Dr Thomas Alexander Wise MD HEICS

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 ...

FRCS FRCPE (1802–1889) was a 19th-century Scottish physician, medical author, polymath and collector. He travelled in India, Tibet, China and Japan. He specialised in Tibetan maps and artefacts. He was founder and first Principal of the Hooghly Mohsin College in 1834 and founder of the Hooghly Imambarah Hospital. .

Life

He was born in or near

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

on 13 June 1802 the second son of Thomas Wise of Hillbank in

Forfarshire Angus ( sco, Angus; gd, Aonghas) is one of the 32 local government council areas of Scotland, a registration county and a lieutenancy area. The council area borders Aberdeenshire, Dundee City and Perth and Kinross. Main industries include agri ...

. His father had been a physician in Jamaica. He studied Medicine at Edinburgh University graduating MD in 1824. He went to India with the Indian Medical Service and worked first in Dum Dum. This brought him closer to his two brothers already in India: Josiah Patrick wise, a merchant, and an older brother serving in the East India Company. He retired on health grounds in 1851 and returned to Scotland. In 1855 he was living at 17 Abercromby Place in Edinburgh's New Town. He also had property at Inchyra near Dundee. In 1854 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 was

John Hughes Bennett John Hughes Bennett PRCPE FRSE (31 August 1812 – 25 September 1875) was an English physician, physiologist and pathologist. His main contribution to medicine has been the first description of leukemia as a blood disorder (1845). The first pe ...

. He later moved to London and died in Norwood in London on 23 July 1889. He is buried in West Norwood Cemetery.

Publications

*''Commentary of the Hindu System of Medicine'' (1845 republished 1860) *''Diseases of the Eye'' (1847) *''Practical Remarks on Insanity in Bengal'' (1852) *''Essay on the Pathology of the Blood'' (1858) *''

Cholera Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting and ...

, its Symptoms, Causes and Remedies'' (1864) *''the History of Medicine'' (1867)

Memorials

A number of Wise's collections are held by the McManus Gallery in

. Thomas Wise Place near Ninewells Hospital in Dundee is named after him.

Family

He married Emily Isabella Disney (1812-1839). She was the niece of Col Prendergast, auditor-general of

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

. She died young and is buried in the Dutch Cemetery in Chinsurah. He secondly married Harriet Elizabeth Wise (1822-1881) who is buried with him.Inscription on the grave of Thomas Alexander Wise: west Norwood Cemetery His son James Wise was a surgeon in Dacca.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wise, Thomas Alexander 1802 births 1889 deaths People from Dundee 19th-century Scottish medical doctors Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh