Dr Thomas Shortt

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 ...

FRCPE (17 June 1788 – 1843) was a Scottish physician. He is chiefly remembered for drafting

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

's official

autopsy An autopsy (post-mortem examination, obduction, necropsy, or autopsia cadaverum) is a surgical procedure that consists of a thorough examination of a corpse by dissection to determine the cause, mode, and manner of death or to evaluate any di ...

report while serving as the Principal Medical Officer on

St Helena Saint Helena () is a British overseas territory located in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is a remote volcanic tropical island west of the coast of south-western Africa, and east of Rio de Janeiro in South America. It is one of three constitu ...

Life

Shortt was born near

Dumfries Dumfries ( ; sco, Dumfries; from gd, Dùn Phris ) is a market town and former royal burgh within the Dumfries and Galloway council area of Scotland. It is located near the mouth of the River Nith into the Solway Firth about by road from the ...

on 17 June 1788, the son of Francis Shortt (of Courance & White Laird) and his wife, Bridget Smith. He studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh graduating MB ChB. He joined the British Army in 1806 as assistant surgeon to the

10th Regiment of Foot 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

. Most of his service was spent in Italy, Sicily, and Egypt. In 1813 he was promoted surgeon to the

20th Light Dragoons The 20th Regiment of Light Dragoons was a cavalry regiment of the British Army. History The regiment was raised as the 20th (Jamaica) Regiment of (Light) Dragoons in 1792; it was deployed to Jamaica in 1795 during the Second Maroon War. The regi ...

and in 1815 Physician to the Forces, before returning to practice in Edinburgh. In 1815 he gained his doctorate (MD) from the University of Edinburgh.M.D available at th
Edinburgh Research Archive
In 1819 he was appointed Physician Extraordinary to the King in Scotland and Principal Medical Officer in St Helena, arriving on

in December 1820, during Napoleon's period of exile there. Shortt never saw

professionally, but was repeatedly consulted by the other doctors on St Helena. From 1828 he worked at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary. He was then living at 54 Queen Street in Edinburgh's New Town.Edinburgh Post Office Directory 1828 He died on 5 March 1843.

Family

He married Henrietta Young. They had five children.

References

1788 births 1843 deaths 19th-century Scottish medical doctors People from Dumfries and Galloway Alumni of the University of Edinburgh British Army personnel of the Napoleonic Wars British Army regimental surgeons Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh {{Scotland-medical-bio-stub