Sir Gilbert Blane of Blanefield, 1st Baronet

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 ...

FRS MRCP (29 August 174926 June 1834) was a Scottish physician who instituted health reform in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

. He saw action against both the French and Spanish fleets, and later served as a Commissioner on the Sick and Wounded Board of the

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Life

Born in Blanefield, by Kirkoswald, in

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 ...

, he was the fourth son of Gilbert Blane of Blanefield (d.1771) and Agnes McFadzen. He studied medicine at

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 ...

and

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(MD 1778) before moving to London. The challenge of establishing a practice in London was eased by his friendship with Dr William Hunter, elder brother of the famous John Hunter who is now widely regarded as the father of modern surgery in Britain. Dr William Hunter introduced Blane to

Lord Rodney Baron Rodney, of Rodney Stoke in the County of Somerset, is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1782 for the naval commander Sir George Brydges Rodney, 1st Baronet. He had previously been created a Baronet, of Alresford i ...

who appointed Blane as his personal physician aboard HMS ''Sandwich''. Blane was appointed Physician to the Fleet (1779–1783) and accompanied Rodney, initially to pursue the Spanish squadron besieging

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and engaging them at the Battle of Cape St. Vincent, and then to the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...

. Blane did much to improve the health of sailors by improving their diet and enforcing proper sanitary precautions. He demanded monthly reports from other ships' surgeons which enabled him to build up a detailed picture of the high levels of sickness that affected the squadron. Despite James Lind's 1753 publication of ''A treatise on scurvy'', which established the importance of fresh fruit and vegetables in preventing scurvy, the Admiralty had not implemented his recommendations, and scurvy remained a significant cause of sickness in the Fleet. Blane published a pamphlet for the benefit of ships' surgeons in 1780 entitled ''On the most effective means for preserving the health of seamen, particularly in the Royal Navy.'' He advocated the use of citrus juice as a preventative and cure for scurvy in the squadron and eventually, as Commissioner of the Sick and Wounded Board, persuaded the Admiralty to go against the theories of the medical establishment and introduce lemon juice as daily addition to the naval diet in 1795. Later lemons were replaced by limes which could be obtained from Britain's Caribbean colonies, and for this reason, "

limey "Limey" (from lime / lemon) is a predominantly American slang nickname for a British person that has been around since the mid 19th century. On his return to Britain, he became Physician to

St Thomas' Hospital St Thomas' Hospital is a large NHS teaching hospital in Central London, England. It is one of the institutions that compose the King's Health Partners, an academic health science centre. Administratively part of the Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foun ...

(1783–1795), Physician Extraordinary to the Prince of Wales (1786) and Physician in Ordinary to the King (George IV and William IV). He became a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

in 1784 and delivered their

Croonian lecture The Croonian Medal and Lecture is a prestigious award, a medal, and lecture given at the invitation of the Royal Society and the Royal College of Physicians. Among the papers of William Croone at his death in 1684, was a plan to endow a single l ...

in 1788 ''On the Nature of the Muscles, and on the Theory of Muscular Motion''. By virtue of these court and hospital appointments, he built up a good practice for himself in London, and the government constantly consulted him on questions of

public hygiene Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the det ...

. In 1795 Blane was appointed as Commissioner on the Sick and Wounded Board of the Admiralty; the provision of soap, lemons, adequate ventilation and standardised medical stores have all been attributed to his reforms. He was an instrumental advisor to the government in the drafting of the 1799 Quarantine Act. Blane left the Commission in 1802. 17850000-Tourniquet Use-GILBERT-BLANE

In 1809 Blane provided expert medical advice with regards to the

Walcheren expedition The Walcheren Campaign ( ) was an unsuccessful British expedition to the Netherlands in 1809 intended to open another front in the Austrian Empire's struggle with France during the War of the Fifth Coalition. Sir John Pitt, 2nd Earl of Chatham ...

. This involved a British occupation of Walcheren Island with 40,000 men. The island was surrounded by marshland and many troops were struck down with 'Walcheren Fever', most likely

malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...

. The General Staff heeded Blane's advice that the occupying forces should be evacuated due to the likelihood of sickness. In reward for his services to the Walcheren expedition and his other Naval contributions he was made

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

, of

Blanefield Blanefield is a settlement in Scotland contiguous with Strathblane's northwestern fringe. To the west is the volcanic plug Dumgoyne, Glengoyne Distillery and the Trossachs National Park. The West Highland Way—a long-distance trail—passes ...

in the

County of Ayr 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 R ...

