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 Mixed-sex education, co-educational, Independent school (United Kingdom), independent, Day school, day and boarding school in the English Public school (United Kingdom), public school tradition, in Repton, Derbyshire, ...

and admitted to

Christ's College, Cambridge Christ's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college includes the Master, the Fellows of the College, and about 450 undergraduate and 170 graduate students. The college was founded by William Byngham in 1437 as ...

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 Erasmus Robert Darwin (12 December 173118 April 1802) was an English physician. One of the key thinkers of the Midlands Enlightenment, he was also a natural philosopher, physiologist, slave-trade abolitionist, inventor, and poet. His poems ...

. 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, Derbyshir ...

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 cont ...

. 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 November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

-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 ''The Monthly Review'' (1749–1845) was an English periodical founded by Ralph Griffiths, a Nonconformist bookseller. The first periodical in England to offer reviews, it featured the novelist and poet Oliver Goldsmith as an early contributor ...

'' 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