William Brooks Johnson (1763–1830) (also Brookes) was an English physician and botanist.

Life

He was educated at

Repton School Repton School is a 13–18 co-educational, independent, day and boarding school in the English public school tradition, in Repton, Derbyshire, England. Sir John Port of Etwall, on his death in 1557, left funds to create a grammar school whi ...

and admitted to Christ's College, Cambridge in 1783, graduating M.B. in 1789. He became a medical practitioner with a particular interest in botanical chemistry. He resided at

Coxbench Hall Coxbench Hall is a late 18th-century country house, now in use as a residential home for the elderly, situated at Holbrook, Amber Valley, Derbyshire. It is a Grade II listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed struct ...

, Derbyshire and was a member of the

Derby Philosophical Society The Derby Philosophical Society was a club for gentlemen in Derby founded in 1783 by Erasmus Darwin. The club had many notable members and also offered the first institutional library in Derby that was available to some section of the public. P ...

where he received encouragement from Erasmus Darwin. He associated with

Jonathan Stokes Jonathan Stokes (c. 1755 – 30 April 1831) was an English physician and botanist, a member of the Lunar Society of Birmingham, and an early adopter of the heart drug digitalis. Life and work Stokes was probably born in Chesterfield, Derbyshi ...

and

Smithson Tennant Smithson Tennant FRS (30 November 1761 – 22 February 1815) was an English chemist. He is best known for his discovery of the elements iridium and osmium, which he found in the residues from the solution of platinum ores in 1803. He also con ...

. In 1791 Johnson joined the Derby Constitutional Society. With Henry Redhead Yorke, he wrote the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...

-inspired "Derby Address". They took it to Paris, to present to the Constitutional Convention. In 1791 Johnson joined the Derby Constitutional Society. With Henry Redhead Yorke, he wrote the

-inspired "Derby Address". They took it to Paris, to present to the National Convention. Johnson in 1792 lodged with

Tom Paine Thomas Paine (born Thomas Pain; – In the contemporary record as noted by Conway, Paine's birth date is given as January 29, 1736–37. Common practice was to use a dash or a slash to separate the old-style year from the new-style year. In th ...

in the Faubourg Saint-Denis. Both Johnson and Yorke associated with the "British Club" of ex-patriate supporters of the Revolution. They broke with it, however, in 1793, over a resolution of the Club in favour of a French invasion of Great Britain. Yorke left, accused of spying for the British.

Works

Johnson was author of ''History of the Progress and Present State of Animal Chemistry'' published in three volumes in 1803. It had an extended review in '' The Monthly Review'' for October 1805, which concluded that it was "a laborious collection of facts". From the point of view of

clinical chemistry Clinical chemistry (also known as chemical pathology, clinical biochemistry or medical biochemistry) is the area of chemistry that is generally concerned with analysis of bodily fluids for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. It is an applied ...

, somewhat neglected at the end of the 18th century, Rosenfeld regards Johnson's work as attempting "to present the subject on a larger scale and with a more connected and systematic arrangement."

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, William Brooks People from Holbrook, Derbyshire Johnson, William Brooks 1763 births 1830 deaths 18th-century English medical doctors 18th-century British botanists 19th-century English medical doctors 19th-century British botanists