Peter Miller Cunningham (1789–1864) was a Scottish
naval surgeon
A naval surgeon, or less commonly ship's doctor, is the person responsible for the health of the ship's company aboard a warship. The term appears often in reference to Royal Navy's medical personnel during the Age of Sail.
Ancient uses
Speciali ...
and pioneer in Australia.
Life
Peter Miller Cunningham was the fifth son of John Cunningham, land steward and farmer (1743–1800), and brother of
Thomas Mounsey Cunningham
Thomas Mounsey Cunningham (1776–1834) was a Scottish poet.
Life
The second son of John Cunningham and Elizabeth Harley, daughter of a Dumfries merchant, he was born at Culfaud, Kirkcudbrightshire, on 25 June 1776. He was an elder brother of Al ...
(1776–1834) and of
Allan Cunningham (1784–1842). He was born at
Dalswinton
Dalswinton is a small village in the historical county of Dumfriesshire in Dumfries and Galloway in the south of Scotland. It is located about northwest of Dumfries. To the east of the village a wind farm has been built with a capacity of 30&nb ...
, near Dumfries, in November 1789, and was named after that Peter Miller who is generally recognised as the first person who used steam in propelling boats.
He received his medical education 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 ...
, and on 10 December 1810 entered the
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 ...
as an
assistant surgeon
A surgeon's mate was a rank in the Royal Navy for a medically trained assistant to the ship's surgeon. The rank was renamed assistant surgeon in 1805, and was considered equivalent to the rank of master's mate/mate. In 1807, first-rate would ...
, and in that capacity saw service on the shores of
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
, where the war was then raging. From August 1812 until promoted to the rank of surgeon (28 January 1814) he was employed on board the , on the coast of North America. In 1816 he served in the , on
Lake Erie
Lake Erie ( "eerie") is the fourth largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has t ...
, where he became the close friend of the traveller,
Hugh Clapperton
Bain Hugh Clapperton (18 May 1788 – 13 April 1827) was a Scotland, Scottish naval officer and explorer of West and Central Africa.
Early career
Clapperton was born in Annan, Dumfriesshire, where his father, George Clapperton, was a surgeon. He ...
.
After 1817 he made four voyages to
New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
as surgeon-superintendent of convict ships, in which upwards of six hundred criminals were
transported
''Transported'' is an Australian convict melodrama film directed by W. J. Lincoln. It is considered a lost film.
Plot
In England, Jessie Grey is about to marry Leonard Lincoln but the evil Harold Hawk tries to force her to marry him and she w ...
to that colony without the loss of a single life. The results of his observations during this period were embodied in his ''Two Years in New South Wales,'' (1827, 2 vols.), which was favourably noticed in the ''
Quarterly Review
The ''Quarterly Review'' was a literary and political periodical founded in March 1809 by London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River ...
'' for January 1828, pp. 1–32. To the profits arising from this book he added his early savings while in the Navy, and expended them in an attempt to open up a large tract of land in Australia, which he then fondly regarded as his adopted country. But the locality was perhaps badly chosen, the seasons were certainly unpropitious, and he soon abandoned the struggle, as far as his own personal superintendence was concerned.
His well-earned reputation at the Admiralty, however, speedily procured him employment, and on 22 October 1830 he was appointed to the , served on the South American station until January 1834, and had opportunities of observing the effects of tropical climates on European constitutions. He joined the in 1836, and, proceeding to the Mediterranean, was present at the
blockade of Alexandria in 1840. He left the sea in May 1841, and was placed on the list of medical officers unfit for further service in 1850.
In addition to the work above mentioned he wrote two others: ''On the Motions of the Earth, and on the Conception, Growth, and Decay of Man and Causes of his Diseases as referable to Galvanic Action,'' 1834; and ''Hints for Australian Emigrants, with descriptions of the Water-raising Wheels in Egypt,'' 1841. He contributed an account of a visit to the
Falkland Islands
The Falkland Islands (; es, Islas Malvinas, link=no ) is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and about from Cape Dubouzet ...
to the ''
Athenaeum
Athenaeum may refer to:
Books and periodicals
* ''Athenaeum'' (German magazine), a journal of German Romanticism, established 1798
* ''Athenaeum'' (British magazine), a weekly London literary magazine 1828–1921
* ''The Athenaeum'' (Acadia U ...
'' and was a frequent writer elsewhere. He was a man of remarkable powers of observation, greatly attached to his brother Allan, and very popular among his friends.
He died at
Greenwich
Greenwich ( , ,) is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated east-southeast of Charing Cross.
Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich ...
on 6 March 1864, aged 74.
References
;Attribution
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cunningham, Peter Miller
1789 births
1864 deaths
People from Dumfries and Galloway
Alumni of the University of Edinburgh
Royal Navy personnel of the Napoleonic Wars
Royal Navy personnel of the Egyptian–Ottoman War (1839–1841)
Royal Navy Medical Service officers