James Roche Verling (27 February 1787 – 1858) was a

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 ...

surgeon In modern medicine, a surgeon is a medical professional who performs surgery. Although there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon usually is also a licensed physician or received the same medical training as ...

who became personal surgeon to

Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

St Helena Saint Helena () is a British overseas territory located in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is a remote volcanic tropical island west of the coast of south-western Africa, and east of Rio de Janeiro in South America. It is one of three constitu ...

Life

Verling was born in Queenstown (now

Cobh Cobh ( ,), known from 1849 until 1920 as Queenstown, is a seaport town on the south coast of County Cork, Ireland. With a population of around 13,000 inhabitants, Cobh is on the south side of Great Island in Cork Harbour and home to Ireland's ...

County Cork County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns are ...

, Ireland on 27 February 1787. He graduated in medicine from the

University of Edinburgh 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 15 ...

. He was commissioned Second Assistant Surgeon in the Ordnance Medical Department (which provided medical officers to the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

and

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...

) in 1810 during 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 ...

. After the defeat of Napoleon and his exile in St Helena after 1815 the British decided that Napoleon needed a personal physician. The first to fill that post was another Irishman,

Barry Edward O'Meara Barry Edward O'Meara (1786–1836), born in Newtown House, Newtown-on-Sea (now known as Blackrock), Dublin, was an Irish surgeon and founding member of the Reform Club, who accompanied Napoleon to Saint Helena and became his physician, having bee ...

, but he was dismissed as it was felt he was too close to Napoleon. Verling had already been a surgeon on board the ship HMS ''Northumberland'', which brought Napoleon to St Helena, and was chosen to replace O'Meara and to Spy on Napoleon by Hudson Lowe who was general of the Island at that time. He never treated Napoleon only saw him from a distance. He was never replaced, but Napoleon's mother Leatia brought over another doctor to treat Napoleon. After Napoleon's death in 1821, he helped in his autopsy, which carried out the verdict of death was stomach cancer. Verling returned home to Cobh in 1822, where he lived at Bella Vista (which is now the Bellavista Hotel) until his death. He was promoted First Assistant Surgeon, Surgeon in 1827, and Senior Surgeon in 1843. He is buried in the Old Church Cemetery (also called Clonmel cemetery), Cobh.

References

* ''Napoleon and Doctor Verling on St Helena''. Ed. by J. David Markham. Barnsley, UK: Pen & Sword, 2005. 178 pages. . * ''Great Island Churches''. Published by Cobh Museum, The Islander Series No.1, 1998

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Verling, James Roche Irish surgeons Alumni of the University of Edinburgh British Army personnel of the Napoleonic Wars Royal Army Medical Corps officers People from Cobh 1787 births 1858 deaths