William Goodison (alternatively Goodisson)It is difficult to support which of the two forms of his surname (Goodi''s''on or Goodi''ss''on) is the proper one. The double ''ss'' form (Goodisson) could be considered the right one, as it is commonly used in Ireland and it was chosen by William Goodison himself for his publication about the Ionian Islands, in 1822 (see ''Goodisson W., 1822'' below), but in all the annual lists of the British army officers, from 1811 to 1838 inclusive, his surname is enlisted and written with one ''s'' (Goodison). The latter form appeared in his article on the Remittent Fever and the Plague in Corfu (see ''Goodison W., 1817'' below). In this entry we use the official form of his surname, as listed in the archives of the British Army. (1785–1836) was an assistant surgeon of the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

. He was born in 1785 in the county of

Wicklow Wicklow ( ; ga, Cill Mhantáin , meaning 'church of the toothless one'; non, Víkingaló) is the county town of County Wicklow in Ireland. It is located south of Dublin on the east coast of the island. According to the 2016 census, it has a ...

, Ireland. His father, William Goodison, was a pharmacist and urged his son to study under professor Austin of Trinity College, Dublin. William Goodison entered Trinity College at the age of 16, in 1801, and concluded his studies in the spring of 1807 by obtaining a B.A. (Bachelor of Arts). He ranked the Medical Service of the British Army on 23 August 1810. He was placed an assistant surgeon of the 75th Regiment of Foot (also known as the Abercromby or the Highland Regiment), a position previously held by John Cumine. He served this post until 4 March 1824, when he was reduced on

half-pay Half-pay (h.p.) was a term used in the British Army and Royal Navy of the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries to refer to the pay or allowance an officer received when in retirement or not in actual service. Past usage United Kingdom In the En ...

and moved to the 25th Regiment of Light Dragoons, until his death in August 1836. The 75th Regiment of Foot was posted, during the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

, to the Ionian Islands and arrived in Corfu on 14 July 1814, after the ''de facto'' occupation of the island by the British. William Goodison, then a young assistant surgeon under George Treyer, served in Melikia, a village near

Lefkimmi Lefkimmi ( el, Λευκίμμη, also known as ''Alefkimmo'') is a town and a former municipality on the island of Corfu, Ionian Islands (region), Ionian Islands, Greece. Since the 2019 local government reform it is part of the municipality South ...

in southern Corfu-island, and studied, on the field, the symptoms of the

remittent fever Remittent fever is a type or pattern of fever in which temperature does not touch the baseline and remains above normal throughout the day. Daily variation in temperature is more than 1°C in 24 hours, which is also the main difference as compared ...

and the

plague Plague or The Plague may refer to: Agriculture, fauna, and medicine *Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis'' * An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural) * A pandemic caused by such a disease * A swarm of pe ...

which struck the region. The epidemic had appeared in

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

in 1814 and was transferred to the Ionian Islands in 1815 and 1816. Goodison published the results of his observations in an article, which appeared in the medical periodical '' Dublin Hospital Reports'' in 1817. After the elimination of the plague epidemic in Corfu, the 75th Regiment of Foot moved, in August 1817, to the island of

Lefkas Lefkada ( el, Λευκάδα, ''Lefkáda'', ), also known as Lefkas or Leukas (Ancient Greek and Katharevousa: Λευκάς, ''Leukás'', modern pronunciation ''Lefkás'') and Leucadia, is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea on the west coast of Gr ...

, where it stayed until the end of 1820. From Lefkas, Goodison travelled to other Ionian islands, like

Meganisi Meganisi (Greek: Μεγανήσι, literally "big island") is a Greek island and municipality immediately to the east-southeast of the island of Lefkada. The municipality includes the offshore islands of Skorpios (pop. 2 persons) and Sparti. The ...

Ithaca Ithaca most commonly refers to: *Homer's Ithaca, an island featured in Homer's ''Odyssey'' *Ithaca (island), an island in Greece, possibly Homer's Ithaca *Ithaca, New York, a city, and home of Cornell University and Ithaca College Ithaca, Ithaka ...

, Cephalonia and

Zante Zakynthos (also spelled Zakinthos; el, Ζάκυνθος, Zákynthos ; it, Zacinto ) or Zante (, , ; el, Τζάντε, Tzánte ; from the Venetian form) is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea. It is the third largest of the Ionian Islands. Za ...

. The Regiment returned to Corfu on the last days of 1820, and stayed there until August 1821. Their next base was

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

from where they returned to England at the end of 1823. During his service in Corfu and the Ionian Isles, Goodison took advantage of his stay there and compared the topography of these islands against the descriptions of

Homer Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...

's ''

Odyssey The ''Odyssey'' (; grc, Ὀδύσσεια, Odýsseia, ) is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Iliad'', th ...

'' and other texts of ancient and modern writers. The outcome was
''Historical and Topographical Essay upon the Islands of Corfù, Leucadia, Cephalonia, Ithaca, and Zante: with Remarks upon the Character, Manners, and Customs of the Ionian Greeks''
which he composed during his stay in the islands and concluded writing in

, where the regiment moved in August 1821. The book was published in October 1822, in London, by Thomas and George Underwood, and was welcomed with extensive reviews, published in the following years.London Literary Gazette 1822
''The London Literary Gazette, Journal of Belles Lettres, Arts, Sciences, &c.'', No. 303, Saturday, 9 November, London, 1822, pp. 703–705
Annual Register 1822
''The New Annual Register, or General Repository of History, Politics, and Literature, for the Year 1822'', London, 1823, pp. 120–124
Quarterly Review 1823
''The Quarterly Review'', Vol. 29, April & July 1823, London, 1823, pp. 86–116
Monthly Review 1823
''The Monthly Review, or Literary Journal, enlarged'', Vol. 102, September–December 1823, London, 1823, pp. 138–148.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Goodison William British Army regimental surgeons 19th-century Irish travel writers Alumni of Trinity College Dublin People from Wicklow (town) Gordon Highlanders officers 1785 births 1836 deaths Writers from County Wicklow Military personnel from County Waterford Irish military doctors Medical doctors from County Wicklow