John Fothergill (Mediziner)
- For other people called "John Fothergill" see John Fothergill.
John Fothergill FRS (8 March, 1712 – 26 December, 1780), was an English physician, plant collector, philanthropist and Quaker.
Life and work
Fothergill was born of at Carr End, Misterton in Yorkshire, the son of John Fothergill (1676–1745), a Quaker preacher and farmer, and his first wife, Margaret Hough (1677–1719).[1] After studying at Sedbergh School, Fothergill was apprenticed to an apothecary. He later took the degree of M.D. at Edinburgh, in 1736, followed by further studies at St Thomas' Hospital, London. After visiting continental Europe in 1740, he settled in London, where he gained an extensive practice. For example, during the epidemics of influenza in 1775 and 1776 he is said to have had sixty patients daily.
Fothergill's pamphlet, Account of the Sore Throat attended with Ulcers (1748), contains one of the first descriptions of diphtheria in English, and was translated into several languages. His rejection of ineffective traditional therapies for this disease saved many lives.[1]
In his leisure, John Fothergill made a study of conchology and botany. At Upton, near Stratford, he had an extensive botanical garden where he grew many rare plants obtained from various parts of the world (now West Ham Park).[1]
He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1763.
He was the patron of Sydney Parkinson, the South Sea voyager, and also of William Bartram, the American botanist.
A translation of the Bible, known as the Quaker Bible (1764 sq.) by Anthony Purver, a Quaker, was made and printed at his expense.
He founded Ackworth School, Pontefract, Yorkshire in 1779.
John Fothergill died in London aged 68 on 26 December 1780.
See also
Further reading
- Fothergill, John: A Complete Collection of the Medical and Philosophical Works of John Fothergill. John Walker, London 1781 (google.com).
- Fothergill, Samuel, Crosfield, George: Memoirs of the Life and Gospel Labours of Samuel Fothergill, with Selections from his Correspondence. D. Marples, London 1843 (google.com).- contains information on John Fothergill, the author's father
References
External links
- John Fothergill. Abgerufen am 11. September 2008.