William Somerville FRS

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 ...

FLS LRCP (1771 – 25 June 1860) was a Scottish physician and inspector of the Army Medical Board. He was the husband of eminent mathematician and scientist

Mary Somerville Mary Somerville (; , formerly Greig; 26 December 1780 – 29 November 1872) was a Scottish scientist, writer, and polymath. She studied mathematics and astronomy, and in 1835 she and Caroline Herschel were elected as the first female Honorary ...

and father of four.

Life

Somerville was descended from the ancient family of Somerville of

Cambusnethan Cambusnethan is a large village and suburb on the eastern edge of Wishaw, North Lanarkshire in Scotland. It is approximately long, straddling both sides of the A722 on a hill overlooking Wishaw. Etymology The name "''Cambusnethan"'' was his ...

, a branch of the Somervilles of Drum, who were ennobled in 1424. He was born on 22 April 1771 the eldest son of the Rev Dr Thomas Somerville DD

, minister of

Jedburgh Jedburgh (; gd, Deadard; sco, Jeddart or ) is a town and former royal burgh in the Scottish Borders and the traditional county town of the historic county of Roxburghshire, the name of which was randomly chosen for Operation Jedburgh in su ...

and his wife Martha Charters. He was educated near his home in

. He studied Medicine at

Aberdeen University , mottoeng = The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom , established = , type = Public research universityAncient university , endowment = £58.4 million (2021) , budget ...

, specialising in surgery. He graduated MB ChB around 1790 then would have undergone practical experience before receiving his doctorate (MD) in 1800. In 1801 he and Petrus Johannes Truter led the Truter-Somerville Expedition into Africa, which reached Bechuanaland. In 1806 he entered 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 ...

as Garrison Surgeon to the

Cape Colony The Cape Colony ( nl, Kaapkolonie), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British Empire, British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope, which existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when i ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

, and was present at the taking of the

Cape of Good Hope The Cape of Good Hope ( af, Kaap die Goeie Hoop ) ;''Kaap'' in isolation: pt, Cabo da Boa Esperança is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is t ...

. From 1807 to 1811 he served in Canada as Inspector Of Hospitals, under his friend

Sir James Craig James Craig, 1st Viscount Craigavon PC PC (NI) DL (8 January 1871 – 24 November 1940), was a leading Irish unionist and a key architect of Northern Ireland as a devolved region within the United Kingdom. During the Home Rule Crisis of 1912 ...

. He served in Sicily 1811 to 1813. In 1813 he was appointed Deputy Inspector of Military Hospitals in Scotland, and he then settled in Edinburgh, at 53 Northumberland Street in Edinburgh's Second New Town. In the same year 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 Sir Henry Wellwood Moncreiff, Dr James Gregory, and

John Playfair John Playfair FRSE, FRS (10 March 1748 – 20 July 1819) was a Church of Scotland minister, remembered as a scientist and mathematician, and a professor of natural philosophy at the University of Edinburgh. He is best known for his book ''Illu ...

. In 1816 he was appointed one of the principal medical inspectors of the Army Medical Board of England. He was admitted a Licentiate of the

Royal College of Physicians The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) is a British professional membership body dedicated to improving the practice of medicine, chiefly through the accreditation of physicians by examination. Founded by royal charter from King Henry VIII in 1 ...

in 1817 was 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 1819 he became Physician to the

Chelsea Hospital The Royal Hospital Chelsea is a retirement home and nursing home for some 300 veterans of the British Army. Founded as an almshouse, the ancient sense of the word "hospital", it is a site located on Royal Hospital Road in Chelsea. It is an i ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, caring for retired soldiers (generally known as the

Chelsea Pensioners A Chelsea Pensioner, or In-Pensioner, is a resident at the Royal Hospital Chelsea, a retirement home and nursing home for former members of the British Army located in Chelsea, London. The Royal Hospital Chelsea is home to 300 retired British sold ...

). In London he lived with his family at

Hanover Square, Westminster Hanover Square is a green square in Mayfair, Westminster, south west of Oxford Circus where Oxford Street meets Regent Street. Six streets converge on the square which include Harewood Place with links to Oxford Street, Princes Street, Hanover S ...

. Somerville was an active member of the Athenaeum Club from its founding in 1824. He went to live with his family in Italy in 1838. He died at

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

on 25 June 1860, aged ninety-two. He is buried there in the old Protestant Cemetery. His second wife

survived him, and died at Naples in 1872.

Family

In 1806 he had an illegitimate son, James Craig Somerville (d.1847), whom he fully supported and helped train as a doctor. His first wife, Ann Rutherfoord of Knowsouth in Roxburghshire, died in Falmouth in 1808. Their only son, Thomas, died in infancy. By his second wife,

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...

, whom he married in 1812, he had three daughters and one son, only two daughters, Martha Charters Somerville (1815-1879) and Mary Charlotte Somerville (1817-1875) survived to adulthood. Neither married.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Somerville, William 1771 births 1860 deaths People from Jedburgh Scottish surgeons 19th-century Scottish medical doctors Fellows of the Royal Society