William Preston Lauder

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 ...

FRCPE FRCSE (1788 – 1 April 1850) was a Scottish physician, specialising in

obstetrics Obstetrics is the field of study concentrated on pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period. As a medical specialty, obstetrics is combined with gynecology under the discipline known as obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN), which is a surgi ...

Life

Lauder was born at the family home on Carrubbers Close, off the

Royal Mile The Royal Mile () is a succession of streets forming the main thoroughfare of the Old Town of the city of Edinburgh in Scotland. The term was first used descriptively in W. M. Gilbert's ''Edinburgh in the Nineteenth Century'' (1901), des ...

in Edinburgh around 1788, the son of Dr

Colin Lauder Colin Lauder (c. 1750 – 25 October 1831), Worlds End Close, Edinburgh) was a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh FRCSEd, and a burgess of Edinburgh. His portrait was painted by Sir Henry Raeburn. Life The son of George Lau ...

and one of 10 children to his first wife, Margaret Milne. He was educated at the High School in Edinburgh and attended the University of St Andrews to study medicine, rather than the University of Edinburgh possibly to avoid any claim of discrimination. He gained his MD in 1809. He returned to Edinburgh as a physician also acting as

Physician-Accoucheur A midwife is a health professional who cares for mothers and newborns around childbirth, a specialization known as midwifery. The education and training for a midwife concentrates extensively on the care of women throughout their lifespan; con ...

to the Edinburgh New Town Dispensary. At that time he also lectured on midwifery and the "Diseases of Women and Children" at Surgeon Square. In 1819 he was elected a member of the Harveian Society of Edinburgh. In 1825 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 proposer being a cousin, Thomas Dick Lauder. He resigned in 1839 largely due to his relocation to London. In 1828 he was living at 91 Sloane Street in London, and had properties in Edinburgh, Cupar, Reading and Wallingford. In June 1831 he was living at 22 Sloane Street, and was involved in a forgery case being tried at the

Old Bailey The Central Criminal Court of England and Wales, commonly referred to as the Old Bailey after the street on which it stands, is a criminal court building in central London, one of several that house the Crown Court of England and Wales. The s ...

where Joseph Backler obtained £5 from Lauder's shopkeeper neighbour, Eden Bowler, using a cheque in Lauder's name. Backler was found guilty and sentenced to death, however his sentence was later commuted to imprisonment. He died at his home at 8 Sloane Street in London on 1 April 1850 (some accounts state 1852). On his death he bequeathed several portraits to his eldest niece.

Family

He married Harriet Dalmer, daughter of General Harry Dalmer, and sister of Lieutenant General Thomas Dalmer. They had no children. His wife died at Sloane Street in February 1861.The Lancet: March 1861

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lauder, William Preston 1788 births 1850 deaths 19th-century Scottish medical doctors Medical doctors from Edinburgh Alumni of the University of St Andrews Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Physician-accoucheurs Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh Fellows of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh Members of the Harveian Society of Edinburgh