Dr William Farquharson

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 ...

PRCSE FRCPE FSAS (1760-1823) was a senior Scottish surgeon during the

Scottish Enlightenment The Scottish Enlightenment ( sco, Scots Enlichtenment, gd, Soillseachadh na h-Alba) was the period in 18th- and early-19th-century Scotland characterised by an outpouring of intellectual and scientific accomplishments. By the eighteenth century ...

. He served as President of the

Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (RCSEd) is a professional organisation of surgeons. The College has seven active faculties, covering a broad spectrum of surgical, dental, and other medical practices. Its main campus is located on ...

1806-8 and President of the Harveian Society in both 1796 and 1805.

Life

He was born in

Balfour, Aberdeenshire Balfour ( gd, Baile Phùir), Aberdeenshire is a settlement on Royal Deeside in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Balfour lies south of the River Dee. History Roman legions marched from Raedykes to Normandykes Roman Camp through the Durris Forest, not far ...

in 1760 the son of Alexander Farquharson of Balfour (b.1716) and his wife Margaret Davie of Newmill. In 1790 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 proposers were James Gregory, James Russell and Robert Kerr. In 1795 he was a Crown Witness at the trial and imprisonment of Sir Archibald Gordon Kinloch of Gilmerton for the murder of his half-brother Sir Robert Kinloch at Gilmerton House. The trial was judged by

Lord Braxfield Robert McQueen, Lord Braxfield (4 May 1722 – 30 May 1799) was a Scottish advocate and judge. Life McQueen was born at Braxfield House near Lanark on 4 May 1722, son of John McQueen. He studied law at Edinburgh University and was admitted to ...

. Farquharson’s testimony focussed upon Kinloch’s mental state on two previous occasions, each tended by Dr Farquharson (the second being in Haddington jail). As one of the oddest of British judgements, although Kinloch was sentenced to life imprisonment on 15 July, Dr Farquharson offered to hold him securely in his own home rather than in prison, and the judge accepted this on 17 July. His house at this time was at Worlds End Close on the Royal Mile. However, Farquharson disappears from the Post Office Directories for several years; presumably to hold Kinloch in a less urban environment. This was a very considerable personal sacrifice. He rematerialises in Edinburgh following the death of Kinloch in 1800. He then lives at 16 St James Square. In 1801 he was elected a member of the

Aesculapian Club The Aesculapian Club of Edinburgh is one of the oldest medical dining clubs in the world. It was founded in April 1773 by Dr. Andrew Duncan. Membership of the Club is limited to 11 Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh a ...

. In 1807 he is noted as donating 5 guineas towards the new Edinburgh Lunatic Asylum. His final Edinburgh address was 2 Elder Street in the First New Town.Edinburgh and Leith Post Office Directory 1822-23 He died in Edinburgh on 25 January 1823.

Family

He was married twice and had two sons: Joseph Canvin Farquharson (who became a banker) and Francis Farquharson of Finzean (1802-1876)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Farquharson, William 1760 births 1823 deaths Presidents of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Scottish surgeons