Fulke Rose (10 April 1644 – c. March 1694) was a British physician and early colonist of

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 one of the principal buyers in Jamaica of slaves taken by the Royal African Company and had extensive land-holdings on the island. He continued to practice medicine in Jamaica and with Hans Sloane attended the former privateer Henry Morgan towards the end of Morgan's life.

Early life and family

Fulke Rose was born 10 April 1644 in Mickleton,

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

, to the reverend Thomas Rose and his wife Francesse Rose née Fisher. He had brothers Thomas and

Francis Francis may refer to: People *Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State and Bishop of Rome *Francis (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters *Francis (surname) Places * Rural M ...

who were resident in Jamaica, John who was a merchant in London and William who was an

apothecary ''Apothecary'' () is a mostly archaic term for a medical professional who formulates and dispenses '' materia medica'' (medicine) to physicians, surgeons, and patients. The modern chemist (British English) or pharmacist (British and North Ameri ...

who was one of the parties in '' Rose v Royal College of Physicians'' (1701–03).Clark, George. (1964–66)
A History of the Royal College of Physicians of London
'. 2 Vols. Oxford: Clarendon Press. pp. 476-479 extracted in Peter Elmer & Ole Peter Grell (Eds.) (2004). ''Health, Disease and Society in Europe, 1500–1800: A Sourcebook''. Manchester: Manchester University Press. pp. 346–348. . His will of 1693 also mentions sisters Elizabeth Milner and Martha Langley, and a brother Norgrove. He married Elizabeth Langley, daughter of Alderman

John Langley John Russell Langley (June 1, 1943 – June 26, 2021) was an American television and film director, writer, and producer who was best known as the creator and executive producer of the television show ''Cops (TV program), Cops'', which premiere ...

of Cornhill, at Port Royal, Jamaica, on 11 July 1678. Their children included daughters Elizabeth, Anne (Anne Isted), and Mary."Rose of Jamaica"
in Vere Langford Oliver (1919) ''Caribeana: Being miscellaneous papers relating to the history, genealogy, topography, and antiquities of the British West Indies''. Vol. 5. London: Mitchell Hughes & Clarke. pp. 130-139.

Career

By 1670, Rose was in Jamaica and already owned 380 acres of land in Saint Catherine Parish. At this time, the island was transitioning from an economy based on piracy to one based on agriculture using slaves. In 1684, Rose was described in State Papers as "a surgeon bred, and a very discreet and virtuous man. His plantations render him over 4000£ per annum and his practice about 600£." He was one of the principal buyers in Jamaica of slaves from the Royal African Company from which he bought 131 persons, of whom 42% came from the Bight of Benin and 32% from the

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

(modern Ghana)."The problem of multiple substrates: The case of Jamaican creole"
by Silvia Kouwenberg in Susanne Michaelis (Ed.) (2008). ''Roots of Creole Structures: Weighing the Contribution of Substrates and Superstrates''. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing. pp. 1–28 (p. 19). Among the estates and land he owned at the time he drew up his will in 1693 were the Mickleton, Knollis, and Sixteen Mile Walk estates, all in St Thomas in the Vale, the Angells, land at Maggatty called Warrens and Hipperslys, land and houses in the town of St Jago de Laviega (Spanish Town), lands "over the river at the Red Hills" in Saint Catherine Parish, and lands in the north of Jamaica in

Saint Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of ...

and

Saint George Saint George (Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin: Georgius, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christian who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to tradition he was a soldier ...

parishes. In England he owned a farm in Oxney, near Deale in Kent, and Nonnington Farm near

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

. Like other prominent colonists and land-owners in Jamaica, he was an officer in the

militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

. He was also returned, alongside George Nedham, as member for Saint Thomas in the Vale Parish for the

House of Assembly of Jamaica The House of Assembly was the legislature of the British colony of Jamaica. It held its first meeting on 20 January 1664 at Spanish Town. Cundall, Frank. (1915''Historic Jamaica''.London: Institute of Jamaica. p. 15. As a result of the Morant ...

in 1677America and West Indies: September 1677
British History Online and was a member of the Legislative Council of Jamaica. In early 1688, he and

Hans Sloane Sir Hans Sloane, 1st Baronet (16 April 1660 – 11 January 1753), was an Irish physician, naturalist, and collector, with a collection of 71,000 items which he bequeathed to the British nation, thus providing the foundation of the British Mu ...

attended the former

privateer A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...

