Royal Cornwall Infirmary, and when he resigned that post in 1873 was elected consulting physician. On his settlement at Truro Dr. Barham threw himself with energy into its political and civic life, and on 28 Sep 1839 became more closely identified with the town by his marriage to Caroline, the second daughter of Clement Carlyon, M.D., who belonged to an old Truro family. In all the proceedings of the
Royal Institution of Cornwall
The Royal Institution of Cornwall (RIC) is a Learned society in Truro, Cornwall, United Kingdom.
It was founded in Truro on 5 February 1818 as the Cornwall Literary and Philosophical Institution. The Institution was one of the earliest of seve ...
Dr. Barham took an active part, and to its ''Reports'' and ''Journal'' he contributed many articles.
From 1837 until 1859 he was its secretary, at which date he became its president.
[Justin Brooke, 'Barham, Charles Foster (1804–1884)', ]Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...
, Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...
, 200
accessed 4 Feb 2008
/ref> In 1856 he became a magistrate for Truro and in 1858 mayor. He served as consultant physician to the Truro Friendly Society
A friendly society (sometimes called a benefit society, mutual aid society, benevolent society, fraternal organization or ROSCA) is a mutual association for the purposes of insurance, pensions, savings or cooperative banking. It is a mutual ...
, was also the president of the south-western branch of the British Medical Association for a time.
He died at Truro on 20 October 1884, leaving a large family behind him. He was buried at Kenwyn
Kenwyn ( kw, Keynwynn) is a settlement and civil parish in Cornwall, England. The settlement is a suburb of the city of Truro and lies 0.5 mi (1 km) north of the city centre, within Truro parish, whereas Kenwyn parish covers an area w ...
. His brother Francis Foster Barham
Francis Foster Barham (1808–1871), known as the Alist was an English religious writer who promoted a new religion called Alism.
Life
The fifth son of Thomas Foster Barham (1766–1844), by his wife Mary Anne, daughter of the Rev. Mr. Morto ...
was a religious writer.
Though Dr. Barham was interested in antiquarian and geological pursuits generally, the two subjects which had especial charm for him were the climate of Cornwall and the diseases of the miners who contributed to its wealth. The names of many papers written by him on these topics are enumerated in the ''Bibliotheca Cornubiensis'', (vols. i. and iii). His services were engaged in 1842 by a commission on the employment of children, and his report, with the evidence which he collected, was printed in the first and second reports of the commission. He also wrote a ''Report on the Sanitary State of the Labouring Classes in the Town of Truro'' published in 1840.
Selected publications
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Notes
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Barham, Charles Foster
1804 births
1884 deaths
People from Truro
Alumni of Queens' College, Cambridge
19th-century English medical doctors
Burials in Cornwall