Sir William Burnett, KCB, FRS (16 January 1779 – 16 February 1861) was a British

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

who served as Physician-General of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against Fr ...

Early life

Burnett was born in Montrose, Scotland on 16 January 1779 and attended Montrose Grammar School. He was appointed surgeon's mate on board the ''

Edgar Edgar is a commonly used English given name, from an Anglo-Saxon name ''Eadgar'' (composed of '' ead'' "rich, prosperous" and '' gar'' "spear"). Like most Anglo-Saxon names, it fell out of use by the later medieval period; it was, however, r ...

'' soon after his arrival at Edinburgh to pursue his medical studies. Later he served as assistant-surgeon in the ''

Goliath Goliath ( ) ''Goləyāṯ''; ar, جُليات ''Ǧulyāt'' (Christian term) or (Quranic term). is a character in the Book of Samuel, described as a Philistine giant defeated by the young David in single combat. The story signified King Sau ...

'' under Sir John Jervis, and was present at

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and the siege of Cadiz. He also served with distinction at battles of the

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and

Trafalgar Trafalgar most often refers to: * Battle of Trafalgar (1805), fought near Cape Trafalgar, Spain * Trafalgar Square, a public space and tourist attraction in London, England It may also refer to: Music * ''Trafalgar'' (album), by the Bee Gees Pl ...

Prison hospitals

Between 1805 and 1810 Burnett was in charge of the hospitals for prisoners of war at Portsmouth and Forton. His diligence in his most arduous hospital duties recommended Burnett in 1810 for the office of Physician and Inspector of Hospitals to the Mediterranean Fleet. His health deteriorated and he returned to England towards the end of 1813; but in March 1814 he was able to undertake the medical charge of the Russian fleet in the Medway, which was suffering severely from fever. He combined with this the charge of the prisoners of war at Chatham, among whom a virulent fever was raging. On the completion of this service Burnett settled at Chichester as a physician until 1822, when Lord Melville offered him a seat at the

Victualling Board The Commissioners for the Victualling of the Navy, often called the Victualling Commissioners or Victualling Board, was the body responsible under the Navy Board for victualling ships of the British Royal Navy. It oversaw the vast operation of ...

as colleague of Dr. Weir, then Chief Medical Officer of the Navy.

Physician-General

Later he became Physician-General of the

(later renamed Director-General of the Medical Department of the Navy) and introduced valuable reforms, including requiring regular classified returns of diseases from naval medical officers, urging the erection of, and largely planned, the Melville Hospital at Chatham for naval patients, and introducing more humane treatment of naval lunatics at

Haslar Haslar is on the south coast of England, at the southern tip of Alverstoke, on the Gosport peninsula, Hampshire. It takes its name from the Old English , meaning " hazel-landing place". It may have been named after a bank of hazel strewn on ma ...

. In 1841 the naval medical corps testified their high regard for the benefits he had conferred on the service by presenting him with his full-length portrait by Sir Martin Archer Shee and a service of plate. He was largely instrumental in securing a better position for assistant-surgeons in the navy. Burnett was an 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 ...

in 1833. He was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...

on 25 May 1831, appointed physician-in-ordinary to

King William IV William IV (William Henry; 21 August 1765 – 20 June 1837) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death in 1837. The third son of George III, William succeeded h ...

on 13 April 1835, and soon after created a Knight Commander of the

Royal Guelphic Order The Royal Guelphic Order (german: Königliche Guelphen-Orden), sometimes referred to as the Hanoverian Guelphic Order, is a Hanoverian order of chivalry instituted on 28 April 1815 by the Prince Regent (later King George IV). It takes its name ...

. He was promoted to Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath by

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

in 1850. Burnett retired in 1855 and was succeeded as Director-General by Sir John Liddell. On retirement he settled at

Chichester Chichester () is a cathedral city and civil parish in West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 edition. Publishing Date:2009. It is the only ci ...

, where he died on 16 February 1861.

Burnett Bay Burnett Bay is a Canadian Arctic waterway in the Northwest Territories. It is an eastern arm of the Arctic Ocean's Beaufort Sea on northwestern Banks Island. Robillard Island, Norway Island, and Bernard Island lie in a semicircle outside the bay' ...

in the

Northwest Territories The Northwest Territories (abbreviated ''NT'' or ''NWT''; french: Territoires du Nord-Ouest, formerly ''North-Western Territory'' and ''North-West Territories'' and namely shortened as ''Northwest Territory'') is a federal territory of Canada. ...

, Canada was named for Burnett.

Burnettizing

In 1839 Burnett was granted a British patent for ''Burnettizing'', the application under pressure of an aqueous solution of

zinc chloride Zinc chloride is the name of inorganic chemical compounds with the formula ZnCl2 and its hydrates. Zinc chlorides, of which nine crystalline forms are known, are colorless or white, and are highly soluble in water. This salt is hygroscopic and ev ...

to ropes, canvas and timber as a preservative. The Admiralty found the process to be effective but when Burnett attempted to diversify into business on his own behalf, particularly the supply of treatments for railway construction timbers, it was to the detriment of his naval career.

Footnotes

Publications

An Account of the Effect of Mercurial Vapours on the Crew of His Majesty's Ship Triumph, in the Year 1810 - William Burnett
(1823)

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Burnett, William 19th-century Scottish medical doctors Fellows of the Royal Society 1779 births 1861 deaths Knights Bachelor Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Physicians-in-Ordinary Royal Navy Medical Service officers Royal Navy officers