Henry Morgan Sir Henry Morgan ( cy, Harri Morgan; – 25 August 1688) was a privateer, plantation owner, and, later, Lieutenant Governor of Jamaica. From his base in Port Royal, Jamaica, he raided settlements and shipping on the Spanish Main, becoming wea ...

for a swollen belly and other ailments that were attributed by his doctors to excessive alcohol and lack of exercise. According to Sloane's account they at first prescribed "

Electuary An electuary is a medicine consisting of a powder or other ingredient mixed with something sweet such as honey to make it more palatable.

of Cassia, Oil of

Juniper Junipers are coniferous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Juniperus'' () of the cypress family Cupressaceae. Depending on the taxonomy, between 50 and 67 species of junipers are widely distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere, from the Arcti ...

, and Cremor. Tart." but that not being completely satisfactory they,

gave him all manner of
Diuretics A diuretic () is any substance that promotes diuresis, the increased production of urine. This includes forced diuresis. A diuretic tablet is sometimes colloquially called a water tablet. There are several categories of diuretics. All diuretics i ...
, and easie Purgers we could find in Jamaica,
Linseed Flax, also known as common flax or linseed, is a flowering plant, ''Linum usitatissimum'', in the family Linaceae. It is cultivated as a food and fiber crop in regions of the world with temperate climates. Textiles made from flax are known in W ...
and Juniper-Berries infus'd in Rhenish-Wine, '' Milleped''. ppd. in Powder, Juniper-water, advis'd him to eat Juniper-Berries, us'd ''Oil'' of Scorpion, with ''Ung. Dialth''.''Unguentum dialhaeae'', or ointment of marsh-mallows outwardly, by which means he recovered again.

Morgan soon went back to his old ways, however, and relapsed. He consulted a number of other doctors who prescribed various treatments but he died in August 1688."The Doctor and the Buccaneer: Sir Hans Sloane's Case History of Sir Henry Morgan, Jamaica, 1688"
by Richard B. Sheridan, '' Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences'', Vol. 41, No. 1 (January 1986), pp. 76–87.

Death and legacy

Port Royal earthquake 1692 by Jan Luyken and Pieter van der Aa

After the Jamaican earthquake of 1692, in which Port Royal was almost completely destroyed, Rose travelled to London. He died in 1694 and was buried at St Peter's church, Cornhill, on 29 March 1694. In 1695, his widow Elizabeth Langley Rose took as her second husband

Sir Hans Sloane Sir Hans Sloane, 1st Baronet (16 April 1660 – 11 January 1753), was an Irish physician, naturalist, and collector, with a collection of 71,000 items which he bequeathed to the British nation, thus providing the foundation of the British Mu ...

,Fulke Rose Profile & Legacies Summary.
Legacies of British Slave-ownership. Retrieved 30 December 2018. meaning that her one-third share of the income from Rose's estates ultimately became available to Sloane who received regular shipments of

hogsheads A hogshead (abbreviated "hhd", plural "hhds") is a large cask of liquid (or, less often, of a food commodity). More specifically, it refers to a specified volume, measured in either imperial or US customary measures, primarily applied to alcoho ...

of sugar in the following years.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rose, Fulke British emigrants to Jamaica 17th-century English medical doctors English landowners British slave owners People from Mickleton, Gloucestershire 1644 births 1694 deaths Members of the House of Assembly of Jamaica