Charles Oliphant (1666 – 9 December 1719) was a Scottish

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 ...

and politician who sat in 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. ...

from 1710 to 1719. He built his medical career in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, but moved to

London London is the capital and 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 down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

in 1708. He became physician to the Prince of Wales (later King George II).

Early life and family

Oliphant was the second son of Charles Oliphant of Edinburgh, a principal clerk of the

court of session The Court of Session is the supreme civil court of Scotland and constitutes part of the College of Justice; the supreme criminal court of Scotland is the High Court of Justiciary. The Court of Session sits in Parliament House in Edinburgh ...

and a descendant of the 3rd Lord Oliphant. His mother Barbara was a daughter of Patrick Kinloch of Alderston,

Haddingtonshire East Lothian (; sco, East Lowden; gd, Lodainn an Ear) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, as well as a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area. The county was called Haddingtonshire until 1921. In 1975, the histo ...

. He graduated from

Edinburgh University The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 1582 ...

with an

M.A. A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

in 1684, from

Leiden Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration wit ...

in 1687, and was awarded his MD at Rheims University in 1691.

Edinburgh

Oliphant set up a medical practice off

High Street High Street is a common street name for the primary business street of a city, town, or village, especially in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth. It implies that it is the focal point for business, especially shopping. It is also a metonym fo ...

in Edinburgh, and became a fellow 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 sets the specialty training standards for physicians in the United Kingdom. It was established by Royal charter ...

in 1693. In 1699 he published a treatise on vomiting during fevers, which was challenged in 1701 by Dr George Cheyne in his ''New Theory of Continual Fevers''. Oliphant realised that Cheyne's criticism had been prompted by Dr

Archibald Pitcairne Archibald Pitcairne or Pitcairn (25 December 165220 October 1713) was a Scotland, Scottish physician. He was a physician and poet who first studied law at Edinburgh and Paris graduating with an M.A. from Edinburgh in 1671. He turned hi ...

, a fellow Edinburgh physician with whom Oliphant had been friendly at the start of the 1690 but fell out with over the course of the decade. Oliphant responded with a series of attacks on Pitcairne's work, accusing him of

plagiarism Plagiarism is the fraudulent representation of another person's language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions as one's own original work.From the 1995 '' Random House Compact Unabridged Dictionary'': use or close imitation of the language and thought ...

. The dispute escalated into an acrimonious exchange of

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 ...

London

In 1708, Oliphant moved permanently to London, attributing his decision to the Act of Union. He had concluded that "our remoteness from the centre of the government must certainly drain us, and carry all those that have ambulatory employments, or live by their industry, to live in England". At the

1710 general election Year 171 ( CLXXI) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Severus and Herennianus (or, less frequently, year 924 ''Ab urbe con ...

, Oliphant was elected in the

Duke of Argyll Duke of Argyll ( gd, Diùc Earraghàidheil) is a title created in the peerage of Scotland in 1701 and in the peerage of the United Kingdom in 1892. The earls, marquesses, and dukes of Argyll were for several centuries among the most powerful ...

's interest (MP) as the

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP) for Ayr Burghs. He had no previous connection to the area and appears to have been rather uninterested its affairs, but with the Duke's support he was re-elected

1715 Events For dates within Great Britain and the British Empire, as well as in the Russian Empire, the "old style" Julian calendar was used in 1715, and can be converted to the "new style" Gregorian calendar (adopted in the British Empire i ...

. Argyll also help to secure Oliphant's appointment in 1714 as physician to George, Prince of Wales. Oliphant died in 1719. He had married before 1698, a daughter of Sir John Young of Leny, Edinburgh and left 2 daughters, one of whom, Mary, married Lord Strathmore.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oliphant, Charles 1666 births 1719 deaths 17th-century Scottish medical doctors 18th-century Scottish medical doctors Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Leiden University alumni Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh Fellows of the Royal Society Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Scottish constituencies British MPs 1710–1713 British MPs 1713–1715 British MPs 1715–1722 Medical doctors from Edinburgh