Dr John Francis Sutherland

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 ...

FRSS (1854–1912) was a Scottish physician, linked to senior civil service medical roles. His booklet "First Aid to Injured and Sick" was a best seller throughout the 20th century.

Life

He was born in

Lybster Lybster (, gd, Liabost) is a village on the east coast of Caithness in northern Scotland. It was once a big herring fishing port. The Waterlines heritage museum is located in Lybster Harbour and provides information on the history and geology o ...

Caithness Caithness ( gd, Gallaibh ; sco, Caitnes; non, Katanes) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. Caithness has a land boundary with the historic county of Sutherland to the west and is otherwise bounded by ...

in 1854. He studied medicine at 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 ...

under

Joseph Lister Joseph Lister, 1st Baron Lister, (5 April 182710 February 1912) was a British surgeon, medical scientist, experimental pathologist and a pioneer of antiseptic surgery and preventative medicine. Joseph Lister revolutionised the craft of s ...

, graduating with an

MB ChB Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery ( la, Medicinae Baccalaureus, Baccalaureus Chirurgiae; abbreviated most commonly MBBS), is the primary medical degree awarded by medical schools in countries that follow the tradition of the United King ...

around 1874. He did further postgraduate studies in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

and

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. His first role was as Deputy Medical Officer on HMS Mars, a

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 F ...

training ship in 1874. He then became Resident Medical Officer in the British Hospital in Paris, working with Sir John Rose Cormack, Edward Neech and Alan Herbert.BMJ 13 Jan 1920 In 1880 he gained his doctorate (MD) and entered a new role as Medical Officer to HM Prisons, living at 19 Roslea Drive in the

Dennistoun Dennistoun is a mostly residential district in Glasgow, Scotland, located north of the River Clyde and in the city's east end, about east of the city centre. Since 2017 it has formed the core of a Dennistoun ward under Glasgow City Council, ...

district of

, which was then a newly built tenemental flat. In 1897 he was promoted to Consulting Medical Officer for the newly constructed

Barlinnie Prison HM Prison Barlinnie is the largest prison in Scotland. It is operated by the Scottish Prison Service and is located in the residential suburb of Riddrie, in the north east of Glasgow, Scotland. It is informally known locally as The Big Hoose, ...

. Working in this environment he gained a knowledge of insanity, inebriety and criminology. He served on the Committee for Habitual Offenders and Inebriates and did much to push for penal reform. In 1896 he was elected a Fellow of 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 ...

. His proposers were Sir Andrew Douglas Maclagan, Sir Arthur Mitchell,

John Sibbald Sir John Sibbald FRSE FBSE (24 June 1833 – 20 April 1905) was a 19th-century Scottish physician and amateur botanist. In 1855/56, aged 22, he served as president of the Royal Medical Society. Life He was born at 106 Lauriston Place, Edi ...

and Sir John Halliday Croom. In 1895 he moved to

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 ...

as Deputy Commissioner of Lunacy (based at Craig House) initially living at 4 Merchiston Bank Avenue and later moving to 3 Moston Terrace in the Mayfield district. He died at 15 Rutland Square in Edinburgh's West End, his home for his final years, in January 1912 aged 57. He is buried with his ancestors at

Kildary Kildary ( gd, Caoldaraigh) is a small village in Easter Ross, Ross and Cromarty, Highland, Scotland. The village is located on the Balnagown River and is bordered by Balnagown Castle and the Balnagown estate, owned by Mohamed Al Fayed, former ...

in Easter Ross.

Family and Private Life

He was married to Jane MacKay, daughter of John MacKay of

, a Free Church minister. Their children were

Halliday Sutherland Halliday Gibson Sutherland (1882–1960) was a Scottish medical doctor, writer, opponent of eugenics and the producer of Britain's first public health education cinema film in 1911. Private life Halliday Sutherland was born in Glasgow, Scotland ...

, Francis Sutherland and Joan Sutherland. Halliday Sutherland's best-selling autobiography "The Arches of the Years" included recollections of his father in chapters entitled "The Terror of the Glen" and "Death on the Moors". A keen church-goer he was a Deacon in the

United Free Church of Scotland The United Free Church of Scotland (UF Church; gd, An Eaglais Shaor Aonaichte, sco, The Unitit Free Kirk o Scotland) is a Scottish Presbyterian denomination formed in 1900 by the union of the United Presbyterian Church of Scotland (or UP) and ...

Publications

*''Hospitals: Their History, Construction and Hygiene'' (1880) *''The Insane in Private Dwellings and Licensed Houses'' (1897) *''Ambulance Vade Mecum: First Aid to Injured and Sick'' (running to at least 40 editions 1904 to 1957) *''Jurisprudence of Intoxication'' *''Recidivism: Habitual Criminality and Habitual Petty Deliquency (1908)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sutherland, John Francis 1854 births 1912 deaths Alumni of the University of Edinburgh 19th-century Scottish medical doctors 20th-century Scottish medical doctors Scottish medical writers Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh