Sir James Fellowes FRS

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 ...

FRCP (177130 December 1857, Langstone Cottage, near Havant, Hampshire) was a British military physician. He became head of the British Army's medical staff in the

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1807–1814) was the military conflict fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Spain, Portugal, and the United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. In Spain ...

, and was also literary executor to

Hester Thrale Hester Lynch Thrale Piozzi (née Salusbury; later Piozzi; 27 January 1741 or 16 January 1740 – 2 May 1821),Contemporary records, which used the Julian calendar and the Annunciation Style of enumerating years, recorded her birth as 16 January ...

Life

Fellowes was born 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 ...

the third son of William Fellowes, physician-extraordinary to the

prince regent A prince regent or princess regent is a prince or princess who, due to their position in the line of succession, rules a monarchy as regent in the stead of a monarch regnant, e.g., as a result of the sovereign's incapacity (minority or illness ...

- he was elder brother to the naval captain Thomas Fellowes. He was educated at

Rugby School Rugby School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Rugby, Warwickshire, England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain. Up ...

before spending time in the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

's medical department, becoming surgeon's mate in June 1794. He then took his medical degree at

Peterhouse Peterhouse is the oldest constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England, founded in 1284 by Hugh de Balsham, Bishop of Ely. Today, Peterhouse has 254 undergraduates, 116 full-time graduate students and 54 fellows. It is quite o ...

and

Gonville and Caius College Gonville and Caius College, often referred to simply as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges and one of th ...

at the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

, along with London lectures from

George Fordyce George Fordyce (18 November 1736 – 25 May 1802) was a distinguished Scottish physician, lecturer on medicine, and chemist, who was a Fellow of the Royal Society and a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians. Early life George Fordyce was ...

and Andrew Marshall and time in

, finally graduating MD in 1803. October 1795 saw him made physician to the forces, accompanying Admiral Christian's fleet to

Santo Domingo , total_type = Total , population_density_km2 = auto , timezone = AST (UTC −4) , area_code_type = Area codes , area_code = 809, 829, 849 , postal_code_type = Postal codes , postal_code = 10100–10699 (Distrito Nacional) , websi ...

and being sent to

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

in 1804 to treat a contagious fever outbreak there. In April 1806 he came back to England, where in 1809

George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...

knighted him and appointed him chief of the medical department of the army at

Cádiz Cádiz (, , ) is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the Province of Cádiz, one of eight that make up the autonomous community of Andalusia. Cádiz, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Western Europe, ...

, then in the midst of the

. He then became deputy inspector (March 1813) then inspector (April 1813) of hospitals before retiring on half pay in 1814. Having been a first-hand eyewitness of epidemics at Cádiz,

Málaga Málaga (, ) is a municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 578,460 in 2020, it is the second-most populous city in Andalusia after Seville and the sixth most pop ...

and Gibraltar, he then published ''Reports of the pestilential disorder of Andalusia, which appeared at Cádiz in the years 1800, 1804, 1810, and 1813'' (1815). Arthur Wellesley appointed Fellowes deputy county lieutenant for

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

and Mrs Piozzi left Fellowes her manuscripts and copies of her writings with handwritten notes in 1821, with Fellowes becoming her literary executor.

Fellowships

He was elected to the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established i ...

in 1800, 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 ...

in 1805 and the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

in 1816.

Marriage and issue

In 1816, he married Elizabeth, the eldest daughter of Joseph James, of Adbury House, Hampshire, and sister-in-law to the geologist

William Henry Fitton William Henry Fitton (24 January 178013 May 1861) was an Irish physician and amateur geologist. Biography Fitton was born in Dublin and educated at Trinity College in that city. He gained the senior scholarship in 1798, and graduated in the foll ...

. They had a son, Thomas Fellowes.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fellowes, James 1771 births 1857 deaths Royal Army Medical Corps officers People educated at Rugby School British Army regimental surgeons Alumni of Peterhouse, Cambridge Alumni of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge British Army personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars British Army personnel of the Napoleonic Wars Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Fellows of the Royal Society Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians 19th-century Scottish medical doctors