John Fothergill
FRS (8 March 1712 – 26 December 1780) was an English physician, plant collector, philanthropist and
Quaker
Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...
. His medical writings were influential, and he built up a sizeable botanic garden in what is now
West Ham Park
West Ham Park is a privately owned public park in West Ham in the London Borough of Newham. Spanning , it is the largest park in the borough. The park has been managed by the City of London Corporation since 1874.
Records from 1566 show that th ...
in London.
Life and work
Fothergill was born at Carr End, near
Bainbridge in Yorkshire, the son of John Fothergill (1676–1745), a Quaker preacher and farmer, and his first wife, Margaret Hough (1677–1719). After studying at
Sedbergh School
Sedbergh School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school) in the town of Sedbergh in Cumbria, in North West England. It comprises a junior school for children aged 4 to 13 and the main school for 13 to 18 year olds. It w ...
, Fothergill was apprenticed to an apothecary. In 1736, he obtained the degree of Doctor of Medicine at
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 ...
and followed this by further studies at
St Thomas's 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 ...
, London. After visiting continental Europe in 1740, he settled in London, where he gained an extensive practice. During the influenza epidemics of 1775 and 1776 he is said to have treated 60 patients a day.
In 1745, Fothergill gave a brief lecture to 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 ...
of London, citing the work of a Scottish physician and surgeon,
William Tossach (c. 1700–1771).
This is the first known lecture on the practice of
mouth-to-mouth ventilation. He is also credited with first identifying and naming
trigeminal neuralgia
Trigeminal neuralgia (TN or TGN), also called Fothergill disease, tic douloureux, or trifacial neuralgia is a long-term pain disorder that affects the trigeminal nerve, the nerve responsible for sensation in the face and motor functions such as ...
in his work ''Of a Painful Affection of the Face'' in 1773. He also wrote about
angina
Angina, also known as angina pectoris, is chest pain or pressure, usually caused by ischemia, insufficient blood flow to the Cardiac muscle, heart muscle (myocardium). It is most commonly a symptom of coronary artery disease.
Angina is typical ...
and
diphtheria
Diphtheria is an infection caused by the bacterium '' Corynebacterium diphtheriae''. Most infections are asymptomatic or have a mild clinical course, but in some outbreaks more than 10% of those diagnosed with the disease may die. Signs and s ...
.
Fothergill's pamphlet ''Account of the Sore Throat attended with Ulcers'' (1748) contains one of the first descriptions of
streptococcal sore throat in English and was translated into several languages. His rejection of ineffective traditional therapies for the disease saved many lives. He was a personal friend of
Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...
. He also supported the publication of Franklin's papers on electricity and wrote a preface to them.
Botanist and Quaker
Fothergill made a study of
conchology
Conchology () is the study of mollusc shells. Conchology is one aspect of malacology, the study of molluscs; however, malacology is the study of molluscs as whole organisms, whereas conchology is confined to the study of their shells. It includ ...
and
botany
Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek w ...
in his leisure time. In 1762, he bought
Upton House near
Stratford, London
Stratford is a town in east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. Until 1965 it was within the historic county of Essex. Part of the Lower Lea Valley, Stratford is situated 6 miles (10 km) east-northeast of Chari ...
, where he built up an extensive
botanical garden
A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...
and grew many rare plants obtained from various parts of the world (now
West Ham Park
West Ham Park is a privately owned public park in West Ham in the London Borough of Newham. Spanning , it is the largest park in the borough. The park has been managed by the City of London Corporation since 1874.
Records from 1566 show that th ...
). In the garden, with its
glasshouses,
John Coakley Lettsom
John Coakley Lettsom (1744 – 1 November 1815, also Lettsome) was an English physician and philanthropist born on Little Jost Van Dyke in the British Virgin Islands into an early Quaker settlement. The son of a West Indian planter and an Iris ...
(1744–1815), a Quaker physician and a protégé of his, exclaimed that "the sphere seemed transposed, as the Arctic Circle joined with the equator". Lettsom published a catalogue of Fothergill's garden: ''Hortus Uptonensis, or a catalogue of the plants in the Dr Fothergill's garden at Upton, at the time of his decease anno 1780''. ''
Fothergilla
''Fothergilla'' (witch alder) is a genus of two to four species of flowering plants in the family Hamamelidaceae, native to woodland and swamps of the southeastern United States.
They are low-growing deciduous shrubs growing to tall with downy ...
'' is named in his honour.
[Gledhill, David (2008). "The Names of Plants". Cambridge University Press. (hardback), (paperback), pp. 169.] The standard author abbreviation Foth. is used to indicate him when citing a botanical name. He was elected 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 1763 and became a member of the
American Philosophical Society
The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...
in 1770.
Fothergill was the patron of
Sydney Parkinson
Sydney Parkinson (c. 1745 – 26 January 1771) was a Scottish botanical illustrator and natural history artist. He was the first European artist to visit Australia, New Zealand and Tahiti. Parkinson was the first Quaker to visit New Zealand.
...
, the South Sea voyager, and of
William Bartram
William Bartram (April 20, 1739 – July 22, 1823) was an American botanist, ornithologist, natural historian and explorer. Bartram was the author of an acclaimed book, now known by the shortened title ''Bartram's Travels'', which chronicled ...
, the American botanist in his southern travels of 1773–1776. A translation of the Bible, known as the
Quaker Bible, made by Anthony Purver, was fashioned and printed at his expense. He founded
Ackworth School
Ackworth School is an independent day and boarding school located in the village of High Ackworth, near Pontefract, West Yorkshire, England. It is one of seven Quaker schools in England. The school (or more accurately its Head) is a member ...
, Pontefract, Yorkshire in 1779.
John Fothergill died in London on 26 December 1780 aged 68, of urinary retention perhaps linked with prostate cancer.
Fanny Burney
Frances Burney (13 June 1752 – 6 January 1840), also known as Fanny Burney and later Madame d'Arblay, was an English satirical novelist, diarist and playwright. In 1786–1790 she held the post as "Keeper of the Robes" to Charlotte of Mecklen ...
, having earlier described him as "an upright, stern old man... an old prig," later recorded when she was his patient: "He really has been... amazingly civil and polite to me... as kind as he is skilful." His niece Betty Fothergill described him in her journal as "surely the first of men. With the becoming dignity of age he unites the cheerfulness and liberality of youth. He possesses the most virtues and the fewest failings of any man I know".
See also
*
Fothergill's sign
Notes
References
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Attribution
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Further reading
*
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* contains information on John Fothergill, the author's father
* – See Chapter 5: Davidson, Luke, ''The kiss of life in the eighteenth century: the fate of an ambiguous kiss''.
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Fothergill, John
1712 births
1780 deaths
18th-century English medical doctors
18th-century Quakers
People from Doncaster
English Quakers
Fellows of the Royal Society
English botanists
Alumni of the University of Edinburgh
University of Edinburgh Medical School alumni
18th-century British scientists
Members of the American Philosophical Society