Sir Tancred Robinson (c.1658 – 29 March 1748) was an English physician, known also as a naturalist.

Life

He was born in

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

, the second son of Thomas Robinson (died 1676), a

Turkey merchant The Levant Company was an English chartered company formed in 1592. Elizabeth I of England approved its initial charter on 11 September 1592 when the Venice Company (1583) and the Turkey Company (1581) merged, because their charters had expired, ...

, and his wife Elizabeth (died 1664), daughter of Charles Tancred of Arden; he often spelt his own name Tankred. He was educated at

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corpo ...

where he was admitted in 1673 at age 15, and graduating M.B. in 1679. Robinson then travelled for some years abroad, and, with

Hans Sloane Sir Hans Sloane, 1st Baronet (16 April 1660 – 11 January 1753), was an Irish physician, naturalist, and collector, with a collection of 71,000 items which he bequeathed to the British nation, thus providing the foundation of the British Mu ...

, attended the lectures of

Joseph Pitton de Tournefort Joseph Pitton de Tournefort (5 June 165628 December 1708) was a French botanist, notable as the first to make a clear definition of the concept of genus for plants. Botanist Charles Plumier was his pupil and accompanied him on his voyages. Lif ...

and

Guichard Joseph Duverney Joseph Guichard Duverney or Joseph-Guichard Du Verney (5 August 1648 – 10 September 1730) was a French anatomist known for his work in comparative anatomy and for his treatise on the ear. The fracture of the iliac wing of the pelvis is some ...

in Paris. A letter from him to

John Ray John Ray FRS (29 November 1627 – 17 January 1705) was a Christian English naturalist widely regarded as one of the earliest of the English parson-naturalists. Until 1670, he wrote his name as John Wray. From then on, he used 'Ray', after ...

is dated from there in 1683. In September of the same year he wrote from

Montpellier Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of ...

, where he visited

Pierre Magnol Pierre Magnol (8 June 1638 – 21 May 1715) was a French botanist. He was born in the city of Montpellier, where he lived and worked for most of his life. He became Professor of Botany and Director of the Royal Botanic Garden of Montpellier and hel ...

; and, after staying at

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...

, where he met

Marcello Malpighi Marcello Malpighi (10 March 1628 – 30 November 1694) was an Italian biologist and physician, who is referred to as the "Founder of microscopical anatomy, histology & Father of physiology and embryology". Malpighi's name is borne by several phy ...

, and in Rome and Naples, he travelled on, in 1684, to Geneva and Leyden. In August 1684 Robinson was in London. From Montpellier he had written to

Martin Lister Martin Lister FRS (12 April 1639 – 2 February 1712) was an English naturalist and physician. His daughters Anne and Susanna were two of his illustrators and engravers. J. D. Woodley, ‘Lister , Susanna (bap. 1670, d. 1738)’, Oxford Dict ...

a letter on the

Pont-Saint-Esprit Pont-Saint-Esprit (, literally "Holy Spirit Bridge"; oc, Lo Pònt Sant Esperit) is a commune in the Gard département in southern France. It is situated on the river Rhône and is the site of a historical crossing, hence its name. The Ardèche fl ...

on the

Rhône River The Rhône ( , ; wae, Rotten ; frp, Rôno ; oc, Ròse ) is a major river in France and Switzerland, rising in the Alps and flowing west and south through Lake Geneva and southeastern France before discharging into the Mediterranean Sea. At Ar ...

, printed as one of his first contributions to the ''

Philosophical Transactions ''Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society'' is a scientific journal published by the Royal Society. In its earliest days, it was a private venture of the Royal Society's secretary. It was established in 1665, making it the first journa ...

'' in June 1684, and in the same year he was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

. Robinson became M.D. of Cambridge in 1685, and fellow of the

Royal College of Physicians The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) is a British professional membership body dedicated to improving the practice of medicine, chiefly through the accreditation of physicians by examination. Founded by royal charter from King Henry VIII in 1 ...

in 1687, serving as censor in 1693 and 1717. He was appointed physician

in ordinary ''In ordinary'' is an English phrase with multiple meanings. In relation to the Royal Household, it indicates that a position is a permanent one. In naval matters, vessels "in ordinary" (from the 17th century) are those out of service for repair o ...

to George I, and was knighted by him. Robinson died at an advanced age on 29 March 1748.

Works

Robinson's own contributions to ''Philosophical Transactions'' included ten papers on varied topics. Though his letters and papers deal with natural history generally, he paid particular attention to plants, and was styled by

Leonard Plukenet Leonard Plukenet (1641–1706) was an English botanist, Royal Professor of Botany and gardener to Queen Mary. Biography Plukenet published ''Phytographia'' (London, 1691–1696) in four parts in which he described and illustrated rare exotic p ...

in 1696 "vir de re herbariâ optime meritus", in his ''Almagestum''. There is evidence that he assisted both

James Petiver James Petiver (c. 1665 – c. 2 April 1718) was a London apothecary, a fellow of the Royal Society as well as London's informal Temple Coffee House Botany Club, famous for his specimen collections in which he traded and study of botany and entomo ...

and

Samuel Dale Samuel Dale (1772 – ), known as the "Daniel Boone of Alabama", was an American frontiersman, trader, miller, hunter, scout, courier, soldier, spy, army officer, and politician, who fought under General Andrew Jackson, in the Creek War, la ...

with the Latin of their scientific works.

was a good friend, and 17 letters from Robinson to Ray were printed in Ray's ''Philosophical Letters'' (1718). Ray repeatedly acknowledges his assistance, especially in his ''Historia Plantarum'' (1686) and ''Synopsis Stirpium'' (1690). Robinson was mainly instrumental in securing the publication of Ray's ''Wisdom of God in Creation'', and suggested the ''Synopsis Animalium'' and the ''Sylloge Stirpium Europæarum''. Robinson has been credited with ''Two Essays by L.P., M.A., from Oxford, concerning some errors about the Creation, General Flood, and Peopling of the World, and … the rise of Fables …'' London, 1695. In a printed letter, in answer to remarks by John Harris, addressed by Robinson to

William Wotton William Wotton (13 August 166613 February 1727) was an English theologian, classical scholar and linguist. He is chiefly remembered for his remarkable abilities in learning languages and for his involvement in the Quarrel of the Ancients and the ...

, a college friend, Robinson denied the authorship of the ''Two Essays''. He admitted having assisted the author, and to having written the introduction to

Sir John Narborough Rear-Admiral Sir John Narborough (or Narbrough, c. 1640–1688) was an English naval commander. He served with distinction in the Anglo-Dutch Wars and against the pirates of the Barbary Coast. He is also known for leading a poorly understood e ...

's ''Account of several late Voyages'' (London, 1694), and the epistle dedicatory to the English translation of

Louis le Comte Louis le Comte (1655–1728), also Louis-Daniel Lecomte, was a French Jesuit who participated in the 1687 French Jesuit mission to China under Jean de Fontaney. He arrived in China on 7 February 1688. He returned to France in 1691 as Procurator of ...

's ''Memoirs and Observations made in … China'' (London, 1697). Harris printed a reply to Robinson.

Family

Robinson married Alethea, daughter of George Morley, and left a son William.

Notes

External links

* Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, Tancred 1658 births 1748 deaths 17th-century English medical doctors 18th-century English medical doctors English naturalists Fellows of the Royal Society Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge