upStatue of John Alderson located at Hull Royal Infirmary
John Alderson
MD (1758 – 16 September 1829) was an English
physician.
Life
He was born at
Lowestoft
Lowestoft ( ) is a coastal town and civil parish in the East Suffolk district of Suffolk, England.OS Explorer Map OL40: The Broads: (1:25 000) : . As the most easterly UK settlement, it is north-east of London, north-east of Ipswich and sou ...
, the son of a dissenting minister, the Rev. J. Alderson, whose death (1760) was hastened by the adverse termination of a lawsuit. Elisha Barlow, a merchant of Lowestoft, deploring the narrow means of his minister, who had a numerous family, bequeathed a good estate at
Mutford
Mutford is a village and civil parish in the East Suffolk District of the English county of Suffolk. The village is south-west of Lowestoft and south-east of Beccles in a rural area. The parish borders Barnby, Carlton Colville, Gisleham, Rush ...
for the augmentation of the stipend, on the condition that, whenever Alderson should withdraw from the church, the estate was to devolve on him and his heirs for ever. Thereupon the whole body of dissenters in the town, out of regard for their pastor, drew up an instrument by which they expelled him from the church in order that he might acquire the estate. They afterwards re-elected him to the pastoral office.
Their good intentions were however defeated by the heirs-at-law, who disputed the legality of the bequest in the court of Chancery on the statute of mortmain, and gained their suit. Alderson was shortly after taken ill while preaching, and died on reaching his home.
Works
He published at Hull ''An Essay on the Nature and Origin of the Contagion of Fever'' (1788) and ''An Essay on the Rhus Toxicodendron, or Sumach, and its Efficacy in Paralysis'' (1782) which passed through three editions between 1794 and 1805. In 1795 he was elected physician to the
Hull Infirmary
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* Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds
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. To commemorate his services there and the public spirit he exhibited in founding and presiding over various literary and scientific institutions in the town, a statue of the doctor was erected in 1833 by subscription and placed on the lawn in front of the infirmary at a cost of £300. The statue is by local sculptor
Thomas Earle Thomas Earle may refer to:
* Thomas Earle (American politician), American journalist and politician
*Thomas Earle (Canadian politician)
Thomas Earle (September 27, 1837 – July 13, 1911) was a Canadian businessman and Conservative politicia ...
.
Dr. Alderson was also the author of a work not altogether of a professional character, entitled ‘''An Essay on Apparitions accounted for independently of Preternatural Agency''’ (8vo, London, 1823). This work gave extremely curious cases of mental illusion which came under his own immediate observation. He published two editions of a treatise ‘''On the Improvement of Poor Soils''’ (1802 and 1807) and several editions of "''Orthographical Exercise''".
Family
His son
James
James is a common English language surname and given name:
*James (name), the typically masculine first name James
* James (surname), various people with the last name James
James or James City may also refer to:
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* King James (disambiguat ...
, after receiving a regular medical training, began to practise in
Hull
Hull may refer to:
Structures
* Chassis, of an armored fighting vehicle
* Fuselage, of an aircraft
* Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds
* Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a ship
* Submarine hull
Mathematics
* Affine hull, in affi ...
, and soon became the chief physician of the town.
Publications
*''An Essay on the Rhus Toxicodendron, or Sumach, and its Efficacy in Paralysis'' (1782)
*''An Essay on the Nature and Origin of the Contagion of Fever'' (1788)
''An Essay on Apparitions''(1823)
References
JOHN ALDERSON, M.D*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alderson, John
1758 births
1829 deaths
18th-century English medical doctors
19th-century English medical doctors
People from Lowestoft