, on 26 December 1812. His printed works include ''Observations on the Diseases of Seamen'' (1785) and ''Elements of Medical Logic'' (1819). He was an advocate for issuing each

sailor with a

tourniquet A tourniquet is a device that is used to apply pressure to a limb or extremity in order to stop the flow of blood. It may be used in emergencies, in surgery, or in post-operative rehabilitation. A simple tourniquet can be made from a stick and ...

to stem catastrophic bleeding in battle. Blane lived at

Burghfield Burghfield is a village and large civil parish in West Berkshire, England, with a boundary with Reading. Burghfield can trace its history back to before the Domesday book, and was once home to three manors: Burghfield Regis, Burghfield Abbas a ...

in Berkshire and at Kirkoswald in Ayrshire. He was elected a member of the

Institute of France The (; ) is a French learned society, grouping five , including the Académie Française. It was established in 1795 at the direction of the National Convention. Located on the Quai de Conti in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, the institute m ...

in 1826.

Death

He died at Sackville Street in the

Piccadilly Piccadilly () is a road in the City of Westminster, London, to the south of Mayfair, between Hyde Park Corner in the west and Piccadilly Circus in the east. It is part of the A4 road that connects central London to Hammersmith, Earl's Court, ...

area of

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 ...

on 26 June 1834.

Family

Blane married Elizabeth Gardiner in 1786. She died in 1832.

The Gilbert Blane Medal

In 1830 Sir Gilbert Blane established, with the sanction of the Board of the Admiralty, a fund for the encouragement of Naval Medical science, which was vested in the corporation of the Royal Colleges of Surgeons of London. The fund of £300 was to be used to confer gold medals, to be awarded jointly by the Presidents of the Royal Colleges of Physicians and Surgeons, to the Medical Officer of the Royal Navy who was judged to demonstrate ''"the most distinguished proofs of skill, diligence, humanity and learning in the exercise of their professional duties"''. The medal was designed by

Benedetto Pistrucci Benedetto Pistrucci (29 May 1783 – 16 September 1855) was an Italian gem-engraver, medallist and coin engraver, probably best known for his Saint George and the Dragon design for the British sovereign coin. Pistrucci was commissioned by ...

who had designed the 1817 St George and dragon reverse of the British

gold sovereign The sovereign is a British gold coin with a nominal value of one pound sterling (£1) and contains 0.2354 troy oz of pure gold. Struck since 1817, it was originally a circulating coin that was accepted in Britain and elsewhere in the wor ...

which is still used today. It is currently struck in

gold-plated Gold plating is a method of depositing a thin layer of gold onto the surface of another metal, most often copper or silver (to make silver-gilt), by chemical or electrochemical plating. This article covers plating methods used in the modern ele ...

Sterling silver Sterling silver is an alloy of silver containing 92.5% by weight of silver and 7.5% by weight of other metals, usually copper. The sterling silver standard has a minimum millesimal fineness of 925. ''Fine silver'', which is 99.9% pure silver, is r ...

; the reverse side is inscribed with the motto Mente Manuque'''; with mind and hand. Under the original terms, a pair of medals would be awarded biennially. Blane himself judged the first award of a pair of medals in 1832; to Dr John Liddell of HMS ''Asia'' for his preparations for the 1827

Battle of Navarino The Battle of Navarino was a naval battle fought on 20 October (O. S. 8 October) 1827, during the Greek War of Independence (1821–29), in Navarino Bay (modern Pylos), on the west coast of the Peloponnese peninsula, in the Ionian Sea. Allied fo ...

and to Dr William Donnelly of HMS ''Hussar'' for his examinations of the nature of syphilis and rheumatic fever. These were the only medals adjudicated by Blane prior to his death in 1834. In 1913 the rules of the prize were amended and the medal was to be awarded to the Medical Officer who achieved the highest mark in his professional examinations for promotion to Staff Surgeon. In 1936 the regulations were again changed to a form that remains extant to this day:

This fund is employed for the purposes of conferring a Gold Medal on the Medical Officer of the Royal Navy who, to a degree which is considered worthy of recognition, has brought about an advance in any branch of Medical Science in its application to Naval Service, or has contributed to an improvement in any matter affecting the health or living conditions of Naval personnel. In adjudicating the award of the Medal consideration will be given to achievement by Medical Officers in research, in original articles and reports; criticisms of a constructive character of existing conditions; and information which is brought to notice or work performed, or suggestions made, by Medical Officers within the scope of the regulations governing the award as stated above.

The Gilbert Blane Medal is awarded annually to this day, alternately by the

Royal College of Surgeons of England The Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCS England) is an independent professional body and registered charity that promotes and advances standards of surgical care for patients, and regulates surgery and dentistry in England and Wales. The ...

and the

Royal College of Physicians The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) is a British professional membership body dedicated to improving the practice of medicine, chiefly through the accreditation of physicians by examination. Founded by royal charter from King Henry VIII in 1 ...

, upon the recommendation of the Medical Director General (Navy). The medal was last awarded in 2020 to Surgeon Commander Anton Fries, consultant plastic surgeon at Oxford University Hospitals, for his work on reconstructive transplantation surgery.

References

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