James Pattison Walker (17 March 1823 – 14 February 1906,

Clacton-on-Sea Clacton-on-Sea is a seaside town in the Tendring District in the county of Essex, England. It is located on the Tendring Peninsula and is the largest settlement in the Tendring District with a population of 56,874 (2016). The town is situated a ...

) was a British surgeon who served as Surgeon-General in the

Indian Medical Service The Indian Medical Service (IMS) was a military medical service in British India, which also had some civilian functions. It served during the two World Wars, and remained in existence until the independence of India in 1947. Many of its officer ...

. He was present at the fort of Agra during the 1857 rebellion and was appointed the first Superintendent of the

Penal Settlement A penal colony or exile colony is a settlement used to exile prisoners and separate them from the general population by placing them in a remote location, often an island or distant colonial territory. Although the term can be used to refer to ...

in the

Andamans The Andaman Islands () are an archipelago in the northeastern Indian Ocean about southwest off the coasts of Myanmar's Ayeyarwady Region. Together with the Nicobar Islands to their south, the Andamans serve as a maritime boundary between the ...

, which had been created to accommodate prisoners from the 1857 uprising.

Education

Walker was educated at

King's College, Aberdeen King's College in Old Aberdeen, Scotland, the full title of which is The University and King's College of Aberdeen (''Collegium Regium Abredonense''), is a formerly independent university founded in 1495 and now an integral part of the Universi ...

receiving an M.D. in 1842 and MRCS in 1844.

Career

He joined the Bengal Medical Service on 5 April 1845. He worked in Bengal, the North-West Provinces and Punjab and became a Civil Surgeon at Hamirpur in 1848. In 1851 he was Superintendent of the Agra jail. In 1855-56 he examined penal institutions in England and sought to make improvements at the Agra Central Prison. During the 1857 uprising, he had to hold Agra, making use of Sikh prisoners to assist him. At Shahgunge Fort he served as a Sanitary Officer until 1858. The increased number of prisoners from the "mutiny" had to be accommodated elsewhere and the Penal Colony in the Andamans was chosen and Walker appointed as the Superintendent. More than 10,000 prisoners were sent to the colony each year where they were subject to forced labour, starvation and abysmal conditions leading to high degree mortality and suicides. Those who attempted to flee the colony and were caught were summarily executed under Pattison’s orders. There were other incidents such as the Battle of Aberdeen that finally led to his resignation in 1859. He worked as a Professor of Hygiene at the

Calcutta Medical College Calcutta Medical College, officially Medical College and Hospital, Kolkata, is a public medical school and hospital in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. It is the oldest existing hospital in Asia. The institute was established on 28 January 1835 by L ...

until 1866 followed by the post of medical charge with the Bengal Sappers and Miners (until 1872). He then became Deputy Inspector General of Hospitals in the Allahabad Circle, serving until 1877 when he was made Surgeon General. Walker collected Andaman shells and a species, ''Spiraxis walkeri'', was named after him by W.H. Benson in 1863. A voracious reader, he amassed a large private library. He died at his home in Earlsmead and left in his Will, a donation of $30,000 to the Lloyd Library, Cincinnati to which he also donated his library of books and manuscripts. An island in Galathea Bay, north of Parsons Point, once called Walker Island, was marked by a block of grey rock that appeared like a fortress.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, James Pattison Indian Medical Service officers 1823 births 1906 deaths