Sir Robert Sibbald (15 April 1641 – August 1722) was a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

physician and

antiquary An antiquarian or antiquary () is an fan (person), aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artifact (archaeology), artifac ...

Life

He was born in Edinburgh, the son of David Sibbald (brother of Sir

James Sibbald James Sibbald (–1647) was a Scottish Royalist divine, and theologian. Life James Sibbald was of an ancient family in the Mearns. His birth, about 1595, may be inferred from his being on ordination trials with the presbytery of Deer on 28 O ...

) and Margaret Boyd (January 1606 – 10 July 1672). Educated at the Royal High School and the Universities of Edinburgh, Leiden, and Paris, he took his doctor's degree at the University of Angers in 1662, and soon afterwards settled as a physician working in Edinburgh. He resided at "Kipps Castle" near Linlithgow. In 1667 with Sir

Andrew Balfour Sir Andrew Balfour (21 March 1873 – 30 January 1931) was a Scottish Medical Officer who specialised in tropical medicine. Balfour spent twelve years in Khartoum, Sudan and was the Medical Officer of Health in the city. As well as writing m ...

he started the botanical garden in Edinburgh, and he took a leading part in establishing the

Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh The Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (RCPE) is a medical royal college in Scotland. It is one of three organisations that sets the specialty training standards for physicians in the United Kingdom. It was established by Royal charter ...

, of which he was elected president in 1684. Both Sibbald and Balfour were proponents of the Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia. In 1682, Sibbald began assembling material for a projected two volume geographical description or atlas of Scotland, recruiting parish ministers and members of the nobility and gentry to assist him in the task. While the work was never published, many of the manuscripts describing aspects of the geography, natural history and antiquities of parts of Scotland have survived. In 1685 he was appointed the first professor of medicine at the University of Edinburgh. He was knighted, named Physician to the King, and appointed Geographer Royal in 1682. His numerous and miscellaneous writings deal with historical and antiquarian as well as with botanical and medical subjects. He based many of his cartographical studies on the work of Timothy Pont. He is buried in Greyfriars Kirkyard in Edinburgh in a vault against the southern wall. Sibbald mausoleum, Greyfriars Kirkyard

The wild flower of ''

Sibbaldia procumbens ''Sibbaldia procumbens'' (or creeping sibbaldia) is a species of flowering plant of the genus ''Sibbaldia'' in the rose family. It has an Arctic–alpine distribution; it can be found throughout the Arctic, as well as the at higher elevations in ...

'' is named after him. As well as 2 genera from the family

Rosaceae Rosaceae (), the rose family, is a medium-sized family of flowering plants that includes 4,828 known species in 91 genera. The name is derived from the type genus ''Rosa''. Among the most species-rich genera are ''Alchemilla'' (270), ''Sorbus ...

; in 1753, Carl Linnaeus published '' Sibbaldia'', which is a genus of about 13 species of flowering plants. Then in 1941, Juz. published '' Sibbaldianthe'', which has about 7 species of plants.

Taxonomy of the blue whale—''Sibbaldus''

Sibbald is also remembered for his study of whales. Originally the blue whale was named after Sibbald, who first described it scientifically. Although the blue whale is today usually classified as one of eight species in the genus ''Balaenoptera'', one authority still places it in a separate monotypic genus, ''Sibbaldus'', but this is not widely accepted. The blue whale was once commonly referred to as ''Sibbald's rorqual''.

Works

Sibbald's historical and antiquarian works include: *1683: ''An Account of the Scottish Atlas''. Folio, Edinburgh *1684: ''Scotia illustrata''. Edinburgh *1699: ''Memoria Balfouriana; sive, Historia rerum, pro literis promovendis, gestarum a ... fratribus Balfouriis ... Jacobo ... et ... Andrea. Authore R.S.''. Edinburgi: Typis Hæredum Andreæ Anderson *1699:
Provision for the poor in time of dearth and scarcity
' *1710: ''A History Ancient and Modern of the Sheriffdoms of Fife and Kinross''. Edinburgh *1711: ''Description of the Isles of Orkney and Shetland''. Folio, Edinburgh *1803: ''A History Ancient and Modern of the Sheriffdoms of Fife and Kinross''. Cupar *1837: ''The Remains of Sir Robert Sibbald, containing his autobiography, memoirs of the Royal College of Physicians, a portion of his literary correspondence, and an account of his MSS.''; dited by James Maidment">James_Maidment.html" ;"title="dited by James Maidment">dited by James Maidment 2 pt. in 1 vol. Edinburgh: [printed for the editor]; edition of thirty-five copies; the titlepage of the Autobiography bears the date 1833 *1845: ''Description of the Isles of Orkney and Shetland'' (folio, Edinburgh)

References

;Attribution *

External links

*Article a
National Library of Scotland
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sibbald, Robert 1641 births 1722 deaths University of Angers (pre-1793) alumni Scientists from Edinburgh People educated at the Royal High School, Edinburgh 17th-century Scottish medical doctors 18th-century Scottish medical doctors Scottish geographers Alumni of the University of Edinburgh University of Paris alumni Scottish antiquarians Leiden University alumni Scottish botanists Scottish zoologists Academics of the University of Edinburgh 18th-century Scottish people Scottish marine biologists Marine zoologists Scottish knights Medical doctors from Edinburgh Presidents of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh Writers from Edinburgh