James Lawson Drummond (1783 – 1853) was an Irish

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 ...

, naturalist and botanist. Drummond was born in Larne, Co. Antrim and educated at the

Belfast Academy The Belfast Royal Academy (commonly shortened to ) is the oldest school in the city of Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is a co-educational, non-denominational voluntary grammar school in north Belfast. The Academy is one of 8 schools in Northern ...

. He received a surgical training at the Belfast Academical Institution and was an apprentice surgeon 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 ...

. After serving as navy surgeon in the Mediterranean from 1807 to 1813, he retired from the navy in May 1813 and then further studied medicine in

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

. With a thesis on the comparative anatomy of the eye, Drummond graduated M.D. from Edinburgh on 24 June 1814. In 1814 he was Physician to Belfast Dispensary and in the Belfast Academical Institution where in 1818 he had been appointed Professor of Anatomy and Physiology. In 1822, with

William Drennan William Drennan (23 May 1754 – 5 February 1820) was an Irish physician and writer who moved the formation in Belfast and Dublin of the Society of United Irishmen. He was the author of the Society's original "test" which, in the cause of ...

Robert Tennent Robert Tennent FRSE (1815-15 December 1890) was an early Scottish photographer and major landowner in Australia. Life He was born in Edinburgh in 1813 the son of Margaret Rodger Lyon (1794-1867) and Patrick Tennant Writer to the Signet, WS (1782 ...

, and James MacDonnell, he was one of four physicians who revived the Belfast Medical Society, and in 1835 was the first president of the Belfast medical school established with the now " Royal" Belfast Academical Institution., where, in the same year, he was appointed Professor of Botany. Drummond was one of the leading promotors of the Botanic Garden in Belfast, together with MacDonnell, Tennent and five other prominent citizens of the town (locally known as the apostles) co-founded the

Belfast Natural History Society The Belfast Natural History and Philosophical Society was founded in 1821 to promote the scientific study of animals, plants, fossils, rocks and minerals. The Society was founded by George Crawford Hyndman, James Lawson Drummond, James Grim ...

(later the Belfast Natural History and Philosophical Society) in 1821, becoming its first president. In 1831 the society established the first museum in Ireland erected by public subscription--the forerunner of the Ulster Museum. The Drummond's sea cucumber ''Thyonidium drummondi'' ( Thompson, 1840) was named for him, as was the pearlfish ''

Echiodon drummondii ''Echiodon drummondii'', sometimes called Drummond's echiodon or Drummond's pearlfish, and in Ireland simply called the pearlfish, is a species of fish in the family Carapidae (pearlfish). It is named for James Lawson Drummond, who collected th ...

''. His elder brother was the poet and controversialist

William Hamilton Drummond William Hamilton Drummond, D.D. (August 1778 – 16 October 1865) was an Irish poet, animal rights writer and controversialist. Life Drummond, eldest son of William Drummond, surgeon, R.N., by his wife Rose Hare, was born at Larne, co. Antrim, i ...

References

*Nash, R. and Ross, H.C.G. ''The development of natural history in early 19th century Ireland in From Linnaeus to Darwin: commentaries on the history of biology and geology'' Society for the bibliography of Natural History 13:27- *

External links

* * 1783 births 1853 deaths Irish naturalists People educated at the Belfast Royal Academy Alumni of the University of Edinburgh {{Ireland-botanist-stub