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Robert James Blair Cunynghame of Cronan,
He was born in Leith on 13 January 1841 the son of Jane Hinchcliff Addy Clark and George Cunynghame (born 1809). His father worked in the Leith shipbuilding company of Strachan, Gasvin and Cunynghame.
He studied at the University of Edinburgh, graduating with an MD in 1862, and is said to have been a favourite of Prof William Tennant Gairdner. He won the university Gold Medal for Forensic Medicine. He served for a while as Resident Physician to the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary then did further studies in Paris, Berlin, Vienna and London.
He enlisted in the British Army as a Surgeon serving with the Rifle Brigade in India. He retained a military connection in Britain, serving with the Queen’s Edinburgh Volunteer Brigade.
On the death of his brother in Edinburgh he resigned his commission and returned to look after family affairs. His roles were clearly well-chosen, serving as main Physician to the Royal Hospital for Sick Children, and with administrative roles for both Longmore Hospital for Incurables and the Queen Victoria Jubilee Institute (which trained District Nurses). He was also Superintendent of Statistics for the General Registrar of Scotland, 1879–1901, replacing Dr William Robertson
FRCSEd
The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (RCSEd) is a professional organisation of surgeons. The College has seven active faculties, covering a broad spectrum of surgical, dental, and other medical practices. Its main campus is located o ...
, 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 ...
JP (13 January 1841 – 23 December 1903) was a prominent Scottish surgeon, physiologist and early forensic scientist in the late 19th century. He served as President of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh from 1891 to 1893. He is said to have had a calm beautiful face and his opinion was used as a benchmark to medical thought.British Medical Journal: Obituaries 2 January 1904
Life
He was born in Leith on 13 January 1841 the son of Jane Hinchcliff Addy Clark and George Cunynghame (born 1809). His father worked in the Leith shipbuilding company of Strachan, Gasvin and Cunynghame.
He studied at the University of Edinburgh, graduating with an MD in 1862, and is said to have been a favourite of Prof William Tennant Gairdner. He won the university Gold Medal for Forensic Medicine. He served for a while as Resident Physician to the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary then did further studies in Paris, Berlin, Vienna and London.
He enlisted in the British Army as a Surgeon serving with the Rifle Brigade in India. He retained a military connection in Britain, serving with the Queen’s Edinburgh Volunteer Brigade.
On the death of his brother in Edinburgh he resigned his commission and returned to look after family affairs. His roles were clearly well-chosen, serving as main Physician to the Royal Hospital for Sick Children, and with administrative roles for both Longmore Hospital for Incurables and the Queen Victoria Jubilee Institute (which trained District Nurses). He was also Superintendent of Statistics for the General Registrar of Scotland, 1879–1901, replacing Dr William Robertson 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 ...
. He was made President of the Royal Medical Society in 1862 and President of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in 1891. He was Justice of Peace for Perthshire, where he held his country estate of Cronan.
In 1871 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 proposer being fellow forensic scientist, Prof William Rutherford Sanders
William Rutherford Sanders FRSE (17 February 1828 – 18 February 1881) was a 19th-century Scottish pathologist. He was one of the first to advocate the use of digitalis in heart conditions. He served as President of the Royal Medical Society 1 ...
. In 1879 he was elected a member of the Aesculapian Club. At this time he was living at 6 Walker Street in Edinburgh’s West End.
He had been in ill-health for some time and the death of his daughter early in December 1903 worsened his condition and he died at home, 18 Rothesay Place in Edinburgh’s West End,Edinburgh and Leith Post Office Directory 1902-3 on Wednesday 23 December 1903. He is buried with his wife Joanna in Dean Cemetery
The Dean Cemetery is a historically important Victorian cemetery north of the Dean Village, west of Edinburgh city centre, in Scotland. It lies between Queensferry Road and the Water of Leith, bounded on its east side by Dean Path and on ...
in Edinburgh. The grave lies on the southern path of the Victorian north extension, close to the link to the original cemetery. Their grandson Sir James Blair-Cunynghame
Sir James Ogilvy Blair-Cunynghame, OBE (28 February 1913 – 4 January 1990) was a Scottish banker and personnel manager; he was a chairman of the Royal Bank of Scotland and its parent organisation, the National Commercial Bank of Scotland Group ...
(1913-1990) lies with them.
Family
He was married to Joanna (1851–1893). They had two sons, Edwin Blair Cunynghame (1873–1955) and Ronald Ogilvy Blair Cunynghame who was killed in the First World War.References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cunynghame, Robert James Blair 1841 births 1903 deaths Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Alumni of the University of Edinburgh British physiologists People from Leith Presidents of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh Scottish surgeons Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Medical School Fellows of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh Medical doctors from Edinburgh