Fenwick Skrimshire (1774 – 11 June 1855) 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 ide ...

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 naturalist. His father was William Skrimshire the elder. He published a number of works of popular science and medicine. He helped his brother William Skrimshire (the younger), (1766 in Wisbech – 22 July 1829) a surgeon and botanist to amass a large herbarium. Skrimshire is notable for having certified the poet

John Clare John Clare (13 July 1793 – 20 May 1864) was an English poet. The son of a farm labourer, he became known for his celebrations of the English countryside and sorrows at its disruption. His work underwent major re-evaluation in the late 20th ce ...

as mad and committed him to Northamptonshire County General Lunatic Asylum in 1841, having known him since 1820. He completed the admission papers by answering the question "Was the insanity preceded by any severe or long-continued mental emotion or exertion?" with "After years of poetical prosing." Skrimshire died at Paston Hall,

Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...

on 11 June 1855.

Publications

* (1802) A Series of Popular Chemical Essays * (1805) A Series of Essays introductory to the Study of Natural History * (1838) The Village Pastor's Surgical and Medical GuideThe Churchman, a magazine in defence of the church and constitution, 1838, p.331

References

External links

The Village Pastor's Surgical and Medical Guide
ebook 1774 births 1845 deaths 19th-century English medical doctors English naturalists {{UK-med-bio-stub