Sir George Baker, 1st Baronet, FRS, FSA (1723 – 15 June 1809) was physician to

King George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland, Ireland from 25 October 1760 until his death in 1820. The Acts of Union 1800 unified Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and ...

. He was born in

Modbury Modbury is a large village, ecclesiastical parish, civil parish and former manor in the South Hams district of the county of Devon in England. Today due to its large size it is generally referred to as a "town" although the parish council has ...

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

, the son of George Baker, vicar of Modbury. He was educated at

Eton Eton most commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. Eton may also refer to: Places *Eton, Berkshire, a town in Berkshire, England *Eton, Georgia, a town in the United States *Éton, a commune in the Meuse depa ...

and

King's College, Cambridge King's College, formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, is a List of colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college lies beside the River Cam and faces ...

. In 1749 he went to

Leyden University Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; ) is a public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. Established in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange as a Protestant institution, it holds the distinction of being the oldest university in the Nethe ...

to study physic, becoming MD in 1756. He was admitted to the

Royal College of Physicians The Royal College of Physicians of London, commonly referred to simply as the Royal College of Physicians (RCP), is a British professional membership body dedicated to improving the practice of medicine, chiefly through the accreditation of ph ...

in 1756 and became a fellow in 1757. He moved to Stamford, Lincolnshire to practice medicine but returned to London around 1761 to become very successful, being elected President of the Royal College of Physicians nine times between 1785 and 1795. In a presentation to the Royal College of Physicians he postulated that "Devonshire colic", a painful and occasionally fatal condition, was caused by

lead poisoning Lead poisoning, also known as plumbism and saturnism, is a type of metal poisoning caused by lead in the body. Symptoms may include abdominal pain, constipation, headaches, irritability, memory problems, infertility, numbness and paresthesia, t ...

from drinking cider. When lead was removed from the cider manufacturing process the problem disappeared. He was appointed physician to the Queen's household and then physician to King George III, attending the king during his periods of madness. He was created Baronet Baker of Loventor in Totnes, Devon on 26 August 1776. He was a good classical scholar and fluent in Latin and Greek. He published a number of papers in Latin. He was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

in 1762 and Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries. He was also made an honorary fellow of 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 set the specialty training standards for physicians in the United Kingdom. It was established by royal charter i ...

and a foreign fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine of Paris. He died in 1809, at the age of 87, and was buried at

St James's Church, Piccadilly St James's Church, Piccadilly, also known as St James's Church, Westminster, and St James-in-the-Fields, is an Anglican church on Piccadilly in the centre of London, England. The church was designed and built by Sir Christopher Wren. The churc ...

, where a plain mural tablet to the north of the

Communion table Communion table and Lord's table are terms used by many Protestant churches—particularly from Reformed, Baptist and low church Anglican and Methodist bodies—for the table used for preparation of Holy Communion (a sacrament also called the ...

records his death. He had married Jane Morris, daughter of Roger Morris and Elizabeth Jackson, on 28 June 1768 at St. James's, Westminster. They had two children, of whom Sir Frederick inherited the baronetcy.

References

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Biography

, Retrieved 6 January 2023. {{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, Sir George Baker, 1st Baronet 1723 births 1809 deaths Medical doctors from Devon People educated at Eton College 1 Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians Fellows of the Royal Society Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London Presidents of the Royal College of Physicians People from South Hams (district) Burials at St James's Church, Piccadilly 18th-century English medical doctors