Matthew Charteris MD

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 ...

LRCSE (1840 – July 1897). He was a Scottish physician and academic who was the Regius Professor of Materia Medica at the

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

. He was also the author of the standard medical textbook the ''Practice of Medicine''. He was an advocate of the influence of good climate upon health.

Early life and education

Charteris was born in

Newton Wamphray Newton Wamphray is a village in Dumfries and Galloway. Wamphray is the name of the surrounding parish and of the Wamphray Water, which flows south-west through the Wamphray Glen to join the River Annan near the small village, or hamlet, of Newto ...

in Dumfriesshire in 1840 the son of John Charteris the local schoolmaster and his wife, Jean (Jane) Hamilton, daughter of Archibald Hamilton a farmer at Broomhills. He was educated by his father at Wamphray Parish School before winning a place 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 ...

to study medicine. He graduated with an

Doctor of Medicine Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated M.D., from the Latin language, Latin ''Medicinae Doctor'') is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the M.D. denotes a profes ...

in 1863.

Career

After some further study in foreign schools, he established a medical practice in Airdrie before moving to

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 ...

. From 1874 he worked at

Glasgow Royal Infirmary The Glasgow Royal Infirmary (GRI) is a large teaching hospital. With a capacity of around 1,000 beds, the hospital campus covers an area of around , and straddles the Townhead and Dennistoun districts on the north-eastern fringe of the city cen ...

and from 1876 was a professor of medicine at the

Anderson Institute The Anderson High School (AHS) is a comprehensive secondary school in Lerwick, Shetland, Scotland. The AHS is the largest school in Shetland with around 67 staff and about 800-900 pupils from age 12 to 18. Pupils transfer to the AHS from ot ...

in Glasgow. From 1880 to 1897 he was Professor of Materia Medica and Therapeutics at the University of Glasgow. He lived nearby at 3 Kirklee Gardens in

Kelvinside Kelvinside is a district in the Scottish city of Glasgow. It is situated north of the River Clyde and is bounded by Broomhill, Dowanhill and Hyndland to the south with Kelvindale and the River Kelvin to the north. It is an affluent area of Gl ...

. He was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 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 ...

in 1896, his proposers being

Patrick Heron Watson Sir Patrick Heron Watson (5 January 1832 – 21 December 1907) was an eminent 19th-century Scottish surgeon and pioneer of anaesthetic development. He was associated with a number of surgical innovations including excision of the knee jo ...

and

John Batty Tuke Sir John Batty Tuke PRCPE FRSE LLD (9 January 1835 – 13 October 1913) was one of the most influential psychiatrists in Scotland in the late nineteenth century, and a Unionist Member of Parliament (MP) from 1900 to 1910. Tuke's career in Edi ...

. His photograph is held by the National Portrait Gallery in London.

Personal life

Charteris was the younger brother of

Archibald Charteris Archibald Hamilton Charteris (13 December 1835 – 24 April 1908) was a Scottish theologian, a Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, professor of biblical criticism at the University of Edinburgh and a leading voice in Chu ...

, theologian and founder of the Woman's Guild. He and his wife, Elizabeth Greer, had three sons: Archibald Hamilton Charteris who was implicated in the Marion Gilchrist murder and Oscar Slater scandal (1874–1940), Francis Charteris (1875–1964),likewise suspected of murder and

John Charteris Brigadier General John Charteris (1877–1946) was a British Army officer. During World War I he was the Chief of Intelligence at the British Expeditionary Force General Headquarters from 1915 to 1918. In later life he was a Unionist Party Memb ...

(1877–1946) a senior intelligence officer in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. In the 1890s he was living at 3 Kirklee Gardens in the

district. After a prolonged illness he died of

influenza Influenza, commonly known as "the flu", is an infectious disease caused by influenza viruses. Symptoms range from mild to severe and often include fever, runny nose, sore throat, muscle pain, headache, coughing, and fatigue. These symptoms ...

on 7 June 1897 in

Comrie Comrie may refer to: Places *Comrie (crater), a lunar crater *Comrie, Fife, a village in Fife, Scotland *Comrie, Perth and Kinross, a village and parish in Strathearn, Scotland People with the surname *Aaron Comrie (born 1997), Scottish footballer ...

.Glasgow Herald (newspaper) 9 June 1897 He is buried with his parents in

Wamphray Newton Wamphray is a village in Dumfries and Galloway. Wamphray is the name of the surrounding parish and of the Wamphray Water, which flows south-west through the Wamphray Glen to join the River Annan near the small village, or hamlet, of Newton. ...

churchyard.

Publications

*''The Students Guide to the Practice of Medicine'' (1881) *''Practice of Medicine'' (1888 plus further editions)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Charteris, Matthew 1840 births 1897 deaths Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Academics of the University of Glasgow