Richard Watson Dickson (9 November 1759 – 17 September 1824) was a physician and agriculturalist.

Biography

Dickson was born 9 November 1759 at Warton,

Carnforth Carnforth is a market town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster in Lancashire, England, situated at the north-east end of Morecambe Bay. The parish of Carnforth had a population of 5,560 in the 2011 census, an increase from the 5,350 reco ...

, Lancashire. He was the eldest son of William and Mary Watson. He married Elizabeth Parkinson on 16 April 1785. She died young and there were no children. Watson studied medicine and graduated as M.D. from St Andrew's University, Aberdeen on 25 May 1787. At the time of his second marriage to Lucretia Morris on 24 January 1789 at Saint Benet, Gracechurch Street, London, he was described as being of Birmingham. Between 1790 and 1799 the couple had six children. Watson and his family initially lived at

London Charterhouse The London Charterhouse is a historic complex of buildings in Farringdon, London, dating back to the 14th century. It occupies land to the north of Charterhouse Square, and lies within the London Borough of Islington. It was originally built ( ...

, where he may have practised as a doctor, but in about 1798 they moved to

Hendon Hendon is an urban area in the Borough of Barnet, North-West London northwest of Charing Cross. Hendon was an ancient manor and parish in the county of Middlesex and a former borough, the Municipal Borough of Hendon; it has been part of Great ...

, Middlesex. Watson became interested in agriculture and wrote extensively about it. However, by 1812 he got into financial difficulties and was committed to the King's Bench debtors' prison. He was separated from his wife, and by the time of his death in 1824 he was living with his cousin Jane Dickson in Camberwell, London. He died on 17 September 1824, and his cousin had his body placed in a sealed lead coffin in her parlour. Eventually the Coroner forced a burial, in early January 1825. His cousin was very defensive of him, and recorded that he left manuscripts of unpublished works, including an autobiography, now all lost.

Writings

*''Practical Agriculture'', 1805, 2 vol. Translated as ''Der Practische Akerbau'', 1807 *''Dictionary of Practical Gardening'', 1807, 2 vol. Pseud. published as by Alexander MacDonald. *Edited ''Agricultural Magazine'' 1807–8, 3 vol then discontinued. *''Dictionary of Practical Gardening'', 1807, 2 vol *''Grammar of Gardening'' 1810 *''The Farmer's Companion'', 1810 1 vol *''The New Botanic Garden'', 1812, 2 vol *''The New Flora Britannica'', 1812, 2 vol *''General View of the Agriculture of Lancashire'', 1815, 1 vol *''Cattle Management'', 1822, 1 vol For ''

Rees's Cyclopædia Rees's ''Cyclopædia'', in full ''The Cyclopædia; or, Universal Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and Literature'' was an important 19th-century British encyclopaedia edited by Rev. Abraham Rees (1743–1825), a Presbyterian minister and scholar w ...

'' he contributed articles on agriculture and meteorology. There are other articles classified as Rural Economy and also Horticulture that he may well have written. He also contributed to '' The English Encyclopaedia'', 1802

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dickson, Richard Watson 1759 births 1824 deaths 18th-century English medical doctors 19th-century English medical doctors People from Carnforth Alumni of the University of St Andrews English agricultural writers